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Make tender and nutritious Instant Pot beets in under 20 minutes. This recipe will teach you how to cook delicious Whole30 and paleo beets in a pressure cooker.

sliced pressure cooker beets on a plate with a fork and herbs

Cooking beets (beetroot) can take forever. Too long in fact.

The good news is you can bust out some freaking rad steamed beets in under 20 minutes in your Instant Pot. And I’m going to teach you how. You sit tight and read on. 

If you are new to pressure cooking and the Instant Pot, check out this post on recipes for Instant Pot beginners.

beets, salt, and herbs on a white board

How Long Do You Cook Beets in a Pressure Cooker?

The simple answer is it all depends on the size of the beet(s). Wee little baby beets can be cooked in 10 minutes, bigger ones might take as long as 20-25 minutes. The beets in this photo were 2.5 inches wide and took 13 minutes.

How to Make Instant Pot Beets

*A detailed and printable recipe card is at the bottom of the post

Other recipes might recommend cooking the beets with the root and skin still on and then peeling them after the fact. That requires your hands to look like a scene from Carrie and plus, you’re going to be dealing with some hot AF beets.

You though? You are super smart and you’re cutting the skin off first and then steam. Cut the beet top and beet butt (technical people will call it the root end, but whatevs) off. Place the root end on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut downward to remove the skin. Save the greens for a salad, Instant Pot sous vide egg bites or a quiche.

Photos showing how to cut beets for pressure cooking

Put a trivet/steamer basket in your Instant Pot and add 1.5 cups of water. Place the beets on top of the trivet.

beets inside an instant pot for making pressure cooker beets
All the cool people have stained Instant Pots.

Secure your lid. Set the vent to “sealing”, then Manual>High Pressure>13 minutes.

When the cook time is up, use a dishrag to carefully flip the vent to “venting”. Remove beets from the Instant Pot and allow to cool. Slice and enjoy! 

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

  • You can stack a few layers of beets in the Instant Pot if you want to cook a bunch at once. Add 2 minutes of cooking time if you’re cooking more than two pounds.
  • Even if you cook fewer beets, you need a minimum of 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot for it to function correctly.
  • Store beets in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

How to Serve Instant Pot Beets

a bowl of pressure cooker beets in front of an instant pot

Other Recipes Like This

Pressure Cooker Beets WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS

One serving of Pressure Cooker Beets has 0 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.

5 from 4 ratings

Instant Pot Beets {Pressure Cooker Beets}

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 13 minutes
Depressurizing time: 3 minutes
Total: 18 minutes
sliced pressure cooker beets on a plate with a fork and herbs
This recipe will teach you how to cook delicious Whole30 and paleo beets in the Instant Pot.

Ingredients 

  • 2 pounds beets
  • 1.5 cups water

Instructions 

Instant Pot Instructions

  • Cut the beet top and root end off. Place the root end on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut downward to remove the skin.
  • Put a trivet/steamer basket in your Instant Pot and add 1.5 cups of water. Place the beets on top of the trivet.
  • Secure your lid. Set the vent to "sealing", then Manual>High Pressure>13 minutes.
  • When the cook time is up, use a dish rag to carefully flip the vent to "venting". Remove beets from the Instant Pot and allow to cool. Slice and enjoy!

Stovetop Instructions

  • Follow the first step above. To make the beets cook more quickly, chop into bite-sized pieces.
  • Place a steamer basket in a pot and add enough water to cover the bottom.
  • Place a lid on and steam for 30-50 minutes or until the beet is easily pierced with a knife.

Notes

You can stack a few layers of beets in the Instant Pot if you want to cook a bunch at once. Add 2 minutes of cooking time if you're cooking more than two pounds.
 
Store beets in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Nutrition

Serving: 8ozCalories: 97kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 3gFat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 175mgPotassium: 737mgFiber: 6gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 75IUVitamin C: 11.1mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1.8mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @sustainablecooks or tag #sustainablecooks!

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About Sarah

Helping you serve up budget-friendly sustainable recipes with a side of balanced living.
Come for the food. Stay for the snark.

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14 Comments

    1. Yes, you absolutely can! The short answer to how long to cook them is “it depends on how you want to use them when they’re thawed”.

      I have a whole tutorial on how to freeze beets here that will give you more specific info depending on your intended delicious beet use.

  1. I’m right there with you, I love beets too – so smart for you to make them in the pressure cooker. I just love your recipe!5 stars

  2. My husband cooks up a batch of beets once a week because he thinks they make him run faster. Usually he does them in the oven, but now that I have an Instant Pot I gave this method a try and woah are those beets ever good. And so easy! I also love that they’re contained so the clean up is easier. Will definitely be using this technique from now on!5 stars

  3. Sometimes I double wrap the beets in tin foil and nestle them near the front of the embers in the woodstove. Oven roasted is good but fire roasted is a step beyond that.

      1. Not since I was a kid, but it’s an interesting idea. Potatoes are a little less dense than an beet so it would not take as long. I think.