You’re going to love how easy it is to make Instant Pot Beets. Cook them whole and then remove the skins. Slice the beets for an easy salad or side dish. This method is mess-free!

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instant pot red beets served whole on a white plate

Recipe Highlights

If you’ve ever made beets in the oven, you know it takes a lot of time and can be very messy. The good news is that you can cook beets whole in the pressure cooker and get the same results from oven roasting.

The Instant Pot cooks them 16 minutes cooking time on high pressure, and then you can just use a paper towel to wipe off the skins. It’s so easy and much less messy than roasting beets in the oven.

Beets are a summer vegetable, but you can find them throughout the whole year nowadays. I like to buy them fresh at the farmers’ market where they often have red beets, orange beets, yellow beets, and candy cane beets (Chiogga beets), which are striped red and white.

Cooked beets can be used in a variety of ways, including in a salad, as a juice, as a side dish, or even in a smoothie. Beets are an incredibly healthy food, aiding in detoxification, blood pressure, and energy.

beets with greens on a tabletop

Recipe Steps

Step One

Unlike oven cooking where you have to wrap each beet in foil, all you have to do to prep beets for the Instant Pot is to remove any greens and large stems.

Step Two

Next, place a trivet in the base of a 3-quart, 6-quart, or 8-quart Instant Pot pressure cooker. Set the beets on top. You can cook as many beets as you like at one time, as long as they do not reach above the “max” fill line of the Instant Pot.

uncooked beets in Instant Pot

Step Three

Set the cooking time based on the size of the beets. For small beets, set the time to 12 minutes. For medium beets, set the time to 16 minutes. For large beets, set the time to 20 minutes. 

Step Four

Once the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for about 10 minutes. Then, use the natural release and carefully remove the lid.

Step Five

The last step is to cut off the tops from each beet using a paring knife. Then, to remove the skin, carefully hold each beet under cold running water. Use a clean paper towel to wipe the skin off of each beet. Then, you can serve the beets or store them in the refrigerator.

Serve your beets plain or however you like to prepare them. I recommend this Cold Beet Salad that is sooo good!

beet salad in a white bowl with olive oil

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

  • Use red beets or golden beets for this recipe.
  • Beets are budget-friendly and are generally available at any time of year. See my other tips for eating clean on a budget.
  • If you love beets, don’t miss my top-ranked recipe for Beet Juice (or my article on Beet Juice Benefits).

FAQs

How do you eat cooked beets?

I love to eat cooked beets in a beet salad, or freeze them and put them into smoothies (check out this Strawberry Beet Smoothie recipe). Cooked beets can also be blended into desserts as a hidden vegetable.

How long will cooked beets last in the refrigerator?

Cooked beets will generally last about a week (or sometimes longer) in the refrigerator. Store them in a tightly sealed container.

Are Instant Pot Beets the same as roasted beets?

Yes, you will get the exact same result from cooking beets in the Instant Pot versus roasting them in the oven.

More Easy Instant Pot Vegetable Recipes You Might Like

Or, check out my round-up of the best healthy Instant Pot side dishes.

I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.

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cooked beets on a plate

Instant Pot Beets

★★★★★

5 from 8 reviews
Print Recipe

Description

You’re going to love how easy it is to make Instant Pot Beets. Cook them whole and then remove the skins. Slice the beets for an easy salad or side dish. This method is mess-free!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1–2 pounds fresh beets, greens and stems removed
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

  1. Place the trivet on the bottom of your Instant Pot and add one cup of water.
  2. Place the beets on top of the trivet. 
  3. Set the time to 16 minutes on high pressure (see the notes below for information on timing). 
  4. Once the cooking time is up, let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, and then use the quick release.
  5. Remove the lid and use tongs to carefully transfer the beets to a plate.
  6. Use a paring knife to cut the ends off of each beet. Then, use a paper towel to gently wipe off the skin of each beet.
  7. Serve immediately, or store the cooked beets in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Notes

  1. 1 pound of beets is equal to about 5 small beets or 3-4 medium beets.
  2. You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the size of your beets. For small beets, set the time to 12 minutes. For medium beets, set the time to 16 minutes. For large beets, set the time to 20 minutes. 
  • Category: Side dish
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: how to make beets in the instant pot, cook beets in pressure cooker

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