We all love beetroot for its unique, unlike anything taste and a lot of useful properties. Most of all, it is valued for the prevention of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, as well as anemia: beets are rich in substances such as iron, potassium and magnesium, which favorably affect the processes of hematopoiesis in the body.

Unfortunately, we are used to thinking that boiling beets is long and tiring: indeed, if you just put them in a pot of cold water, they will cook from 2 to 3 hours, which cannot repel everyone who values ​​their time from this product. .

We decided to collect the most effective tips on how to cook whole beets as quickly as possible and at the same time preserve all of its unique beneficial properties.

temperature fluctuations

This method is ideal for those who decide to quickly cook whole beets in a saucepan.

If you urgently need boiled beets to prepare a dish, we advise you to act like a professional chef: leave it in boiling water for half an hour, drain the water and immediately put it under a stream of ice water.

Leave the beets to cool under water for 10-15 minutes: such a sharp temperature drop will bring them to readiness.

Boiling water

Bring the water to a boil and, placing the beets in a saucepan, cook for about 40 minutes, maintaining a large fire. Pour water with a margin, because from the high temperature it will boil away very quickly.

big fire

To quickly boil beets on the stove, you need a large fire and 20 minutes of free time.

It is very important to pour plenty of water: the roots should be covered with about a ten-centimeter layer of already boiling water. Otherwise, the water will boil away long before the beets have had time to cook. Do not cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes, then place the root crops under an ice cold stream of water for 5 minutes. The candle is ready.

The only drawback of this express method is that nothing of useful vitamin C remains in the product.

Baking in the oven

Try to quickly cook beets in the oven using a baking bag. This method is as fast as boiling, and, most importantly, just as (if not more) tasty: baked beets are sweeter than boiled ones, which can be successfully used in cooking, for example, vinaigrette.

Put the washed, unpeeled beets in a bag (you can also use foil) and place in the oven, preheated to 180–200 degrees. Small young root crops will be ready in half an hour, and large and ripe ones in 40-50 minutes.

in the microwave

If you want to quickly and tasty cook beets in the microwave, you will need about 20 minutes.

Put the unpeeled, washed beets in a special microwave-safe container or a plastic bag, without tying, but folding it. Set the microwave to medium power and cook for 7-10 minutes. Check readiness and put the beets for another 5-10 minutes, if they are still half-cooked.

In a slow cooker

In a slow cooker, you can also cook beets quickly and easily. The easiest and "fastest" option is to cook whole vegetables of approximately the same size in their skins.

On the "Steam" program (which can be completely replaced with the "Soup" or "Cooking" programs), the beets must be completely filled with water and boiled for 40 minutes. After the end of the program, check the readiness and, if necessary, add another 10 minutes.

Never cut off the tail or peel the beets (unless, of course, you plan to stew them for your dish). It will be enough to wash it thoroughly with a sponge and send it to boil in this form: this way it will retain its beautiful rich color.

By the way, about the color: add half a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the water after boiling - so it will become even brighter.

If you are cooking the beetroot for a vinaigrette or other salad and don't want it to color the rest of the vegetables, soak it well in vegetable oil after it's cut, and only then mix it with the other ingredients.

Correctly cooking beets for vinaigrette or salad, at first glance, is not difficult, but, nevertheless, this question worries both beginners and fairly experienced housewives from time to time. Today we will try to thoroughly understand this issue, and my step-by-step recipe with a photo will become a visual aid for novice kitchen hostesses.

First of all, let's talk about choosing a root crop for cooking.

The shape of the beet can be any: cylindrical or round. This has no effect on the final result. The main thing, when cooking several vegetables, is to take them approximately the same size.

About the size. Small and medium beets cook the fastest. Cooking time 30-40 minutes. If there is a large root crop in the bins, then it will be boiled in a saucepan for about 1.5-2 hours. Some housewives recommend cutting large beets into pieces, but this will lead to a large loss of water-soluble vitamins. To more quickly cook such a large root crop as a whole, you can add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the water. Water with oil will be heated to a higher temperature, which will speed up the cooking process.

How to cook whole beets in a pan quickly and correctly

We start cooking by thoroughly washing the beets under the tap. To clean the roots of dirt as much as possible, you can walk on them with a brush without damaging the peel.

We put the vegetables in a saucepan.

Fill with cold water. Some pour boiling water over the beets, but with this method of cooking, the root crop initially warms up unevenly and the inside threatens to remain unboiled. Also, I met cooks who advise adding acetic acid to the pan when cooking beets so that the color of the vegetable does not boil out. I boil beets in water without additives, as I believe that any acid delays the readiness of vegetables. The color of the root cooked in the peel, practically remains unchanged.

Since I have small beetroots, after the water boils, I mark the time - 30 minutes. After this time, I will begin to conduct the first checks on the beets for readiness. By the way, it is very important under a tightly closed lid. This will preserve the maximum amount of vitamins in them. Therefore, try to adjust the fire of the stove in such a way that the water boils moderately, but does not try to run out of the pan.

Well, half an hour has passed. I choose the largest of the three root crops and pierce it with a sharp knife. The blade went in without effort, so it's time to drain the water. If the knife enters with difficulty, then cooking should be extended for another 10 minutes, and then, repeat the test again.

Drain the boiling water, holding the beets with a lid. Pour cold water into the pot immediately. It is important to create as large a temperature difference as possible, so I add a few extra ice cubes to the bowl.

After 15 minutes, when the vegetables have completely cooled, take them out of the water.

For the preparation of vinaigrette or other salads, peel the root vegetables. It is quite easy to remove, in some places even without the use of a knife.

If you plan to use boiled beets not immediately, then it is better to clean the skin immediately before using the root crop.

Boiled beets can be used to prepare various dishes, such as, for example, or other healthy and tasty ones.

Products for 5 servings (about 1300 grams)
Beets - 300 grams
Carrot - 200 grams
Potato - 300 grams
Sauerkraut - 150 grams
Pickled cucumbers - 150 grams
Salad onion - 100 grams
Green peas - 200 grams
Salt, vegetable oil, pepper - to taste
Green onions - a few sprigs

How to cook
1. Boil beets for 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on size, potatoes for 20-25 minutes and carrots for 20-25 minutes. Beets are cooked separately from carrots and potatoes so as not to color them. However, if you put the beets in a bag, you can cook all the vegetables in 1 saucepan, taking them out as soon as they are ready.
2. Peel and cut the onion into half rings.
3. Finely chop the onion.
4. Cut pickles into cubes.
5. Sauerkraut, if large - cut.
6. Peel the carrots and cut into cubes.
7. Peel the beets, cut into cubes. So that the beets do not stain the rest of the products, they must be seasoned with vegetable oil.
8. Cut potatoes into cubes.
9. Drain the juice from the jar of green peas.
10. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
11. Salt, season with oil and mix well.
12. Decorate with green onions.

How to cook vegetables for vinaigrette in a double boiler
In order for the vegetables for the vinaigrette to cook in a double boiler at the same time, you need to properly arrange them on the shelves, depending on the cooking speed. The temperature of the steam is higher than the temperature of boiling water, for this beetroot, as the longest - the boiled vegetable must be cut into pieces and laid on the lower tier so that it is most in contact with the steam. Put the whole carrots on the second shelf, and put the potatoes, cut into large pieces, on the third. Sliced ​​beets are cooked for about 40 minutes, carrots and chopped potatoes are cooked for about 30 minutes, but because all these vegetables are one above the other, they will all be ready at the same time.

Proper heat treatment of any product affects not only its taste, but also its beneficial properties. This is especially true for vegetables, so information on how to properly cook beets and how long to cook them until tender should interest you. There is a myth that heat treatment of foods destroys their vitamin and mineral complex, although this is absolutely not true!

Boiled beets are used in many healthy meals. This root crop is especially popular in the post-Soviet countries, because it is one of the most affordable food products, and it is also very healthy! Of course, this vegetable crop can also be eaten raw, but this is how it is used mainly for medicinal purposes.

In salads and snacks, the root crop is used boiled, and with proper cooking of beets, we can save the maximum amount of its nutrients. About how long to cook this vegetable crop so that it does not lose color and cook faster - our information!

The method of boiling red beets affects not only the cooking time, but also corresponds to the size of the root crop and its age. You can quickly cook root vegetables (including carrots) of small size and young, and it is recommended to boil large beets and carrots in the microwave or bake in foil in the oven.

How to quickly boil beets

Method number 1

This secret is owned by all professional chefs. According to this method, the root crop is cooked for 20 minutes! The whole secret is that a sharp temperature drop accelerates the process of softening plant fibers. That's physics!

We take medium-sized root crops, put them in a saucepan, pour boiling water over it and put it on a strong fire without covering it with a lid. Water should cover the vegetables with a layer of at least 8 cm - otherwise, it will quickly boil away, and the root crops will not have time to cook.

After 15 minutes of rapid boiling, drain the water from the pan and put it together with vegetables under a stream of very cold water. We stand the boiled product in ice water for 5-10 minutes, making sure that the water remains ice cold (ice cubes will help). Ready! You can make a salad!

Method number 2

How many minutes do you need to cook beets according to this method, read on!

Pour the root crops with boiling water, keep on medium heat for 30 minutes from the moment of re-boiling, drain the water and immediately put the pan with the product under a stream of ice water for 15 minutes.

If the tap water is not cold enough, stock up on ice cubes. In general, according to this recipe, beets are cooked for 45-50 minutes - taking into account the time of its cooling.

* Cook's advice
So that the beets do not lose their color, pour 1 tbsp into the boiling water. fresh lemon juice, or 1 tsp. sugar, or 1 tsp. vinegar.

How to cook delicious beets for vinaigrette or salad

Method number 1: in the oven

To cook beets so that they do not lose color and are tasty, we will turn to a tried and tested method - the oven! It turns out delicious and not troublesome.

• Preheat the oven, set to 190 degrees. Wash the beetroot thoroughly, do not cut the tail and leaf rosette. Our task is to prevent juice from flowing through any cuts.
• Wrap the root vegetable tightly in foil and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable. Large beets should be baked for 35 minutes, small - 20 minutes.
• Unwrap and lower into a pot of cold water until cool. If you have time, you can leave in the oven to cool completely.

Cooking vegetables in this way allows not only to preserve their bright beautiful color, but also most of the vitamins, organic acids and mineral compounds. The bright beet color of the vegetable looks great not only in vinaigrettes, but any salad will look very beautiful.

*Cook's advice
Red boiled beetroot should not color other components of the salad, but how to achieve this? Very simple! After cutting the vegetable into cubes or in any other way, sprinkle the sliced ​​\u200b\u200bwith vegetable oil and mix. The oil coats the beetroot pieces, locking the juice inside. You end up with a very colorful vinaigrette or other vegetable salad!

Method number 2: in the microwave

Microwave owners should not have any problems with boiling vegetables.

• We take a medium-sized root crop, wash it thoroughly with a brush, but leave the tail and leaf socket, as we advised in the recipe for baking vegetables in the oven.
• But for cooking in the microwave, we must still violate the integrity of the skin, otherwise the root crop may explode from the internal pressure of water in the vegetable. Therefore, we make deep holes in the vegetable with toothpicks.
• We wrap it in a plastic bag (to keep the inner chamber of the oven clean), put the bag in a special bowl for microwaves and boil the vegetable at a power of 800 kW for 10 minutes. In the process of cooking, turn the vegetable over once on the other side.

How long to cook beets in time if the microwave oven is of lower power? There is only one advice: look in the instructions for your device. As a rule, no more than 20 minutes! Consider also the size of the vegetable - large beets are cooked longer.

How to cook boiled beets in the traditional way

How to boil root vegetables (and carrots too) for a salad so that they retain all the important nutrients?

1. I wash the beets and carrots well with a brush, do not cut off any parts of the root crops, put them in a saucepan and fill them with cold water to a level of 5 cm above.
2. We turn on the big fire and wait for the water to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. We take out the carrots and dip them in ice water. Cook the beets for another 20 minutes over medium heat and then - until tender over low heat. Readiness is checked with a knife or a toothpick. The tip should go in easily.
3. We drain the water in which the product was cooked and fill it with ice water. After cooling, clean and crumble according to your needs.

* Cook's advice
Always try to use the temperature difference trick when you cook vegetables! Firstly, in this case they retain their color and fiber structure, and secondly, they are very easy to clean!

Also remember that salting water at the beginning of cooking is not recommended, since boiling food in salt water slows down the process, and vegetables harden.

How long can boiled beets be stored?

This is not an idle question if you are a very busy person and do not have enough time to boil vegetables before cooking. You can store the boiled product for up to 3 days - in the general section of the refrigerator, but in the freezer - up to 6 months!

We hope that our information on how to cook beets correctly and for how long will help you include this healthy vegetable in your daily menu more often. Dishes with vegetables are the best foods for health and a high quality of life!

Beets are part of many dishes, without which it is difficult to imagine a daily and festive table. What is lunch without borscht and New Year without vinaigrette? Beets are useful for salads, and for herring under a fur coat. It would seem that cooking it, like other vegetables, is a simple task. But only experienced chefs know how to cook beets deliciously. At the same time, so that the root crop does not lose its attractive appearance and dietary benefits. After all, beets contain many vitamins, minerals and trace elements, including vitamin C.

1. The best result will be with small root crops - no more than 10 cm in diameter, large ones are often loose inside and tasteless. The vegetable should be without damage, traces of mold and rot, thoroughly washed. Try not to damage the skin so that the beneficial substances are not destroyed during cooking.

2. Do not cut off the tails and do not peel the beets, so as not to lose the juice. Do not add salt to the water, because the vegetable contains a lot of sodium on its own, excess salt will ruin its sweetish taste. If necessary, the beets can be salted after cooking.

4. Try to cook root crops of the same size so that they reach readiness at the same time.

How and how much

To cook beets, choose a pan that is slightly larger than vegetables - about 1 cm should remain between them and the walls. Traditionally, root vegetables are boiled in cold water, so more vitamins are preserved, but the cooking time also increases. You can speed up the process by placing the vegetables in boiling water. The water level should be about a finger above the level of the beets. Cover the pot with a lid and place over high heat.

After the water in the pan boils, continue cooking the beets over low heat, adding water as needed. Cooking time can vary from one to three hours, depending on the size, number of vegetables.

Root vegetables are ready when a fork, toothpick or thin knife easily pierces them.

Cooking beets in a slow cooker

The slow cooker provides ample opportunities for cooking beets. Built-in programs will allow you to cook vegetables without losing taste and aesthetic qualities and will enable the hostess to do other things. There are different ways to cook beets in a slow cooker.

The most common and most useful is steaming. Everything is extremely simple: wash small root crops thoroughly and put on a plastic steamer grill. Or cut large beets into pieces. Pour water into the bowl of the multicooker to the bottom mark, put the vegetables. Close the appliance and select the Steamer mode for 40 minutes. As a rule, vegetables are perfectly cooked at the end of the timer.

There is one little trick on how to cook beets in a slow cooker for salad. For slicing, vegetables that have had time to cool and lie down for 10-12 hours are best suited. Therefore, you can put the slow cooker to cook the beets at night, and cut the vegetables beautifully in the morning.

Cooking in the "Soup / Cooking" mode is not much different from the traditional one. We put the washed vegetables in the bowl, fill it with water and select this mode for 60 minutes. Then we check the readiness, if necessary, cook for 20 minutes.

In a multicooker in the "Extinguishing" mode? Pour water into the bowl, lay the washed vegetables. Here it is better to take more beets, because the larger the vegetables, the less vitamins they will lose during cooking. Water should cover the roots by 2-3 cm. Set the timer for 3 hours. The cooking time is long, but the taste of the beets is very tender and juicy.

Baked beets

Another interesting method that works best for young vegetables at the beginning of the season, when they are juicier and more tender. To prepare the vegetables, wash, dry with a paper towel, wrap each in foil, after dropping vegetable oil inside. Lubricate the bowl of the multicooker with it and put the beets in it. Turn on the "Baking" program for one hour.

in a pressure cooker?

The pressure cooker allows you to reduce the cooking time by 3-5 times. After all, this miracle pan does not lose heat during evaporation, and the food in it is cooked under steam pressure. If you have such an assistant in the kitchen, you do not need to think long about how to quickly cook beets for vinaigrette.

Before you start cooking, make sure the pressure relief valve is not clogged, the o-ring is properly inserted and the pot lid is tight. Pour at least 250 ml of water, be guided by the size of the pan - it should not be more than 2/3 full.

Lay the washed vegetables and start cooking them. At the end of cooking, be sure to release the steam, otherwise the root crops can become very soft.

So in a pressure cooker? The answer depends on seasonality, a young vegetable is cooked for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size, an old one - 25-30 minutes.

Many modern multicookers also have this pressure cooker function. For cooking, pour one multi-cooker glass of water into the bowl for 1-2 root crops, if there is a metal stand for vegetables in the kit, it is better to use it so that the vegetable does not stain the appliance. We put the beets on the stand and close the lid. If you want to reach the desired pressure faster, fill in hot water. We set the "Soup / Cooking" mode for 30 minutes. When the timer goes off, release the steam carefully, being careful not to burn yourself. In order not to spoil the wallpaper and the ceiling in the kitchen, do it under the hood or in front of an open window.

Beets in the microwave

Another new way to quickly cook beets for vinaigrette will require the use of course, this option is very different from the usual gas saucepan, but in terms of speed it is much faster than it.

Contrary to popular belief, beets do not need to be pierced before microwaving, and they do not burst during the process. You need to cook either in a glass dish with a lid, or under a conventional microwave lid. Plastic containers with a valve to release steam are also suitable. There is no need for water.

The cooking time depends on many factors: the size of the vegetables, their moisture content, the power of the appliance, the material of the dishes, the volume of food. Approximately, a small amount of beets with a microwave power of 1000 W is cooked for 10-15 minutes. It should be borne in mind that beets are among those vegetables that are cooked on their own, so they do not need to be overcooked. It's best to take them out when they seem slightly undercooked.

If a lot of vegetables are being cooked at the same time, then put the smallest root crop in the center, because microwaves will affect it worse.

Please note that if the beets were cooked in glassware, you can not fill it with cold water, the glass may burst.

An unusual way to cook beets in the microwave

But modern housewives and these innovations are not enough. They know how to quickly cook beets for vinaigrette and not even dirty the dishes. can be prepared in a plastic bag. To do this, the washed vegetables are placed in a sufficiently large bag and tightly tied to ensure the tightness of the package. The method is not for the timid, but it works, and you don’t need to wash anything after cooking.

How to save time when preparing salads?

Many dishes, vinaigrette for example, contain different vegetables that need to be boiled before cooking. Of course, many housewives want to save time and decide to cook them together. and carrots so that both vegetables have a marketable appearance? The main thing is not to forget that they have different cooking times. While the beets are still firm, the carrots will boil for a long time and will be unsuitable for cutting into a salad. There are two ways to solve this problem:

1. Start cooking carrots when the beets are already cooked, that is, a maximum of half an hour before you plan to get them. Both vegetables will cook at the same time.

2. Start cooking everything at the same time, but do not forget to check the carrots with a fork and a toothpick so as not to overdo it. It is better to put beets on the bottom of the pan, and carrots on top.

Speed ​​cooking beets

In the pre-New Year's commotion, and not only, the question arises of how to quickly cook beets for vinaigrette. Vegetables will be ready the fastest if they are peeled and chopped.

Cooking time - both in a regular saucepan and in a slow cooker (both when cooking and steaming) - is halved. But in this way, almost all vitamins and nutrients will be lost, the color and taste will be poorer, so it is better to resort to this method only in extreme cases. And chopped beets will color the saucepan or the steamer grate.

And if you need to speed up the traditional preparation of a particularly large vegetable, then do this: boil it for an hour, then remove it and pour over with cold water. After that, cook for another 20 minutes and “bathe” again. The beets will be ready for cutting.

In general, the smaller the root vegetables, the faster they cook.