Beets are a common vegetable that you may have in your fridge right now. If you aren’t familiar with beets, they’re bright red root vegetables with a leafy green top on them. You can find these at almost any grocery store, and they’re a great addition to salads or as stand-alone side dishes. Most people will cook beets before eating them, but can you also eat them raw?
Yes, you can eat beets raw. Raw beets are not only delicious, but they are also an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, and their natural sweetness makes them a delicious addition to any meal.
Benefits Of Eating Raw Beets
Beets are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. They also contain antioxidants that promote healthy skin and protect the body from damage caused by free radicals.
But perhaps the most important benefit of eating beets is their ability to help improve blood flow. Beets contain nitrates that convert into nitric oxide in your body. Nitric oxide relaxes blood vessels and improves circulation, which can result in lower blood pressure.
What Do Raw Beets Taste Like?
Raw beets are sweet and earthy, with a mild flavor. They taste like a cross between lettuce, spinach, and carrots—with the added texture of lightly crunchy straws. You may also detect notes of sweetness from the beet’s natural sugars (which are extracted to make sugar beet syrup).
Raw beets have become popular for their health benefits: they’re rich in vitamins A and C as well as potassium, iron, folate, and fiber. But don’t let this turn you off if you don’t care about health—they’re delicious!
How To Prepare Raw Beets
Beets are delicious, nutritious, and good for you. They taste sweet when cooked, but can be eaten raw in salads or chopped up into a beet dip.
Here’s what you need to know about cleaning and preparing beets:
1. Wash the beets thoroughly under running water to remove all dirt and sand from the surface.
2. Remove the leaves from the top of the beet (if they’re still attached). The leaves are edible, but they won’t be as sweet as the rest of your beet after cooking so it’s best to remove them before cooking or eating raw.
3. Cut off both ends of the beet (where the leafy greens were attached), leaving about 1-inch of stem on each end of your beetroot. This will allow for easier peeling later on!
How To Eat Raw Beets
If you’ve never tried eating raw beets, this is your chance! Here are some ways you can use them:
Add chopped or sliced raw beets to your salad — You don’t have to cook them first if you don’t want to; they will still add some color and flavor to your meal. You can also try roasting beets in the oven until they’re tender before adding them to your salad.
Make pickled beets with vinegar — To make pickled beets, slice off the tops of fresh beets and place them in a jar with vinegar, water, and spices like coriander seeds or whole cloves of garlic for about three weeks before eating them as a snack or adding them to salads or sandwiches.
Make beet kvass — Kvass is fermented beet juice that originated in Russia as an alternative to soda pop. Kvass is made from rye bread mixed with water and sugar (sometimes) then left overnight at room temperature to ferment before drinking it.
Conclusion
I hope I’ve answered your question about whether or not you can eat raw beets! We think the answer is yes, and that there are many benefits to eating them raw. You may have also learned some things about prepared beets that you didn’t know before.
Kate has been in the food business for over 20 years. Worked as a cook at several buffets which include Old Country Buffet, Five Star Buffet, and Ichiban Buffet. Now, I’m mostly at home cooking for my family, caring for chickens and ducks, and tending the garden.
