Cooking whole beets has never been easier! Learn how easy it is to make restaurant-style roasted beets in foil at home with just 2 ingredients in the oven or air fryer from a dietitian!
All you need to make this super easy roasted beets recipe are fresh beets (also known as beetroot), a small amount of olive oil and tin foil. It's so easy!
As a registered dietitian, I've always been drawn to the idea of eating beets because of their vibrant color. Still, it wasn't until I became a mom that I started experimenting with ways to make and serve them in ways that taste good.
After trying several different ways to cook beets, I have found that roasting beets in foil is absolutely the easiest way because there is very little hands-on time and cleanup is a breeze!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 2-Ingredients Fresh beetroot and a very small amount of olive oil. That's it. It's the same ingredients that you need to make beet chips!
- Meal Prep Roast a few beets, slice them, and store in the fridge to be used throughout the week. Cooked beats can be served as a simple side or added to a variety of dishes.
- Easy Cleanup If you wrap the beets tightly in foil, none of the juices should leak out. If this is the case, all you need to do is toss the foil once the beets are finished roasting. 🤩
Dietitian Tip
As a registered dietitian, I think it's super important that we don't pressure our kids (or spouses;) to try a new food or set any sort of expectation on whether or not they will like something. And I think it's equally important to continue to serve fruits and vegetables in a variety of ways in order to increase exposure because it may lead to acceptance.
My oldest daughter has loved plain beets from day one. In fact, she used to eat so many of them that I had to switch to making golden beets for a while, lol.
My other two kids do not love to eat beets so much. Still, I've continued to serve them without commenting and just recently one of my other kids ordered a smoothie with beets in it and loved it. So, who knows? Maybe she will be eating beets as they are in the near future!
Ingredient Notes
- Beets A beet, also known as beetroot, is a root vegetable. Beets are full of nutrients that have been shown to have a positive impact on health.
- Olive Oil I use extra virgin olive oil.
How to Make Roasted Beets in Foil
Here is a summary of how to roast beetroot in foil. For a complete list of ingredients and full instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Use a sharp knife to cut off the beet greens and wash the beets well.
- Place the beet on a square piece of foil. Pour a light drizzle of olive oil on top of the beet and use your hands to cover the entire beet with olive oil.
- Wrap the beet in foil to make a foil packet. Place the wrapped beet on a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish.
- Roast beets in the oven or air fryer at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, or until the beet is fork tender. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before running under cold running water to remove the peel (optional) or slicing.
Helpful Tips
- Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the beets. As you see in the picture above, beets come in various sizes. Small beets will cook quicker. Larger beets will take longer to cook. For me, smaller beets take 40 minutes and medium beets take about 45 minutes. The very large beets I recently roasted took closer to an hour until they were fork tender.
- In my experience, beets wrapped in foil take the same amount of time to roast when using an air fryer as they do when using an oven.
- When roasting more than one beet, use beets that are the same size and wrap beets in their own piece of foil. Once covered in olive oil and wrapped individually, place the wrapped beets in a single layer on the baking sheet. See the picture at the top of this post for reference.
- Cut the stems off right above or below where they attach to the beetroot before roasting. I have roasted beets both ways and they turned out the same. Either way, you'll want to cut off the stems before eating beets.
- With oil, a little goes a long way. This recipe calls for very little oil compared to similar recipes.
- Peeling off the beet skins after they are roasted is optional. If you won't be removing the skins, there is no need to rinse the cooked beets in cold water unless you want them to cool faster.
- If you don't plan on peeling off the skins once they are cooked, consider adding fresh herbs when spreading olive oil on the beets to give them more flavor.
- Some people like add a pinch or two of salt when coating the beets with oil. Personally, I don't find it necessary (I am a dietitian after all 😉), especially if you'll be removing the skins or adding roasted beets to an already salty dish.
- Wear food safe gloves when removing the beet skins if you prefer not to have your skin get stained from the beet juice. Staining of the skin from beets is temporary.
How to Serve Roasted Beets
Beets have a unique flavor, including a touch of sweetness from the natural sugars they contain. Because of this, many people, including myself, prefer to eat beets with other foods. Here are a few ways that I enjoy eating beets.
- By themselves or sprinkled with goat cheese or feta as a simple side dish.
- On top of avocado when making avocado toast. This idea was inspired by the way a local restaurant serves avocado toast and it is now my favorite way to eat beets.
- Diced up to make a roasted beet salad. In fact, you add them to or substitute them for strawberries in this strawberry goat cheese salad.
- Cut cooked beets into smaller pieces to be warmed in a skillet with toasted walnuts and a sprinkle of feta to be served as a delicious side dish.
Questions You May Have
Make beet hummus or add sliced beets to the top of avocado toast. You can also puree leftover roasted beets and use them to make chocolate cake. Yum!
Let the beets cool and come to room temperature before storing. Then place them in an airtight container and refrigerate. Use within 3-5 days.
Yes, you absolutely can! Even when roasted, the texture of the skin is noticeable but it's still delicious. Plus, eating the skin saves a lot of time since you don't have to peel them. Still, it's even more important to scrub beets well before roasting.
It is a lot easier to peel beets after they are roasted. It's even easier when you peel them while under running cold water while they are still a little warm.
At first, I doubted that peeling the skins off while under running water would be easier. So, I roasted two beets. Then I peeled one without running it under water and the other under cold running water and the one I peeled under running water was most definitely easier.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Easy Roasted Beets in Foil
Equipment
- 3 squares of tinfoil
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized beets Greens removed and beets scrubbed well. Small- or large-sized beets can be used but cooking time will need to be adjusted.
- ¼ teaspoon olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Tear off three squares of tinfoil. The pieces of tinfoil should be large enough to wrap around the beets. Approximately 11 x 11-inch pieces of foil.
- Place one beet in the center of each piece of foil.3 medium-sized beets
- Drizzle each beet with a small amount of olive oil. Approximately ¼ teaspoon per beet. Use a basting brush or your hands to cover the beets in a thin layer of oil.¼ teaspoon olive oil
- Individually wrap each beet in a piece of foil.
- Place the three individually wrapped beets on a baking sheet. Place in the oven or air fryer and cook for 45 minutes or until the beet is fork tender.
- Remove from the oven and let it set for about 5 minutes before unwrapping the foil.
- If you plan on removing the skin, let the beets cool for about 5-10 more minutes, then peel the skins off as you hold each beet under cold running water.
Notes
- Scrub the beets very well before roasting.
- The thick tops of each beet can be cut off before or after roasting, but the beet greens should be removed before roasting.
- Beets air dry pretty quickly. If the beets are still wet when you go to add olive oil, pat them dry with a paper towel first.
- Cooking time will vary based on the size of the beets. Large beets can take up to 55 minutes to roast.
- The larger the beet, the more oil it will take to cover it. In my experience, I haven't needed to use more than a half-teaspoon of oil to cover a large beet, but for very large beets as you'll see pictured in the full post, I use close to a whole teaspoon of oil.
- Beets should still be warm when removing the skin from a beet under running water.
- I've made roasted beets in the oven and air fryer, and it took the same amount of time.
- If using an air fryer, always follow the manufacturer's instructions specific to the air fryer you will be using.
Leave a Reply