How to Pickle Beets Safely at Home

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Knowing how to pickle beets lets you keep a late-summer harvest on the shelf for months. Pickled beets are a canned, shelf-stable food, so the method matters as much as the flavor. Extension publications treat them as a vinegar-acidified product that goes into a boiling water canner, and they give processing times that depend on jar size and elevation. This guide explains the steps those sources describe, and it is clear about what the sources leave for you to check in a tested recipe.

Quick answer

Use a research-tested pickled beet recipe, not a family recipe you cannot check. Penn State Extension directs readers to the National Center for Home Food Preservation for the directions.
Use vinegar with at least 5 percent acidity, as the UC pickling publication instructs.
Process the sealed jars in a boiling water canner. The UC pickling booklet gives 30 minutes for pints and quarts at 0 to 1,000 feet, rising with altitude.
Check the altitude table before you start, because the times change above 1,000 feet.

Why pickled beets are processed in a canner

Pickling with vinegar makes the beets acidic, which is what makes a boiling water canner safe for them. The Penn State publication on red beets explains that beets “can be pressure canned, frozen, or acidified with vinegar to pickle and then boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canned.” That is the route pickled beets take. Plain beets without vinegar are handled differently, and the same page lists pressure canning as an option for them.

The acid is not optional. The UC pickling publication gives a direct instruction for the vinegar, saying “When pickling, always use high-quality commercial vinegars with at least 5% acidity.” The recipe assumes that acidity, so read the label before you buy. Ingredient changes can alter the acidity of the finished jar, which is why extension sources ask you to follow a tested recipe rather than adjust it by taste.

Choosing and preparing the beets

Start with firm beets of similar size so they cook and pack evenly. The UC pickling publication includes a pickled beet recipe that calls for 7 pounds of beets measuring 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Its first step reads “Trim off beet tops, leaving 1 inch of stem,” which keeps the beets from bleeding color during cooking. Scrub the beets, keep the root tails intact, and avoid cutting the skin before cooking.

The extension recipe is a cooked, sliced product. Whole baby beets are also covered in the same booklet, and the UC publication notes that you can follow the same directions with beets that are 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, packed whole rather than sliced. Choose one form and keep to it, because the processing time in the table is set for the pack style you choose.

Cooking, packing and filling jars

Cook the beets until they are tender, then cool them enough to peel and slice. The UC recipe adds the beets and onions to the brine and simmers them for 5 minutes before the jars are filled. Fill the hot jars with beets and brine, leaving the headspace the recipe specifies. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims, adjust the lids, and close the jars.

Use standard, Mason-type jars designed for home canning. The UC booklet states that “Processing times are based on standard-sized, Mason-type jars designed for home canning use,” and it advises discarding jars with cracks or chips. Use two-piece metal lids and screw bands, and do not reuse lids, since reused lids are more likely to fail to seal.

Processing in a boiling water canner

Place the filled jars on the canner rack in boiling water, and add more boiling water if the level drops during processing, as the UC booklet’s canner instructions direct. Start timing when the water returns to a full boil. The UC pickling booklet lists the hot-pack processing time for pickled beets as 30 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts at 0 to 1,000 feet. At 1,001 to 3,000 feet the time is 35 minutes, at 3,001 to 6,000 feet it is 40 minutes, and above 6,001 feet it is 45 minutes for both pints and quarts.

When the time is up, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. The booklet advises that you “Wait 5 minutes before removing the jars,” since sudden movement can disturb the seal. Lift the jars onto a towel or rack and leave them undisturbed. Check each lid after the jars cool, and follow the guidance in your tested recipe for any jar that did not seal.

The processing times in this section are the ones printed in the UC table, so use them as written. If your recipe gives a different time, follow the tested recipe and the altitude table for your recipe and jar size, not the time from another source.

Storing and using pickled beets

Store sealed jars in a cool, dry place away from direct light. Label each jar with the date. Before you open a jar, follow the inspection guidance in your tested recipe. The extension sources in this article do not give a single shelf-life figure for pickled beets, so use a tested date from your recipe source.

For more on preserving vegetables with vinegar, see our guide on how to pickle green beans, which uses the same type of acidified brine. If you are preserving a larger harvest by canning rather than pickling, how to can green beans covers the boiling water canner steps in more detail. For short-term storage of fresh roots before you process them, see how to store freshly harvested vegetables.

How we chose

We used three non-retail sources: the UC Cooperative Extension pickling publication with the pickled beet recipe, the Penn State Extension red beets page, and the UC pickling booklet with the hot-pack processing table for pickled beets. Each was opened on 2026-10-27 and the quotes above were copied from the fetched text. We did not use commercial recipe blogs or retail pages.

What we could not verify

The full text of the National Center for Home Food Preservation pickled beet recipe is not quoted here, because that page was not available in the copy we could read. The UC recipe and the processing table come from the same extension family, and they agree on times for pints and quarts. The sources do not compare every pickling method, and they do not cover refrigerator pickles, which are not canned.

What the sources do not say

The sources do not give a shelf life for pickled beets in months, and they do not say how long a jar keeps after opening. They also do not say whether a particular sugar or spice blend changes the processing time. If you change the recipe, the tested processing time may no longer apply, so check with a tested recipe source before you do.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you process pickled beets in a canner?

The UC pickling booklet gives 30 minutes for pints and quarts at 0 to 1,000 feet. The time increases to 35 minutes at 1,001 to 3,000 feet, 40 minutes at 3,001 to 6,000 feet, and 45 minutes above 6,001 feet.

What kind of vinegar should I use?

The UC publication says to use “high-quality commercial vinegars with at least 5% acidity.” Check the label, because lower-acid vinegar can change the safety of the finished jar.

Can I use a pressure canner for pickled beets?

The Penn State red beets page lists boiling water bath and atmospheric steam canning for vinegar-pickled beets. The sources in this article do not recommend a pressure canner for pickled beets, so follow the boiling water method in the tested recipe.

Do I need to peel beets before pickling?

The UC recipe involves cooking the beets and then peeling and slicing them. The retrieved text does not describe a different method for whole baby beets beyond packing them whole, so follow the steps in your tested recipe.

What should I do if a jar does not seal?

The sources in this article do not give a complete rule for unsealed jars. Follow the guidance in the tested recipe you are using, and do not assume a jar that did not seal is shelf-stable.

Sources

UC Cooperative Extension, pickling publication with pickled beet recipe: https://class.ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2020-07/329615.pdf (opened 2026-10-27)
Penn State Extension, red beets: https://extension.psu.edu/red-beets (opened 2026-10-27)
UC Cooperative Extension Orange County, pickling booklet with hot-pack processing times for pickled beets: https://oc4h.ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2020-12/341235.pdf (opened 2026-10-27)