Instant Pot Beets

Instant Pot Beets– are an excellent superfood, gluten-free, whole-food, and great for snacking. Learn how to cook beets or beetroot in Instant Pot as per their size.

Use these easy pressure cooked beets for salads, appetizers, smoothies, pulao or just serve them as is.

I don’t remember if I ever liked beetroot in my childhood. At the parent’s place, my mother used to make beetroot pooris using puree, juices, and salad.

Back then we always boil them in a pan and cooking time took forever with checking them multiple times.

Steaming beets in the instant pot are always perfect and hassle-free. Just steam beets as per their size and set the timer. The result will be soft and little crunchy beets every time.

Now growing up I realized the importance of this superfood full of nutrition. And now once a month I pressure cook and make a variety of beetroot recipes.

Beets Nutrition

Beetroot or beets is a taproot vegetable full of essential nutrients and low in fat. It is a great source of fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, and a rich source of iron.

I remember drinking carrot & beetroot juice whenever we got detected with iron deficiency. Apart from iron, it has many health benefits too, like lowering blood pressure is one of them.

Beets are eaten raw, steamed, boiled, and roasted. Normally used as a salad, pulao, soups & pickle, and it’s puree used to make baking desserts, dips.

Beet greens are also used to make saag like recipes. They are a perfect fit in healthy lifestyle and in balanced diet. This recipe is vegetarian, plant based, vegan, dairy free.

There are a few types of beetroot that come in the market which you can find by colors.

Ingredients

Cooking beetroot in instant pot always simple and easy. No waiting time for boiling water and no need for baby sitting. All you need just beets & water.

• 3 Beetroot of size 7″-8″ circumference
• 1 Cup water

Always try to steam the same size of beets. Refer the Time Chart to learn how much time to set for Pressure Cook in Instant Pot.

How to steam beets in the instant pot

There are two full-proof ways to steam beets while pressure cooking.

Method 1– Follow the below instructions to cook beets in instant pot without steamer basket.

Prepare beets

First of all, trim both ends and clean under running water to remove any dirt particles.

Pressure cook

Switch on the instant pot. Add one cup of water and place a trivet in the inside pot. Place beetroots on the trivet carefully.

Close the lid and set the valve in the “sealing” position. set PRESSURE COOK mode and cook on high for 20 minutes.

Once instant pot’s timer beeps, wait for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. Open the lid carefully and check for doneness.

Check the circumference of your beets using measuring tape. So that you can adjust pressure cook time in instant pot.

Check doneness

Since beets sizes vary we need to test for doneness using a knife or fork. Prick once using fork or knife, if it inserted softly that means beet are cook nicely in instantpot. carefully transfer them on a plate.

If there is a bit resistance in inserting that means beets are not cooked and pressure cook again for 1-2 mins.

Prepare cooked beets

Beet juice often stains the surface. It is always best to use a parchment paper on the surface you are cutting.

Before slicing beets, if required you can peel them using fingertips or knife. The outer skin will easily slide through. Though it is optional. Some people like to eat as is but for some peeling, is a must.

I prefer peeled beets in salad recipes. As they come at room temperature cut in the desired shape and sprinkle salt and lemon. Serve immediately.

Method 2– Second method is always perfect to get soft and tender beets every single time.

• Clean & rinse beetroot with running water. Peel if required.
• Cut them into slices or in wedges.
• Add 1 cup of water in an instant pot, place all wedges or slices in a steamer basket.
• Pressure cook for 15 mins. Open the lid after NPR.

Method 3– You can use Indian pressure cooker and cook for the time described above.

Time Chart to steam perfect beets

First, when I started steaming beets in instantpot, I simply placed 3 different sizes of beets and just cooked them on high pressure for 20 minutes.

Smaller beets were overdone and bigger size beets were underdone. It was a realization that definitely it depends on the size of the beetroot, for how long they should be pressure cooked.

This was the experiment I did, Bought 3 beets of the same size (7.5″ – 8″) and another 3 (9.5″, 10″, 10.5″) of different sizes. Measured their circumference using a measuring tape.

Steamed for different amounts of time as per their size and the texture I look for. I prefer soft & easy to cut through texture and doing this experiment I could get the perfect cooked beets.

Beets Size	Texture & cooking time
	Soft & easy to cut through
7.5″ – 8″	20 min High Pressure
9.5″	20-25 min High Pressure
10″	35 min High Pressure
10.5″	35 min High Pressure
	Soft & but crunch in the center
7.5″ – 8″	15 min High Pressure
9.5″	25 min High Pressure
10″	25-30 min High Pressure
10.5″	25-30 min High Pressure

Serving suggestions

There are so many ways to use beets, making falafel, kabab, pulao, adding in smoothies, used as a puree to make beetroot brownie, serving as sides like salads, or dip. Here are some suggestions.

• Beetroot raita is a yogurt-based dip usually served with biryani or pulao.
• Beetroot hummus is a great dip to serve with tortilla chips & pita bread.
• Smoothies are a great way to use beets in daily routine.
• Pickled beets are perfect for topping over tacos or burritos.
• Beetroot stir fry a delicious side dish often called beetroot thoran.
• Add them in salads or in buddha bowls as sides.
• Beetroot brownie– made eggless brownie using beetroot puree.

Storage suggestions

Storing pre-cooked beets is a very easy process. Allow them to come at room temperature, slice them in half, or cut in small cubes or chop them. Keep in freezer-friendly bags.

• Room temperature– At room temperature steamed beets are good for 24 hours. It may go for 2 days in the winter season.
• Refrigerator– 6-7 days are great to keep in the fridge. Let them cool down and keep in an airtight container.
• Freezing– Beets can be frozen As long as required for up to one year.

As beets come at room temperature, cut them into the desired shape. Layer them on a tray and freeze for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, add these pieces in a freezer friendly bag and keep them inside the freezer for as long as you want.

Thaw before using and use them normally.

Tips & FAQ’s

• If you wish to steam whole beets then choose same sizes of beets together and then PRESSURE COOK them. Doing so assures that beets will be cooked perfectly.
• Pressure cooking using the first method is the easiest without bothering about beets size. Just cut them in desired shape and steam for 15 minutes.
• Take help from the time chart provided.

You can check some more instant pot recipes from the blog.

• Instant pot palak paneer– This easy palak paneer cooked in instantpot within 30 min
• Instant pot Spanish rice– You can make these 5 ingredients delicious rice under 30 mins.
• Sarson da saag instant pot– Sarson ka saag is a traditional North Indian recipe to cook with mustard greens
• Instant pot dal & rice– white urad dal tadka is cooked along with pot-in-pot basmati rice
• Sweet vermicelli in instant pot– Thin sewai (vermicelli) cooked in ghee, khoya, dry fruits, and sugar

Do check few beginner friendly recipes

• Instant pot ghee
• Instant pot cold start yogurt
• Instant pot hard-boiled eggs

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