Beet-Egg-Recipe-Cook-Geek-000_thumb.jpg' alt='How Long To Boil Beets' title='How Long To Boil Beets' />How to make pickled beets. A tasty recipe with just a little sugar, not overly sweet. Grandma Anns recipe thats been updated to include a hot water bath. Ways to Cook Beets. Place the beets in a large pot. Vegan Meal Planner. Boiling is a great way to cook vegetables as thoroughly and as quickly as possible. The downside is that, when you boil the beets instead of steaming them or using another method, they may not retain as much of their rich flavor. Cover them with cold water. Add sugar and salt as needed. You should add about 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of salt for every half gallon of water. Boil the water over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium once the water boils. This should keep the water at a nice simmer. Make and share this Pickled Beets recipe from Genius Kitchen. Cook the beets for 4. Younger, fresher beets will take less time, closer to 4. Older beets can take an hour or more to cook through boiling. If you peel and quarter your beets in advance, you can boil them in half the time. Remove them from the heat. Once they have finished boiling, you should drain the water and then quickly place the beets into cold water. Then, cut off the tips of the roots and rub off the skins with a damp towel or paper towel. Serve. You can slice or mash these beets and serve them as they are or drizzle them with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper to taste.