Simple Fermented Beets

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Simple Fermented Beets are a delicious, probiotic-rich snack, side dish, or sandwich addition. No fermentation starter is needed—this recipe uses simple ingredients like raw beets, garlic, water, and sea salt.

This fermented beets recipe is simple to make, as it only uses four basic ingredients that everyone has at home – raw beets, garlic, water, and sea salt. No starter is needed to kick-start the fermentation process, as the beetroot’s skin already contains the beneficial bacteria.

No special equipment is needed for this recipe. The secret to any fermentation process is patience and care. Patience to wait for the fermentation, and caring by checking on your ferment to ensure the beets are fully submerged in brine.

Fermenting beets is the perfect way to balance the natural sweetness of the beets with a tangy flavor resulting from lacto-fermentation. While this recipe only uses garlic for spice, you can use other herbs and spices, such as fresh dill, bay leaf, ginger, or pepper corns.

If you love fermenting vegetables, give our other fermentation recipes a go: Easy Fermented Carrots With Harissa, Easy Fermented Red Cabbage kraut – 2 Ingredients, and Gochujang Kimchi (Vegan).

Craving more beet goodness? Check out these recipes:

Why you’ll love Fermented Beets

Easy to make – It only takes a few simple steps to make delcious fermented beets. All you need is a clean mason jar, sliced beets, salted water (brine), and two cloves of garlic. The hardest part is waiting 5 to 10 days for the beets to ferment.
Keeps crunchy – Salty brine keeps the beets crunchy, making each bite fun and enjoyable.
Healthy – Lacto-fermented foods, including these beets, have been proven to support gut health, boost immunity, and improve digestion (see the full study on the health benefits of lacto-fermented foods).
Ready in a week – whereas sauerkraut needs two to three weeks to ferment, fermented beets only takes 5 to 7 days.

Ingredients

Fresh beets – Also called beetroot, the fresher, more seasonal, the more nutrient-dense it will be. Or beetroot – see our Beet and cucumber salad (with roasted garlic yogurt sauce).
Filtered water – Make sure there are no chloramine, fluoride, and other toxins in the water used for fermentation.
Sea salt – Use non-iodized and without other additives, such as anti-caking agents. Use 2 % salt per total weight of the water and beets.
Garlic – Fresh peeled garlic will add a bit of spice to the beets.

How to ferment beets

Prepare the jar

Sterilize the mason or a jar with a lid, by either pouring a few tablespoons of vinegar inside and mixing it around or by pouring almost boiling water inside and letting that sit.

Prepare the beets

Wash the beets to remove mud and sand.
Remove any bruises and cuts.
Leave some clean skin on. Lactic bacteria live on the skin of beets and will help the fermentation process.
Slice the beets with a mandoline slicer, as setting 1 or 2.

Prepare the garlic

Peel the garlic to remove the skin.
Remove any bruises or cuts from the garlic clove.

Fill the jar

Add the peeled garlic clove to the jar.
Add the sliced beets to the jar, packing them tight, so they will stay in one place when the brine is added.
Pour the filtered water on top of the beets, leaving two centimeters, or one inch of empty space on top.

Salt and ferment

Use 2% salt based on the total weight of beets, garlic, and water (total grams × 0.02). Sprinkle sea salt between beet layers in the jar and gently massage (with clean hands) to dissolve.
Add fermentation weight to keep everything submerged.
For a mason jar, keep the lid half unscrewed. For a lidded jar, remove the rubber seal and close it loosely to let CO₂ escape during fermentation.

Fermentation

Keep the ferment in a dark place or away from direct sunlight, like a cupboard or basement, at 15°C–24°C (60°F–75°F).
Place a bowl or plate underneath to catch any overflow.
Let it ferment for 5–7 days—bubbles and foam will appear already on day two.
Check regularly; make sure the beets are fully submerged in the brine, if not add a different weight or more salted brine.
Beets can develop a very strong flavor during fermentation, therefore we don’t reccomeomnd fermenting it longer than 7 days.
Some beet pieces may turn brown during fermentation, but this is harmless and just a natural colour change.

How to store and eat fermented beets

Store fermented beets in a fridge. They will stay good for two months, after that they might develop a strong flavour similar to the yeast used for cooking, which I don’t enjoy.
Our favorite way to eat fermented beets is in a sandwich, in combination with avocado, seitan / smoked tofu, and pistachio pesto. Beets and pistachio are a match made in heaven, try fermented beets in a sandwich with our Pistachio pesto.

Sandwich with fermented beets, avocado and pistachio pesto

Equipment needed

Kitchen scale to measure the 2 % salt needed to add to the brine.
Mason jar or flip-top jar 400 ml / 14 – 16 oz to ferment the beets in.
Fermentation weights are needed to keep the ferments submerged in the brine – see an example of glass fermentation weights here. You can also use a sandwich bag filled with water can be used on top – see the method here: Fermented Hot Chili Sauce – Beginner-Friendly.
Mandoline slicer to slice the beets in thin slices.

Recipe video with Fermented Beets

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Easy Fermented Red Cabbage (Sauerkraut)- 2 Ingredients

Gochujang Kimchi (Vegan)

Beets and cucumber salad

1 12

Author: Darja

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 5

Total Time 5

Course Condiment, Fermented food and drinks

Cuisine Fermented, vegan

Servings Portions

Equipment

1 Kitchen scale
1 Mason jar or flip top jar 400 ml / 14 – 16 oz
1 Mandoline slicer
1 Fermentation weight optional

Ingredients

2 medium beets washed and sliced
300 ml water approximately
2 cloves garlic peeled
sea salt