Pickled Beets (6 pints)

Pickled beets are fresh beets preserved in a pickling liquid that gives them a sweet and sour flavor. You can eat pickled beets as an appetizer with other pickled vegetables on crackers, or atop a creamy element like creme fraiche or cream cheese with chives. You can also serve pickled beets as a side dish, such as for pierogi, schnitzel, or chicken kiev.

This is one of Jane's favorite recipes, and is very good. The balance of sugar to vinegar is perfect and the spices add a lot of unique flavor. She used to can these and give some jars to everyone.

Faith’s note: 1 can of sliced beets is 1.75 cups. 3 quarts = 12 cups. For 1 can of beets, divide the recipe by 6 - see measurements in ( ).

3 quarts peeled, cooked, small beets (2 cups)
2 cups sugar (1/3 cup)
2 sticks cinnamon (1/3 stick)
1 tablespoon whole allspice in tea-ball or cheesecloth (1/2 teaspoon)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (1/4 teaspoon)
3 1/2 cups white vinegar (1/2 cup + 1/6 cup)
1 1/2 cups water (1/4 cup)

Combine all ingredients, except beets, and simmer 15 minutes.

Pack beets into jars and remove spices from hot brine. Pour boiling brine into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust caps.

Process pints and quarts 30 minutes in boiling water bath.

Ways to Flavor Pickled Beets

A pickled beets recipe requires only a few ingredients, but you can customize the flavor of the final product with your preferred ingredients.

I found a recipe which gave these as possible spices. This is for 7 pounds of beets, before cleaning and cooking, 4 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, 2 cups of sugar.

Scandinavian / Sweet style: 6 whole cloves, 6 whole allspice nuts, 1 cinnamon stick (OR) bay leaf, peppercorns, all spice berries and juniper berries
Traditional English: 2 tablespoons picking spice
Caraway Beets: 1 tbsp caraway seeds, 1 tsp black peppercorns

Whole cloves and allspice: A pickling spice blend typically includes bay leaves, whole allspice, coriander seeds, whole cloves, and red pepper flakes for a sweet and savory taste profile. Try using just clove and allspice for a nice bite plus a little warmth and pepperiness.

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1 bay leaf for 4 1/2 pounds beets.