How to Freeze Fresh Beets (Raw or Cooked)

Beets are beautiful, healthy, and delicious! Their vibrant color and earthy flavor make them a gem on the dinner table. They’re also versatile, filling, and super healthy.

Beets are tasty on their own roasted, steamed, or raw. You can use them in soups, juices, stews, salads, sandwiches, and more. I have even been known to add beets to a smoothie.  

Beets are packed with fiber, folate, iron, and vitamin C and have tons of health benefits. Did you know they can improve exercise performance? They improve blood flow, so your muscles get more oxygen and work better. Learn more about how beets and beet juice can improve health.

Luckily, you can freeze this versatile veggie with two simple methods so you’ll never run out. I’ll share the details so you can figure out the best way for you.

You can freeze blanched raw beets or fully cooked beets.

Here’s the basic equipment you’ll need for either method.

1. A Large Pot or Saucepan

Beets are pretty bulky, so you’ll need a large pot or two to boil or blanch them or cook them. If you have a lot of beets, boil them in batches.

2. A Large Bowl

The bowl is to prepare an ice bath for your beets and should be more or less the same size as the pot. 

3. A colander or slotted spoon

A colander or slotted spoon makes it easy to drain the beets once you’ve blanched them or cooked them.

4. A Baking Tray

You’ll need a large, flat surface to flash-freeze your beets.

If you don’t have a baking tray, you can use a plastic cutting board or any other flat surface. As long as it fits in your freezer, it will work (some people like to use baking half-sheets just for this purpose).

5. Freezer-Friendly Bags

It’s best to use durable zip-top bags made for home freezing. You can use either plastic or silicone freeze bags. If you don’t have suitable bags, use an airtight container with a lid. 

Plastic freezer bags that are made for freezing can help reduce freezer burn and will just increase the shelf life of your frozen beets as long as possible.

6. Disposable Gloves

Beets are a beautiful color, but they can stain your hands once you begin cutting them. Use gloves if you don’t want your hands to turn a pinkish purple when handling the beets.

In a pinch, you could use transparent plastic packets over your hands; just be careful when using the knife since your grip may be less secure.

This recipe has only one ingredient: beets!

Here are some guidelines on selecting the best beets for freezing and some tips on preparing this vibrant root vegetable.

Beets

Choose bright beets that are not too hard but still fresh with their leafy greens attached. You can use young beets, small beets, or large beets for freezing. You can also freeze any type of color of beet, including red, purple, orange, or striped.

If you’re not going to freeze them in the next day or two, remove the greens but leave a few inches of the stem attached. Leaving the greens on will cause the beets to ripen or go bad quicker. 

For the best results, it’s a good idea to spend a little time preparing your beets before you freeze them. As you’ll see in the recipe below, it’s always recommended to either blanch your beets or cook them fully before freezing them.

You have two options when it comes to freezing beets.

You can either cook them and freeze them fully cooked, or you can blanch raw beets and freeze the blanched beets. Either way, you’ll need to do some prep to freeze your beets.

Freezing Cooked Beets

1. Cook your beets and let them cool.
2. Peel them and then slice them or cut them in half and lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Be are to cut off the rest of the tops and root end using a sharp knife.
3. Freeze until solid, then transfer to zip-top bags for long-term storage.

Freezing Raw Beets

1. Slice or cube your raw beets.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the beets to the boiling water and let them cook for a few minutes.
3. Transfer the blanched beets to an ice bath, ice water, or cold water to stop the cooking process.
4. Pat the blanched beets dry and then lay them on a baking sheet.
5. Freeze until solid, then transfer to zip-top bags or your favorite freezer containers for long-term storage. Squeeze as much air out of the bags as possible, or use a vacuum sealer.