Boil or bake: the best way to cook beets to make them healthy and sweet

Beets are a very healthy and budget-friendly vegetable that can be the basis for delicious and light salads, borscht, and sauces. Often this vegetable is boiled for salads, but experts advise baking it.

What to cook with beets

The FoodOboz editorial team shares useful tips from experts and chefs on how to properly prepare beets for salads and snacks so that they remain sweet and healthy afterward.

How to cook beetroot properly

Experts say that to make beets as sweet as possible, it is better to bake them rather than boil them!

Healthy beetroot for salad

Why is baking better?

1. Concentrates sugars

When baking, water does not wash out the natural sweetness, as it does when cooking.

2. Preserves the flavor

Beetroot acquires a richer flavor.

3. Remains dense

The structure of the beetroot is not boiled.

How to bake beets correctly?

Do not peel – bake the beets in their skins so that they do not lose their juice. Wrap in foil to help retain moisture. The temperature is 180-200°C. Time – depends on the size: small – 40 minutes, medium – 60 minutes, large – up to 90 minutes.

Check readiness – pierce with a knife or skewer, it should go in easily.

If you want even more caramelized sweetness, you can bake at 200°C without foil for the last 15 minutes.

But if you need it quickly, you can boil it. Then it is better to cook in the skin and not pierce it so that the beets do not lose their sweetness.