Grandma's Harvard Beets Recipe

Outstanding! Family loved them, no leftovers! Bought some fresh beets today and came home and went to All Recipes for some ideas on what to do with them. Tried this recipe,cut back to 1/3 cup sugar and threw in some cloves and cinnamon as I remembered those flavors from my mother's beets. This is a keeper.

This recipe was so easy to make and the results were amazing. Sweet & delicious and popular with my guests. Because I used fresh beets from our garden I did change the order in preparation by cooking peeled & sliced beets from our garden to a firm texture then putting the other ingredients into a saucepan and cooking, then pouring the sauce over the beets & cooking for an additional 15 minutes. I did adjust the recipe a bit by adding 3 additional tsps. of cornstarch and an extra 1/3 cup of vinegar and 1/3 cup of water as I didn't think there was enough liquid in the recipe to cover the beets.

Oh, talk about a walk down memory lane!! We used to eat these at home when I was young (many many years ago) and I always loved them. This year my garden is growing lots of beautiful ruby-red beets, and I decided to offer them to workers in our gardens. I live in Guatemala, and beets are eaten a lot here, but not like this. I cooked the beets fresh, leaving about an inch of the green stems on them, and without cutting off the roots, so they didn't "bleed" all over. When cooled, the skins just slip right off. I sliced them and actually followed the recipe-- which isn't all that common for me. I did add a dash of cloves, which I remember from my childhood. My hubby has consistently refused to eat beets, but tried them and like them. High praise, indeed. I have a feeling these are going to be really popular here. Thanks for the memories.

My grandmother's recipe uses red wine vinegar instead of white, sweet red wine instead of water and 1/2 cup of beet juice (either from the can or water from boiled beets if made from fresh). She also used 1/8 tsp ground clove.

This was such a bit that even my beet hating husband are these and liked them. I will definitely make these again. I used fresh beets and lemon pepper instead of straight pepper. I also added a cinnamon stick while everything was simmering. Also, I used a longer cook time since In was using fresh beets. Not sure how long but at 30 minutes they were not fork tender

Great recipe. Only don’t discard the beet juice from the can. Drain the beets and use the beet juice instead of the water. Much better flavor!

Reserve the beet juice from the drained beets and substitute for water to get a rich flavor.

WONDERFUL !!! I was pressure canning beets and saw your recipe...So I decided to make a batch ! I did take peoples advice and cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup...Perfect ! I, also, added some diced onions and added them at the last 5 minutes of the 30 minute simmering time ! I covered the pot for the 30 min. simmer, wasn't sure but I did. Worked out Perfect ! I have to say, These are REALLY GOOD !!! A Keeper for sure !!! Thank You

Loved this Harvard beets recipe. While I know others have thought it wasn't needed, I found the butter added at the end absolutely made this recipe. I did make a change - instead of white sugar I used brown sugar. It gave it a slightly deeper, earthier taste, which was perfect for this fall vegetable. I did not alter the quantities in any way. I also used fresh beets rather than canned, so I could cut the chunks to the size I wanted.

I quite surprise with the taste of this recipe.Delicious. Indonesian recipes didn't often use beet roots. I changed white sugar into coconut sugar and reduce the amount of sugar into 1/2 cup but still too sweet for us.Next time will reduce it to 1/4 cup. I used fresh beet roots and boil it until reach crunchy texture. I changed white vinegar into apple cider vinegar. Next time will make in less calories version.Thank you for the recipe.

These turned out absolutely delicious. I did cut the sugar down to 1/3 cup, I used fresh beets instead of canned and I used my beet juice from cooking my fresh beets instead of the water. I used three medium to large beets. I cut the butter In half. They were sweet and tart and delicious.

Works lovely with canned beets. I used 2 cans of sliced beets. I replaced white vinegar with apple cider vinegar. I only use white for household cleaning. And I replaced the water for beet juice from the can. I followed the amounts of ingredients as written, draining excess juice down the drain. Do not double the amount of anything. When the sauce thickens, add the butter, pepper and drained cans of beets. I didn’t add salt because the beets were not low sodium and were salty enough. If you have fresh beets, lovely, use them. It only takes a few minutes to heat canned slice beets in the sauce.

Delicious ...not too sweet, not too tangy, just right!

Very good. Just enough sugar. Had to thin it a little with water.

Absolutely perfect. Only I didn’t add as much pepper—due to being sensitive to some spices.

Easy and delicious

I can safely say this recipe is a winner.

No changes. Great as is.😀

I don't think I used quite enough beets and a wee bit too much vinegar.

Instead of adding water, I used the liquid from the can. Good recipe!