Learn how to roast beets perfectly every time! In this easy recipe, a bright citrus marinade transforms humble roasted beets into a stunning side dish.
This roasted beets recipe highlights what I love most about beets. A simple citrus marinade brings out their sweet, earthy flavor, and juicy orange slices complement their smooth, soft texture. Add some flaky sea salt, a handful of greens, and orange zest, and you have a cold weather side dish that’s just as fresh and flavorful as any summer salad.
This roasted beets recipe is one of my go-to side dishes in the fall and winter. It’s not just delicious; it’s also really easy to make! If you roast and season the beets in advance, you can put the whole thing together in minutes.
How to Roast Beets
If you’ve never roasted beets before, it couldn’t be easier. I roast the beets whole and peel them after they’re cooked, so no chopping is necessary. Here’s all you need to do:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wrap each beet in aluminum foil with a drizzle of olive oil and generous pinches of salt and pepper.
- Place the wrapped beets on a baking sheet and roast until they’re fork-tender. Mine usually take 35-60 minutes – the time will depend on the size and freshness of your beets.
- Unwrap the beets and set them aside to cool.
- When they’re cool to the touch, rub off the skins. I like to do this step under running water for easy cleanup!
That’s it! Feel free to use the oven roasted beets in any recipe you like, or try the serving suggestion here. I toss them with splashes of sherry or balsamic vinegar, fresh orange and lemon juice, and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Then, I serve them with orange segments, zest peels, and a handful of watercress or arugula. You can roast and marinate the beets up to 2 days in advance, which makes this recipe really easy to assemble and serve.
Roasted Beets Recipe Variations
Want to jazz up this roasted beets recipe? Here are a few ideas:
- Top it with crushed, toasted pistachios or walnuts for crunch.
- Sprinkle it with tangy feta or goat cheese.
- Add roasted chickpeas, quinoa, farro, or wheat berries to make it heartier.
- Garnish the final dish with thyme leaves or chopped parsley.
- Skip the watercress, and make a salad! Chop the beets and serve them on a bed of spinach.
- Change the marinade! Toss the roasted beets with apple cider vinegar dressing or lemon vinaigrette.
Let me know what variations you try!
Roasted Beets Serving Suggestions
This roasted beets recipe is a delicious dinner side dish. Serve it with your favorite protein or a hearty pasta like my mushroom pasta, sun-dried tomato pasta, butternut squash ravioli, or spaghetti aglio e olio.
It would also be a great addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday menu, served alongside classic dishes like these:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Roasted Delicata Squash
- Maple Roasted Acorn Squash
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
For more Thanksgiving side dishes, check out this post, and don’t forget the pumpkin pie or apple crumble for dessert!
More Favorite Beet Recipes
If you love these roasted beets, show off this root vegetable in one of these recipes next:
- Roasted Beet Salad
- Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
- Beet Hummus
- Quinoa Burger
- Sautéed Beet Greens
- Or any of these 15 Fresh Beet Recipes!
Roasted Beets with Citrus
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 small or medium red or yellow beets
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 large navel orange
- Sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
- Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
- Handful of watercress leaves, or arugula or microgreens
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Flaky sea salt, optional
other extra (optional) topping ideas:
- Goat or feta cheese
- Chopped walnuts or pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Place each beet on a piece of foil and drizzle generously with olive oil and pinches of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Wrap the beets in the foil and roast on a baking sheet for 35 to 60 minutes, or until soft and fork-tender. The time will depend on the size and freshness of the beets. Remove the beets from the oven, remove the foil, and set aside to cool. When they are cool to the touch, peel the skins. I like to hold them under running water and slide the skins off with my hands.
- Use a citrus peeler to peel long strips around the orange, avoiding the white pith. Grated zest would work here also. Slice ¾ of the orange into segments and reserve the remaining ¼ wedge for squeezing.
- Slice the beets into 1” wedges or chunks and place them in a bowl. If you’re using red and yellow beets, place each color into separate bowls so the red beets don’t stain the yellow beets.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sherry vinegar, then add the lemon juice, orange juice squeezed from the remaining wedge, and a few pinches of salt and pepper and toss. Chill until ready to serve.
- Taste before serving and season with more salt (flaky sea salt, if using) and pepper or more vinegar (for more tang), orange, or lemon juice, as desired.
- Serve on a platter with the orange segments, watercress, and citrus curls.
Received red beets (with the greens attached in my CSA box) and had no idea what to do with them and your recipes were the first to pop up in my search. I used the greens in your sauteed beet greens recipe and roasted the beets for this recipe. Fabulous and unique recipe and very tasty! I look forward to using more of your recipes with the vegetables I’ll get this summer. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your beets and their greens!
I rarely mix fruits with veggies in same meal – except for a couple recipes my mother made. I have some awesome organic mandarin type oranges. My local farmer sold his red beets before I got my order in, so it will be orange beets with little oranges perhaps with cilantro as it’s the only fresh herb I have and I might try some sweet marjoram I grew this year as I’ll be de-twigging it today.
5 stars reduced to 4 stars for your use of foil! With the cookware suppliers you have I’m surprised you are wasting foil. I have (old) lidded glass Pyrex for things like this. I wish people would ask glassware companies to bring back the glass lids with their bakeware instead of plastic lids. Thing is, glass would cut into their profit margin. Plastic is not cheap in the long term, and I’m pretty sure the aluminum industry wants to keep people gobbling up foil in their kitchens. I use less than 5% of the foil I used to since a friend told me about parchment over 10 years ago, and it’s usually for covering a dish to bake it. Parchment has temperature limitations sometimes but I’ve found reducing cooking heat rarely makes enough difference to a recipe that I revert to foil. Recently I switched parchment to a brand that claims it composts. Please consider our planet as you move on with your recipes. Thank you.
Can you marinade the beets a day ahead?
Yep! Absolutely, they’re great with extra time to marinade.
These sound delicious. Willl they pair with a braised chicken & mushrooms recipe?
Made this as a thanksgiving side this year, it was a huge hit! The beets were so flavorful. The citrus, plus arugula, pistachios, and a little goat cheese all really came together.
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad it was a hit!
I made double the recipe for Christmas dinner. Who knew so many of my friends love beets. This dish got rave reviews. I used red and yellow beets, balsamic vinegar and the Maldon salt.
I’m so glad everyone loved the beets!
Made this salad tonight. Added grapefruit , goat cheese and walnuts. Lovely for summer dinner. Don’t forget the crispy bread and white wine
Hi Diana, I’m glad you enjoyed the beets 🙂
I love beets. They’re one of the first things I look for when checking out salad bars. They’re so sweet — this recipe for roasted beets seems like it’ll bring out even more sweetness in the beets!
This is one of my favorite salads to order in a restaurant so I was happy to have this recipe. I did slice my beets and I used goat cheese and arugula. it was a big hit. I think next time I will do it in chunks rather than slicing.
Hi William, I’m so glad to hear it was a hit!
This sounds wonderful. I like the simplicity and the combination of flavors.
I LOVE roasted beets, but have never paired them with citrus! Thanks for the great idea!