My vegan garlic butter beets recipe turns this humble root vegetable into an irresistible side dish. Roasting intensifies the beets' natural sweetness and tossing them with garlic and vegan butter makes them taste rich, savory and delicious.
Buttery beets with just three ingredients
This recipe for vegan garlic butter beets needs just three ingredients and minimal hands on time.
Roasting beets is one of the best ways to maximize the deliciousness of this superstar veggie. It's a technique I use often in recipes like beets with garlic and olive oil, roasted golden beets and roasted beet salad. For these vegan garlic butter beets I roast the beets until they are tender, slice them, skin and all, and toss them with an extraordinarily simple but also extraordinarily flavorful sauce of vegan butter and garlic.
This is a super versatile side dish, one you can serve with any entree, and it's not just extra delicious - it's super nutritious as well.
Why eat beets?
This is a question I used to get so often from Jay, in fact each time he saw me buy these veggies at the market, so let me address that here for anyone who still feels squeamish about these rather odd-looking veggies which cook up so gorgeous--sort of like the ugly ducklings of the vegetable world.
Beets are one of the most nutritious veggies you can eat, packed as they are with vitamins, fiber, potassium and iron. When my brother and I were children, our father would get us to eat beets by telling us that the red beets made our blood redder. While that was a simple and fun way of explaining the nutritive value of beets to kids, the fact is that the high levels of folate and iron in beet are indeed highly beneficial for hemoglobin--the protein molecule in your red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to different parts of your body.
Beets are not just nutrition superstars though. They are also delicious, with a sweet, deep, earthy flavor that combines well with garlic, lemon and herbs like thyme and rosemary.
People often just eat the roots, but beet greens are just as delicious and nutritious. And they cook fast, like chard or spinach. You can toss them into dals and stews. Indian cooks chop up beet greens and saute them with onions and garlic and green chili peppers into a tasty sabzi or side dish that goes really well with dal. So the next time, do not toss those greens.
Recipe card
Vegan Garlic Butter Beets
Ingredients
- 4 beets (small to medium. If using larger beets use 2 or 3. Trim off the greens,and cut off the tails, then scrub the beets clean under running water.)
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter (use 2 for even more flavor)
- 4 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius.
- Place the beets on a baking sheet and pop them into the oven. Let them cook 40-50 minutes until a knife goes cleanly through the thickest part of the beet.
- Let the beets cool until you can handle them, then slice them thinly. Cut each slice into half or fourths if using large beets.
- Place the butter and garlic in a sklllet. Let them heat together over medium-low heat. This will help infuse the garlic flavor through the oil.
- As the garlic starts to turn color and becomes lightly blonde, add the sliced beets. Add salt and ground black pepper. Move the beets around to coat them in the garlic-butter mixture.
- Turn off the heat after three to four minutes. Serve the beets hot, warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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Serving suggestions
- Serve the beets as a side with any entree dish, like vegan quinoa and bean burger and vegan Irish whiskey tofu steaks.
- Toss the garlic butter beets in a delicious beet salad.
- Serve over toasted no-knead sourdough bread drizzled with olive oil.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store the garlic butter beets in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
- Freeze: The beets can be frozen for up to four months in a freezer-safe container.
- Thaw: Thaw the beets and reheat them in the oven set to 350-degrees F/180 degrees C for 10 minutes, or in the microwave.
Rita says
Just tried it and veggie hating husband gave it five stars! It's going into my rotation and I will try it with golden beets next.