Candied Beets - Went Here 8 This (2024)

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You’ll love these sweet and tender Candied Beets as a delicious side dish for the holidays or any day of the week. It’s an easy recipe with just 5 ingredients and the most amazing sweet orange glaze!

We definitely have a love for root vegetables in our house (like these honey roasted parsnips). They store well and don’t spoil easily, so we usually stock up when we can.

Candied beets couldn’t be easier to make! Once you cook your beets, you just need to cut them up and make your glaze. Combine the two and heat for 5 minutes.

These sweet beets are great on top of a salad or as a side to this Dutch oven roast chicken or sous vide whole duck!

We are also pretty big fans of these sous vide beets or Instant Pot beets too!

Why this recipe works

1. These candied beets come together in no time! Just cook your beets and the glaze is ready in 5 minutes.
2. The sweet orange glaze balances the earthy flavor of the beets.
3. You can easily make candied beets in advance by cooking the beets a few days ahead of time.

What are candied beets?

Candied beets are simply beets that are cooked and then warmed in a sweet glaze.

Ingredients

The full list of ingredients and quantities used can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

You’ll need 3-5 medium beets, cooked, peeled and cut in 2" pieces. I used red beets but you can also use golden beets (they’ll stain less too!) You can also substitute whole canned beets if you’re pressed for time.

To make the glaze, the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of orange zest.

I normally prefer cooking with unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt added to recipes. If you only have salted butter, you may wish to omit the ¼ teaspoon of added salt in the recipe.

I love the caramel flavor of brown sugar in candied beets. You can also use coconut sugar and even substitute a little honey.

The orange zest adds a subtle citrusy flavor to the sweet glaze. You can leave it out if you prefer, but I highly recommend it!

Step by step instructions

Heat the butter, salt, orange zest and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly, stirring regularly to prevent burning.

Add the beets and cook for 3-5 minutes in the glaze.

Remove and serve hot.

How to cook beets

In my opinion, the best way is to make Instant Pot beets. You can also roast them in the oven if you prefer, but I find the Instant Pot method is less messy and more hands off.

Expert tips

1. Be sure to use a large enough skillet to fit all of your beets and glaze.
2. While I cut my beets into 2-inch pieces, you can cut them into smaller pieces if you prefer.
3. If you’re pressed for time, you can substitute with whole canned beets.
4. To change things up, you can use golden beets instead of red beets.
5. You can leave out the orange zest if you prefer.
6. When cooking the glaze, do so until it is just bubbling. Also, if you cook it for too long without stirring, it may burn.
7. While the beets just take 3-5 minutes to cook in the glaze, you will need to factor in time to cook the beets.

Common questions

More root vegetable recipes

• Instant Pot Carrots
• Sous Vide Potatoes
• Easy Curry Roasted Winter Vegetables
• Sous Vide Carrots
• Baked Parsnip Fries

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