# Do you like beets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554 "2019-12-08T11:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/21 "2019-12-08T19:24:01Z")
I used to hate beets as a kid, but my wife likes them and I have discovered there are a few recipes where I enjoy them. The way we usually have them is either (a) in beet and apple salad or (b) in borscht (inspired by the TV show “The Americans”). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/22 "2019-12-08T19:31:43Z")
I wonder—could they be French fried? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/23 "2019-12-08T19:44:07Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Beets taste like dirt … and so do snails. They do! And I haven’t eaten dirt since I was a child. The memory comes right back once I eat beets. “Oh, yeah, that is what dirt tastes like.” ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/24 "2019-12-08T19:52:39Z")
Horrible, despicable things, are beets. I’ve hated them since infancy. The mere thought of beets roils my gut. My worst holiday meal ever was fried liver & beets in a Winnipeg jail, dastardly inhumane punishment that should have been reported to the UN. I understand some people are genetically immune to beets. More power to them. They can have my share. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/25 "2019-12-08T20:21:30Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I wonder—could they be French fried? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/26 "2019-12-08T20:46:46Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Beets are one of the few foods I truly do not like, and I’ve tested this out repeatedly every few years since the 1960’s. I’ll trade you all your beets for all the tomatoes I can’t eat and the cilantro I can’t stand. I love beets. I used to grow multiple varities in my garden. Roasted beets, canned beets, pickled beets, borscht, beet chips, beets in hummos… I like to use skordalia as a dip for either pickled, canned, or roasted beets. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/27 "2019-12-08T21:43:38Z")
Well, since you asked. AW, HELL, NO! ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/28 "2019-12-09T00:04:43Z")
And pink poop is a bonus!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/29 "2019-12-09T00:12:11Z")
Oh, and “earthy” is just a euphemism for “tastes like dirt”. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/30 "2019-12-09T00:19:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I like beets a lot, and don’t understand the comments about their “earthy” taste. I like beets a lot, and do understand the comments about their “earthy” taste - which I find appealing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/31 "2019-12-09T00:43:43Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Oh, and “earthy” is just a euphemism for “tastes like dirt”. Yeah, I love beets, and I do understand this. There is a taste (to me, a background taste) to beets that are like how soil/dirt smells. I find them primarily sweet and vegetal, but definitely with an “earthy”/soil-type component to them. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/32 "2019-12-09T00:47:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Beets are one of the few foods I truly do not like, and I’ve tested this out repeatedly every few years since the 1960’s. I’ve tried it on multiple varieties of beets, prepared multiple ways. Mom loved beets, so I’ve long thought I’d grow into a taste for them, the way I did for previously despised mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and spinach. But no dice. I do not like beets. I’m not yet 50, and I’m still in the denial stage of this. I still try them every few years to see if anything has clicked yet, and so far, still don’t like them. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/33 "2019-12-09T02:09:06Z")
I don’t even bother trying them any more. Similarly, I don’t eat potting soil every few years to determine if I’ve gained a taste for it. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/34 "2019-12-09T02:28:47Z")
Yummy, when I was younger, but they’ve lost their taste over the years. A bit like what happened to tomatoes over 1990-2010. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/35 "2019-12-09T16:13:58Z")
I hated beets until I tried golden beets, which have much less of that earthy taste. But once I developed a liking for those, I found I also like red beets. Golden are the gateway beet. My favorite way to prepare them is to cut off the tops/bottoms and put them in an oven-safe dish with a lid. Add ~1/2 inch of water plus a few tablespoons of rice vinegar. Roast covered at 400F for 30-60 minutes, until you can stick a fork in one without a lot of force. Drop them immediately into an ice bath, and scrub off the skins. Slice and drizzle with rice vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/36 "2019-12-09T16:23:13Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Horrible, despicable things, are beets. I’ve hated them since infancy. The mere thought of beets roils my gut. My worst holiday meal ever was fried liver & beets in a Winnipeg jail, dastardly inhumane punishment that should have been reported to the UN. You should definitely report it if the police beet you. I’m a minor-league beet-hater. There are definitely worse foods out there (arugula is what you get when you dress lettuce with a rubber-cement-and-roadkill vinaigrette), but there’s nothing beets do that other root veggies don’t do better, except for stain your fingers and bodily functions. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/37 "2019-12-09T16:29:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > You should definitely report it if the police beet you. > > I’m a minor-league beet-hater. There are definitely worse foods out there ( **arugula is what you get when you dress lettuce with a rubber-cement-and-roadkill vinaigrette** ), but there’s nothing beets do that other root veggies don’t do better, except for stain your fingers and bodily functions. It’s an acquired taste. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/38 "2019-12-09T17:06:13Z")
I like roasted beets as part of a roasted root vegetable dish. Beets, parsnips, carrots, rutabagas, potatoes, onions, all chopped and tossed in some oil and spices, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Roasted until they are almost overdone (slight char). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/39 "2019-12-09T17:46:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I like roasted beets as part of a roasted root vegetable dish. Beets, parsnips, carrots, rutabagas, potatoes, onions, all chopped and tossed in some oil and spices, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Roasted until they are almost overdone (slight char). Yes, this is very good. And pickling beets is very easy. Here’s the recipe I use, from Arthur Schwartz’s must-own **Jewish Home Cooking,** Ten Speed Press, 2008: 2 cups boiled sliced fresh beets (reserve a cup of the cooking water) 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar 1/2 cup cold water 2 tsps sugar 1 small onion, peeled and sliced thin Combine the vinegar, water, and sugar in a Mason jar and shake to dissolve. Add the beets, onion, and enough reserved beet liquid to cover the beets. Refrigerate overnight and serve cold or at room temperature. The beets will keep in the fridge for a week or two, getting more vinegary as time goes by. Use the leftover liquid to pickle yourself some eggs…hard boil, peel, and drop into the Mason jar. They will be purple and delicious in a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554/40 "2019-12-09T17:49:42Z")
I have a ridiculous passion for pickled beets, and will eat an entire can at one go.I don’t care for the plain ones, but the sweet/sour pickled are great, IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-beets/844554.md?page=3)