These Roasted Golden Beets turn out perfectly tender, with a little flavor boost due to white balsamic vinegar.
During my career as a personal chef, I spent many years making perfectly roasted vegetables by just chopping them and tossing them on a sheet pan with some olive oil and salt. But beets require a slightly different technique to reach their ideal texture—I’ll walk you through it below, and I promise you, you’ll never cook fresh beets any other way.
Why You'll Love Roasted Golden Beets
- Fantastic as an easy side dish for all kinds of main courses. Also great in grain bowls like this Tofu Buddha Bowl or Pearl Barley Grain Bowl
- Deliciously mild flavor, and no hand-staining like with red beets
- Once you try this technique I’ll call steam-roasting, you’ll never cook fresh beets any other way
- Perfect to star in salads like this Roasted Golden Beet Salad or this Feta Beet Salad with Walnuts
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Golden Beet Recipe Ingredients
- Golden Beets: Look for beets with fresh greens if possible. If the greens have already been removed, look for beets that are firm and heavy for their size. Avoid any beets that appear wrinkled or feel soft.
- White Balsamic Vinegar: I love this type of balsamic vinegar, as it’s a little sweeter than traditional balsamic. But you can use either type of balsamic vinegar in this recipe.
- Olive Oil: Just a basic olive oil is fine for this recipe. You can also use a neutral oil like grapeseed oil or avocado oil instead.
How to Make Roasted Golden Beets
Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit. Scrub beets to remove any dirt, then pat dry.
Put one large golden beet on a sheet of aluminum foil, then drizzle with ½ tablespoon olive oil and ½ tablespoon white balsamic vinegar. Fold up the foil around it. Repeat with a 2nd large beet. (You can put more than one beet on a sheet of foil if they are small.)
You can either put them directly on the oven rack or put on a baking sheet or in a baking dish. If you put directly on the rack, as I do, make sure there is a sheet of foil on the bottom of the oven to catch any drips.
Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated oven, then use a skewer to test whether they are tender. Depending on the size of beet, this may take up to an hour.
When beets are tender, remove from oven, and let cool slightly. Then peel with a knife or sharp vegetable peeler. Slice beets in circles, half-circles, or chunks (whichever you prefer).
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Storage Tips
Roasted golden beets can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Golden Beet FAQs
The taste of golden beets and red beets is pretty similar, though red beets have a slightly more earthy flavor. The flavor of golden beets is a little more mild. Nutritionally, they are also very similar, but red beets have a slight advantage in that their deep red color reflects the fact that they are rich in anthocyanin, an antioxidant.
You can roast beets both ways—peeled, chopped, and then roasted, or roasted, then peeled, as in this recipe. I prefer roasting beets in foil packets, as it allows them to steam as they roast. This keeps the beets tender and prevents them from drying out. Then, it is quite easy to peel them when they are fully roasted. When you peel beets before roasting, they dry out more easily in a hot oven.
Golden Beets Recipe Tips
Want more flavor? This is a very basic recipe that you can jazz up however you like. Try adding fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme into the foil package with the beets. You could also add in a garlic clove that will soften as the beet roasts. When the beets are done, make a balsamic dressing using the white balsamic vinegar and olive oil and drizzle over the beets.
Wondering why you should roast golden beets whole? Though they take longer than roasting pre-chopped beets, you will get a much more tender beet when you roast one whole.
If your beets came with fresh beet greens, don’t throw them out. They can be chopped and sautéed for another delicious side dish.
Now that you have your roasted beets, what to do with them? They make a lovely simple side dish for grilled meats, roast chicken, pork chops, or seafood. You can also make sliced beets the star of a salad, like in this Spinach Beet Goat Cheese Salad. Or, include them in your favorite grain bowl and add a dressing like this Sesame Ginger Dressing, this Sumac Dressing, or the lemon tahini dressing in this Vegan Buddha Bowl.
You can also make a very simple dressing using lemon juice or orange juice and some extra-virgin olive oil. Golden beets are delicious paired with burrata cheese and feta cheese as well, perhaps drizzled with a balsamic glaze (Trader Joe’s has a great one!).
Other Roasted Vegetable Recipes
Roasting is one of my favorite methods to prepare all kinds of vegetables. Try one of these next:
If you try this Roasted Golden Beets recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Roasted Golden Beets
Ingredients
- 1 pound golden beets
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit.
- Scrub beets to remove any dirt, then pat dry.
- Put each beet on a sheet of aluminum foil, then drizzle with ½ tablespoon olive oil and ½ tablespoon white balsamic vinegar. Fold up the foil around them. (You can put more than one beet on a sheet of foil if they are small.)
- Bake for 45 minutes, then use a skewer to test whether they are tender. Depending on the size of the beets, this may take up to an hour.
- When beets are tender, remove from oven, and let cool slightly.
- Peel with a knife or sharp peeler.
- Slice beets in circles, half-circles, or chunks (whichever you prefer).
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Notes
Roasted golden beets can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Expert Tips:
Want more flavor? Try adding fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme into the foil package with the beets. You could also add in a garlic clove that will soften as the beet roasts. When the beets are done, make a balsamic dressing using the white balsamic vinegar and olive oil and drizzle over the beets. Wondering why you should roast golden beets whole? Though they take longer than roasting pre-peeled and chopped beets, you will get a much more tender beet when you roast one whole.
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this golden beet recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Mimi Rippee says
These beets are beautiful! I can only get the standard purple, but I should be happy with that. There were times in this town when I couldn’t even find garlic.
http://www.chefmimiblog.com
Molly Pisula says
Ha ha, yes, good to be thankful for what we can find. And I love red/purple beets as well. But when the golden ones come around, I'm all over it!