Beets are a root vegetable, often boiled or roasted and eaten as a side dish. They typically last for about four weeks when stored in an airtight container with the tops cut off to let them breathe in excess moisture.
Beets are a root vegetable that last for about 3-4 days in the fridge.
You got a good deal on beets and don’t want them to spoil. How long do beets last and how should they be stored to keep them fresh?
Maybe you’re not sure whether you should keep your beets refrigerated or if a basket in the cupboard would suffice. Or even whether allowing them to sit at room temperature for more than a day or two is a viable choice.
If one of these scenarios describes you, this essay is for you. Here’s what we’ll talk about:
- keeping beets at home (I won’t recommend storing beets in sand or peat moss)
- Depending on where you store them, storage duration may vary.
- symptoms that your beets are beyond their prime and should be thrown out
- a few pointers for picking out the finest beets at the store or farmer’s market
Interested? Let’s get started.
Beets, peeled and cooked
Beets, peeled and cookedWhat Is The Best Way To Store Beets At Home?
Refrigerate your beets in a vented bag in the vegetable drawer. Trim the greens before putting them in there. Cooked beets, as well as any leftovers, should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Cold (32-40°F or 0-5°C) and wet (90 to 95 percent relative humidity) storage is preferred for beets ([UOM]). While the crisper drawer isn’t the coldest spot in the fridge, it is the most humid, making it the best option.
Put the beets on one of the shelves if your veggie drawer is full of broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables. It’s not such a huge deal.
Trim the leaves to about half an inch before refrigerating the beets ([UOM]). Greens are often already trimmed in stores (to improve the shelf life of beets), thus this may have already been done for you.
Store the greens separately if you wish to use them (they’re absolutely okay to consume). They’ll pull moisture from the root if they don’t (the part that you eat). You probably already know this if you preserve radishes or carrots for a long time.
Close-up of grated beets
A perforated plastic bag is probably the best solution for preserving these root vegetables. It aids in the retention of moisture but does not trap it. If you don’t have one, punch some holes in yours or leave the top open if you don’t have one.
You may store your beets in a root cellar or an unheated garage that is kept at a reasonable temperature. They won’t keep as long as they would in the fridge, but it’s still preferable than leaving them in the kitchen cupboard.
Is it necessary to keep beets refrigerated?
In a technical sense, no. At room temperature, beets will keep for a few days, but that’s all. If you want them to last longer, put them in the fridge.
In an airtight container, store grated beets that have been left over.
When it comes to beets, how long do they last?
Beets keep for 2 to 4 weeks in the refrigerator’s crisper drawer and 3 to 5 days at room temperature. Consume the leftovers within 4 to 5 days after cooking.
Fresh beets have a long storage duration for a variety of reasons:
- Beets survive longer in the winter than they do in the summer.
- The amount of time it takes to store beets is determined on the quality of the beets you purchase (more on that in a moment)
- The longer your vegetables survive, the better the conditions in your fridge are and the better you take care of them.
You already know how to preserve beets in order to keep them as fresh as possible.
Beets that have sprouted
It’s now time to complete the puzzle by selecting the finest beets available. Here’s how to do it:
- Choose fresh green beets if your beets still have the greens attached. Wilted greens indicate that the beets are beyond their prime.
- If the bulbs don’t have any greens, make sure they’re firm to the touch. Soft bulbs with wrinkled skin indicate ancient beets that will only live a few days.
- Choose beets with a diameter of less than 3 inches. Larger ones are often fibrous and woody ([UOI]), which makes for an unpleasant eating experience.
Cooked beets, like most other cooked vegetables, keep for approximately 4 to 5 days in a covered container in the fridge.
Beets that haven’t been cooked yet
How Do You Know If Your Beets Are Bad?
If any of the following apply to your beets, toss them out.
- Mold or fuzziness may be seen in cooked beets. That should be self-explanatory, right?
- Cooked beets may be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Leftovers do not last indefinitely. Even if they seem to be in good condition after five days, toss them aside.
- Beets that are still fresh begin to rot or mold. You may chop off a tiny poor place as normal, but if the problem has already grown and taken over, it’s time to get those root vegetables out.
- They’re soft, shriveled, or very wrinkled. Beets have lost a lot of water at this time, so cutting or grating them will be difficult. You can still eat them if they’re just slightly soft.
Notice creases in the skin and a tender place on an old beet. However, eating is still permissible.
Most of the things above have considerable wiggle area since spotting vegetables isn’t an exact science.
It’s up to you whether you chop off a third of a rotting beet or throw it away. The same goes for wrinkled and soft-skinned beets.
In these situations, go with what you’re most at ease with. It’s best to get rid of those old soft beets if you don’t care for them. Get the most out of them if you’re like me and don’t mind.
Dinner salad of beets
Summary
- For 2 to 4 weeks, keep beets in a vented bag in the crisper drawer. Cooked beets should be properly packed and kept in the fridge for no more than 5 days.
- If you’re intending to consume the beets within a few days, leave them at room temperature.
References
The “how long do cooked beets last in the freezer” is a question that many are wondering. The answer to this question depends on what you are doing with them.
Related Tags
- how long do beets last in the freezer
- how to tell if beets are bad
- how to tell if cooked beets are bad
- do uncooked beets need to be refrigerated
- how long do canned beets last in the fridge
