Pickled Beets and Eggs
Updated May 7, 2026
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
- Ready In
- 1 ½ hrs, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 pounds medium red beets, peeled (3 to 4 beets)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 (2-inch) piece cinnamon stick
1 dried chile de árbol or other dried hot red pepper
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
2 cups apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 cups water
8 large eggs, boiled 10 minutes, chilled and peeled
Lettuce leaves, for serving
Fresh cucumber, cut in spears, for serving (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
19 grams carbs; 186 milligrams cholesterol; 158 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 5 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 563 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein; 16 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Cut beets into wedges and place in a heavy nonreactive soup pot or Dutch oven.
- Step 2
Add fennel, coriander, cinnamon, dried chile, garlic, bay leaves, sugar and salt.
- Step 3
Cover with vinegar and 2 cups water, and stir. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until beets are fork tender but still slightly firm.
- Step 4
Let beets and brine cool to room temperature. Taste pickle brine and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Add peeled eggs to pot and submerge in brine. (Alternatively, put eggs in a separate container and ladle brine over.) Refrigerate overnight or, preferably, for 2 or 3 days.
- Step 5
To serve, remove beet wedges and eggs from brine. Serve beets on lettuce leaves, topped with halved pickled eggs. Season cucumber wedges with salt and pepper and add to plate.
Private Notes
Comments
Lovely recipe but who has the time (or all the ingredients) to pickle their own beets? Just as delicious to purchase a jar of PA Dutch pickled beets or a can of regular beets doctored with vinegar and sugar. Put the contents in a large bowl add some add'l vinegar and a bit of sugar to taste and then put in the eggs. The result is just as delicious as doing your own beets with a lot (a lot) less work. I'm a PA gal who has been having pickled eggs as part of my diet for nearly 80 years now.
In south-central PA, it wasn't a picnic without pickled beets and hard cooked eggs. Except -- you just boiled the beets in vinegar, sugar and salt. None of those fancy additions!
Perfect as is. Just the right seasoning! I wasn’t sure I would like the eggs, but they were the perfect complement to the beets. I might add red onion.
Delicious and so refreshing during a heat wave. It’s well worth putting in all the spices for the outstanding flavor. We enjoyed some of the beets hot as a dinner side once they were tender (1 hour). Eggs colored intensely overnight. It all fit into 2 quart jars and a pint, adding one egg to each jar (it’s a small household so I didn’t want the eggs over-pickled). Using a bit more beets than called for, they were all submerged in the liquid after stirring and cooking for a few minutes. Eggs were steamed separately. Will definitely make this aga
Reminds me of home and my Mom. Thanks for this recipe.
This recipe did not work for me at all. After cooking down the brine, there was not enough liquid to cover the beets and eggs. So, I added more vinegar and spices (not boiled) so that ingredients would stay submerged. The brine was ok before this and ok afterwards but did not love either way, so vinegar-y! Also, the eggs developed the strangest, worst texture after brining for a few days. Just rubber! I have never thrown away eight eggs but did here. Wanted this to work but no, really yuck. Thx!