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No sugar added pickled beets — NCHFP
Ingredients
- 7 lbs 2- to 2- 1/2-inch diameter beets
- 4 to 6 onions (2- to 2- 1/2-inch diameter), if desired
- 6 cups apple cider or white distilled vinegar (5%)
- 1- 1/2 teaspoons canning or pickling salt
- 2 cups Splenda (optional)
- 3 cups water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 12 whole cloves
Equipment
- 1 Boiling-water bath canner with rack
- 1 Large stainless or enamel preserving pot
- 1 Canning jars with two-piece lids
- 1 Headspace and bubble tool
Directions
- Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Trim beet tops, leaving 1 inch of stem and the roots attached to reduce color bleeding. Wash thoroughly and sort by size. Cover similar-size beets with boiling water and cook until tender, about 25–30 minutes. Drain and discard the cooking liquid.
- Cool the beets. Trim roots and stems, slip off the skins, and cut into 1/4-inch slices. If using onions, peel, wash and slice them thinly.
- Combine the vinegar, salt, optional sucralose sweetener and fresh water in a large Dutch oven. Tie the cinnamon sticks and cloves in a cheesecloth bag and add it. Bring to a boil, add the beets and optional onions, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the spice bag.
- Using a slotted spoon, fill clean, hot pint jars with the hot beets and onion slices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Cover with the boiling-hot vinegar solution, maintaining 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjust headspace if needed, wipe the rims, and apply two-piece canning lids.
- Process pint jars in a boiling-water canner for 30 minutes at 0–1,000 feet, 35 minutes at 1,001–3,000 feet, 40 minutes at 3,001–6,000 feet, or 45 minutes above 6,000 feet. Cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours, then check seals.
Recipe Notes
Private Notes
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Share your results how it turned out.Safety classification
Tested home-canning recipe from the cited university or NCHFP source.
Processing details
Method: Boiling water bath. Hot pack; pint jars; 1/2-inch headspace; about 8 pints.
Tested source
Preparation timeline
Cook beets until tender; cool, peel, and slice; prepare the spiced vinegar solution; simmer beets 5 minutes; hot-pack; process; cool.
Equipment
Boiling-water canner, pint jars, jar lifter, funnel, bubble remover, spice bag, and a large nonreactive pot.
Visual method guide
- Prepare uniformly sized produce and the tested brine.
- Hot-pack jars at the stated headspace.
- Process by elevation and cool upright, undisturbed.
Safety essentials
Use 5% acidity apple-cider or distilled-white vinegar. The listed sucralose is optional; do not change the vinegar-to-water ratio.
About this recipe
A tested special-diet pickled beet formula with optional onions and optional sucralose sweetener.
Before you begin
Sort beets by size for even cooking. Leave 1 inch of stem and roots attached during precooking to reduce color bleeding.
Altitude/pressure schedule
| Elevation | Pints |
|---|---|
| 0–1,000 ft | 30 min |
| 1,001–3,000 ft | 35 min |
| 3,001–6,000 ft | 40 min |
| Above 6,000 ft | 45 min |
Serving suggestions
Serve chilled as a side, salad component, or sandwich accompaniment.
FAQ
Is sweetener required? No. The tested recipe lists sucralose as optional; the acid and water quantities are not optional.
Recipe context and comparison
This is specifically formulated without sugar and has a longer four-band process than many other pickled vegetables.
Troubleshooting
If liquid loss occurs, do not open a sealed jar to refill it. Verify the seal after 12–24 hours and refrigerate any unsealed jar.
Source and provenance
Safety-critical values remain tied to the original tested source.
Garden planning for this recipe
Plant, space, variety, zone, and timing estimates live on dedicated ingredient pages:
How much of the main ingredient should I grow?
18–40 lb of Root vegetables per person per year
The source-cited calculator below can convert your pantry goal into row foot estimates where compatible yield data exists.
Garden yields vary by cultivar, climate, soil, pests, and care. Always measure the exact prepared ingredient amount required by the tested canning recipe.