Easy Roasted Golden Beets Recipe plus 7 uses ~ Macheesmo

Like so many people growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, I grew up thinking that beets are absolutely gross. They were served from a can and were mushy and just not an attractive food. But now they are one of my favorite foods. Roasted Golden Beets, chopped or sliced, can be served SO many different ways. Let’s do them!

While for some people beets are one of the most intimidating vegetables in the store, they can also be one of the most delicious. If you have never tried them before, this is the post for you. You can eat beetroot raw, sometimes I like them really crunchy in a salad, they’re best fried.

When you roast golden beets, the flavor intensifies and they become sweet. This should come as no surprise, since sugar is made from beets (albeit a different variety)! So there is a lot of stored goodness in this vegetable.

Golden beets vs. beets

There are many varieties of beets in the world, but the two most common in the US are the beetroot and the golden beet. These taste pretty similar in my opinion, but the golden turnip has an upside and a downside.

The benefit (which I think is a big one) is that they don’t stain every damn surface of your kitchen blood red. I love the taste of beets, but I had to clean up! Golden turnips circumvent this problem because they have a nice neutral golden yellow color and don’t stain.

The downside is that golden beets tend to be less popular. They won’t always be easy to find, and sometimes they’re more expensive than beets.

While they’re not 100% interchangeable in recipes (borscht, for example, probably isn’t the same thing as golden beets), they can be easily swapped out for most salads or sautéed dishes.

What to do with the beet greens

If you’re lucky, you’ll still have the green on when you buy your golden turnips. Sometimes markets just cut these off, assuming people won’t want them, making the turnips bulkier to pack.

But if you can get them with your turnips, save them! They are hearty greens and great in so many ways! Here are a few ideas for using beet greens!

• Wash kale well, chop finely and use as a salad base, similar to kale. (Could substitute them for this kale salad, for example).
• Roughly chop the clean vegetables and sauté them with some garlic in olive oil for a warm vegetable side dish.
• Save them for breakfast! Fry them in a pan and crack an egg for a quick breakfast scrambled egg.

Do you peel beets before roasting?

Obviously there is more than one way to roast yellow beets. For the sake of simplicity, I don’t like peeling mine until they’re toasty. This helps them from drying out and I think beets are easier to peel after roasting.

However, if you want to peel them, I’d recommend dicing the beets into about 1/2-inch cubes, tossing them with oil and spices, and roasting them about half the time (20-30 minutes).

Like so many things in the kitchen, it can be done, but it will work for you, but I prefer peeling roasted beets.

Instructions for roasting golden beets

This is anything but a difficult recipe to master. Preheat your oven to 375°F and trim the ends of the golden beets. That just helps them lay flat on a baking sheet.

To lightly season the beets, poke a few holes in the beets with a fork or knife and drizzle with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil per beet. Sprinkle them with salt too.

Roast the beets until tender. A paring knife should slide easily into the beets. Depending on the size of your beets, this will take between 45 and 60 minutes. I usually check after 50 minutes.

Once your beets are roasted, carefully wrap them in foil to cool. This allows them to cool slowly and will become increasingly tender as they cool. After they’ve cooled for a few minutes, you’re free to unwrap, peel, and use as you please!

Seven ways to serve golden turnips

Here are eight ways you can use your golden beets after you’ve roasted them. The beetroot will keep in the fridge for a week.

• Think quick salads! I make quick lunch salads with veggies, goat cheese, seeds, and roasted beets. You could of course add them to this Roasted Golden Beet Salad too!
• Appetizers. Thinly slice the golden beets and top with goat cheese (or feta) and fresh rosemary. Roasted beets are also great in a bento box lunch!
• smoothies! You can add golden beets to a smoothie with other veggies or fruit and orange juice and it adds great color and a little sweetness to the smoothie.
• Mash! Put the peeled and chopped golden beets in a saucepan with some cream and garlic. Simmer until very tender, then puree for a nice side dish.
• Dive! Chop the golden beets very finely and add to a dip with chopped nuts such as walnuts or pistachios and add some oil and spices. Good for spreading on crackers!
• Risotto! I love mixing golden beets into a risotto. Here is my beetroot risotto recipe!
• Gratin! Try slicing the golden beets thinly and use them in a golden beet gratin!