Canned Pickled Beets – Simple Old Fashioned Recipe (Video)
This canned pickled beets recipe is one of my family’s favorites and something we try to keep well stocked in our homestead pantry. We grow a lot of beets in our market garden every year, and our favorite way to preserve them is by pickling them. This is a simple old fashioned recipe that is very easy to make. Beets always make a mess however, no matter how simple the recipe, so I always try to pickle all my beets at one time so I only have to clean up the mess once. You’ll find lots of helpful tips and tricks in the video below.

We grow both red and golden beets, and I have pickled both, but I think the red beets look prettiest in a jar on the shelf. You can pickle them separately though, of course, and then serve them side by side to enjoy the variety in color.
Sourcing Beets
Beets are really easy to grow, and can be grown in almost any climate. They prefer to grow when it’s cool, so if you live in a hot climate you might even be able to grow them in fall, winter and spring. I garden in a zone 4b in Nebraska, so I grow mine in the spring and fall. I usually plant my spring crop in April, and my fall crop in August. That way I have plenty of beets for fresh eating all through the summer and fall, and usually sometime in August I will plan a day and pickle about 100 quarts of these beets for our pantry shelves.

By the way, I hear so many people say that they don’t like beets because they taste like dirt. Here’s a little fun fact about beets: if they are grown in poor soil they can taste like dirt, but if they are grown in healthy soil they have the most amazing flavor. Just one more reason to make sure your garden soil is amended and healthy.
If you aren’t able to grow your own beets, you can order organic beets in bulk from Azure Standard. This is a great way to source beets for canning, pickling, juicing and fresh eating. Beets will also keep for a long time in your refrigerator, so I usually try to keep some for roasting and fresh eating through the winter.
Ways We Enjoy Canned Pickled Beets
We enjoy eating canned pickled beets as a side dish with lots of different meals throughout the year. If I send my kids to the pantry to get something to round out our meal, they usually come back with either pickled beets, glazed carrots or sweet dill pickles. They are also a great addition to packed lunches.
For more simple canning recipes, check out the preserve your own food section of our website.
Canning Process
The process for canning pickled beets isn’t hard, and involves just a few simple steps. I always get my kids involved in harvesting, scrubbing, peeling and cutting up the beets, and they really enjoy it. It’s such a great thing for them to learn how to do, and it’s always nice to have help with the canning.
- Remove tops from beets (if garden fresh), and scrub well.
- Cook in a large pot until soft
- Peel and cut into bite sized pieces
- Cook in brine until boiling
- Place in jars and seal.

The best part about this recipe is that you can use a method called open kettle canning for sealing the jars. This means that if the beets and pickling liquid are simmering when you fill the jars, that the jars will seal on their own without having to be processed in a boiling water bath canner. This saves me a ton of time, and is perfectly safe because this is a high acid canning recipe with the large amount of vinegar used. If I have any jars that don’t seal for some reason, I always just water bath can them for ten minutes (usually the next day) which heats them up enough to seal them. You can also store any unsealed jars in your refrigerator and eat them within a few weeks. These canned pickled beets will keep for a long time on your pantry shelves, if your family doesn’t eat them first!
Simple Ingredients
Fresh Beets – Golden or red beets will work fine. As mentioned above, they are really easy to grow and something you should certainly add to your garden. They can also be purchased from farmers markets or ordered in bulk from Azure Standard.
Vinegar – white vinegar with an acidity of 5%
Sugar – white sugar or natural sugar from Azure Standard both work fine.
Liquid from cooking beets – save the liquid from cooking your beets, as that will be part of the pickling brine.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here
Tools You May Need
Water Bath Canner (Optional)
Or
How To Make Canned Pickled Beets
Scrub beets in cold water to remove any dirt.
Depending on the size of your beets, you may have to cut the larger beets into smaller pieces, so they will cook evenly.
Place in a large pot, preferable on an outdoor stove. (This saves a lot of messes in my kitchen).
Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil beets until they are soft.
Remove from pot, being sure to save the beet juice leftover from cooking beets, as it will be part of the pickling liquid.
After the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and chop into bite sized pieces.

Place beets back into large pot, measuring as you go so you know how much pickling liquid to make.

For every 4 quarts of beets, you will need approximately 2 cups of pickling liquid.
Mix up equal parts of sugar, vinegar and the liquid from cooking the beets to equal the amount of pickling liquid needed.

Pour over beets and bring to a full rolling boil, reduce heat to a simmer.

Wash jars and get lids and rings ready.
Open Kettle Canning Method:
While the beets remain at a simmer, quickly ladle them into the jars and fill each jar with hot brine leaving 1/2″ headspace at the top of the jar. Quickly wipe the rim of the jar and place a lid and ring on each jar immediately after filling it. This is easiest to do with two people. One person filling jars, and one person putting lids on and tightening them.

Allow to sit at least 12 hours at room temperature to seal.
This method is perfectly safe even for a low-acid food like beets, because we are pickling them and placing them in a high acid environment.
Water Bath Canning Method:
If you prefer, you can put beets and pickling liquid into jars, even if they’re not still simmering.
Place lids and rings on jars and hand tighten.
Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
Allow to sit at least 12 hours at room temperature to seal.
If you have any jars that don’t seal from either canning method, you can either put them in the refrigerator to eat within a few weeks, or process them again using the water bath canning method.
Remove rings, label and store on your pantry shelves. These beets will keep for a long time on the shelf.
If you have any leftover brine, you can make some hard-boiled eggs and place them in a mason jar and cover with the beet brine. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for a few days, and you’ll have the best and prettiest pickled eggs you’ve ever seen.
If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21
Canned Pickled Beets - Old Fashioned Canning Recipe

This canned pickled beets recipe is one of my family’s favorites and something we try to keep well stocked in our homestead pantry. We grow a lot of beets in our market garden every year, and our favorite way to preserve them is by pickling them. This is a simple old fashioned recipe that is very easy to make. Beets always make a mess however, no matter how simple the recipe, so I always try to pickle all my beets at one time so I only have to clean up the mess once. You’ll find lots of helpful tips and tricks in the video below.
Ingredients
- 12 cups cooked, peeled and chopped beets
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups vinegar
- 2 cups liquid from cooking beets
Instructions
Scrub beets in cold water to remove any dirt.
Depending on the size of your beets, you may have to cut the larger beets into smaller pieces, so they will cook evenly.
Place in a large pot, preferable on an outdoor stove. (This saves a lot of messes in my kitchen).
Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil beets until they are soft.
Remove from pot, being sure to save the beet juice leftover from cooking beets, as it will be part of the pickling liquid.
After the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and chop into bite sized pieces.
Place beets back into large pot, measuring as you go so you know how much pickling liquid to make.
For every 4 quarts of beets, you will need approximately 2 cups of pickling liquid.
Mix up equal parts of sugar, vinegar and the liquid from cooking the beets to equal the amount of pickling liquid needed.
Pour over beets and bring to a full rolling boil, reduce heat to a simmer.
Wash jars and get lids and rings ready.
Open Kettle Canning Method:
While the beets remain at a simmer, quickly ladle them into the jars and fill each jar with hot brine leaving 1/2" headspace at the top of the jar. Quickly wipe the rim of the jar and place a lid and ring on each jar immediately after filling it. This is easiest to do with two people. One person filling jars, and one person putting lids on and tightening them.
Allow to sit at least 12 hours at room temperature to seal.
This method is perfectly safe even for a low-acid food like beets, because we are pickling them and placing them in a high acid environment.
Water Bath Canning Method:
If you prefer, you can put beets and pickling liquid into jars, even if they’re not still simmering.
Place lids and rings on jars and hand tighten.
Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
Allow to sit at least 12 hours at room temperature to seal.
If you have any jars that don’t seal from either canning method, you can either put them in the refrigerator to eat within a few weeks, or process them again using the water bath canning method.
Remove rings, label and store on your pantry shelves. These beets will keep for a long time on the shelf.
If you have any leftover brine, you can make some hard-boiled eggs and place them in a mason jar and cover with the beet brine. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for a few days, and you'll have the best and prettiest pickled eggs you've ever seen.
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