Beetroot relish – savory, sweet and spiced with with cloves and star anise – nuzzles its way onto our supper plates every winter. A near-perfect side to pan-fried pork chops seasoned with sage or to a classic roast beef, beetroot relish provides an intensity of flavor coupled with nourishing micronutrients including vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. This version of beetroot relish incorporates another wintertime staple: fresh apples which contribute a sweetness without the inclusion of the nutritional void that is sugar. Moreover, my beetroot relish is a probiotic food, rich in beneficial bacteria due to a natural, traditional fermentation process that anyone can apply in his or her own family kitchen.
Beets and apples are both dense in antioxidants, ensuring that the combination of these two primary ingredients convey significant nutritional benefits to the beetroot relish. Indeed, apples are rich in myriad phenolic compounds: quercetin, catechin, procyanidin and phlorozin among others. Perhaps these compounds contribute to the near-global perception of the humble apple as a food critical to health maintenace. Beets also contain powerful nutrients. Betacyanin, which accounts for beets pronounced color, may show promise in the treatment of cancer according to some researchers.
Probiotic Apple & Beetroot Relish
This recipe yields approximately twenty-four 2-ounce portions. Don’t let the high yield of the recipe deter you; this apple and beetroot relish is rich in beneficial, lactic-acid-producing bacteria which naturally preserve the dish, ensuring that it will keep for approximately six weeks or longer when refrigerated. This recipe was featured in December’s Recipe Cards by Nourished Kitchen. For more naturally fermented recipes like this probiotic beetroot relish, check out these fermented and cultured food recipes.
Apple & Beetroot Relish: Ingredients
- 3 large apples (about 1 ½ pounds), cored but not peeled
- 3 large beets (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled
- 2 star anise pods
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon unrefined sea salt
- fermented vegetable starter culture, if desired (see sources)
Apple & Beetroot Relish: Method
- Shred apples and beets by hand, or in a food processor.
- Toss the shredded apples and beets together until well-combined and mixed together.
- Add the star anise and whole cloves to the apples and beetroot, and continue to toss until the spices are evenly distributed among the shredded fruit and vegetables.
- In a mason jar or, preferably, a vegetable fermenter (see sources), layer the apple and beetroot.
- Periodically sprinkle unrefined sea salt or vegetable starter culture over the layers of apple and beetroot and mash with a wooden spoon or mallet to encourage the fruit and vegetables to release their juices, creating a luscious brine to encourage the proliferation of beneficial bacteria.
- Ferment in a mason jar or vegetable fermenter for a minimum of three to four days, or longer, depending on the level of warmth in your kitchen.
- After your apple and beetroot relish has sufficiently cultured, remove it from the vegetable fermenter and gently pick out the star anise pods and whole cloves.
- Place the apple and beetroot relish into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
YIELD: Approximately, 24 2-ounce portions.
TIME: 10 to 20 minutes (active), 3 – 4 days (minimum fermentation time)
NOTE: If, after mashing the apples and beets with a mallet or wooden spoon, the brine created by the salt and juice fails to completely submerge the vegetables, prepare a separate brine by dissolving 1 tablespoon unrefined sea salt in 1 quart filtered water and pour this salty mixture over the apples, beets and spices until they are completely covered. Doing so minimizes the risk of contamination by undesirable bacteria, mold and fungi.
I have made sauerkraut before… but not beets.. great idea!
Thank you for this recipe! I like relish and chutney as a meat accompaniment, and this relish has one of the top super foods in it –beetroot. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Oh! Oh! I love fermented beets and usually season them with caraway and dill, but this combination sounds divine! Can’t wait to try it…that’s one of the problems with ferments, tho’, isn’t it? You gotta wait!
Thanks for the recipe!
Wow, this sounds just lovely, and the color is beautiful!
This looks just divine! I just made simple sour beets myself this week, but this relish looks like yet another way to enjoy the bounty of beets this season. Thanks!
I love beet relish, but have never made it with apples. Sound great! Especially since the beets are coming fast and furious in the CSA share. Also, I think I might add a couple tablespoons of whey and reduce the salt a bit (?)
My favorite vegetables for fermenting are beets and carrots but I have never tried adding apples to the beets. This sounds just delicious. I have never used star anise – I have got to get more adventurous. I’ve always ruled it out because I’m not a big fan of licorice, but I am learning that the combinations of herbs and vegetables can be so exciting and small variations in ratio can make a huge difference in flavor. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, making ferments the same way every time so I am excited to get new ideas and recipes.
I am looking forward to making my own beet kvass as soon as I can find a corn-free milk source. Have you ever tried it? Got any tips?
Beet and apple relish sounds interesting and I’d like to try it, but no one in my family likes anise. Not a big fan of cloves either. Can you suggest alternative spices?
By the way, just made your tomato salsa tonight for the second time. It was a big hit with the kids. Thanks for the recipe and your wonderful blog!
This sounds great but is there something I can use instead of the star anise? I can’t find that (or any anise AFAIK) in my little backwater town. Thanks!
Mine is fermenting now. I’ve let it go about a week so far since it’s cool. This is my first batch of fermented food, so I’m excited to see what happens! I’ve tried it a couple times and find it a little salty so far, so I think I’m going to let it get more sour.
I changed quantities just a little, using 2 pounds of apples an 1 pound of beets. Two of my beets were chioggias, so between that and the apple/beet ratio my relish is more vivid pink. I also added a couple tablespoons grated fresh ginger.
Thanks for an easy starter recipe
Lily -
I bet your use of the chioggia beets was magnificent – it must be such a pretty relish – and I bet the ginger is just amazing in it. I think I’ll have to try your variation some time!
- Jenny
Couldn’t you use whey instead of a vegetable starter culture?
Lora -
You could definitely use whey in place of vegetable starter or you could omit a starter altogether. I don’t personally care for whey ferments, so I never reference them at Nourished Kitchen – that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you, though.
Take care -
Jenny
Can I ask why, Jenny, you don’t like the whey ferments? What is the quality that you don’t like about them? It’s all I’ve ever used, so don’t know if there might be something different, lol.
I am looking forward to trying this this week. Just got to try and round up some organic beets, as I haven’t got any in my garden this year. I do love Kvass (only one in the family who does!), and I look forward to trying this with our goat, lamb and roast beef this winter!
I’m so thrilled to have happened upon this site and this post especially (didn’t really happen upon…you followed me on twitter!)
I’ve been wanting to ferment veggies for a while and simply haven’t done the necessary homework. This is so easy I now can try my first fermenting project…
and I love beets and apples.
so glad you found me…I will be back!
Hi Jenny –
I just thought you might be interested at in an update. I ended up fermenting it about 10 days. After fermenting and blending it wasn’t nearly as pink, although it is still lighter in color than yours. I really like it, it’s very interesting. I have found that I like it mixed into a little yogurt, which makes a brilliant pink sauce (the yogurt also helps temper the intense flavor of the relish for those of us who are acclimating our taste buds to real fermented foods!).
Thanks for sharing the recipe, I anticipate routinely keeping a jar of this in the ‘fridge!
- Lily
I was wondering if I can use my kefir water for this. I have been using it to make pineapple chutney and also cantalope (my daughter is allergic to whey). It’s wonderful but wasn’t sure if vegetable culture starter is something better than my kefir water. It’s all kind of new to me but I can’t imagine anything better than my kefir water for fermenting:-)
I wouldn’t use water kefir, I’d just go with a wild method but, of course, I prefer wild ferments.
Hi,
This is all very new to me, but I’m excited to give it a try. Concerning the vegetable starter culture, do you have to use one? If so, do you have a direct link – I could not find it on the “sources” page.
Also, I can just use a mason jar if I don’t have access to any fermentation equipment?
Thank you so much!
Cheri
Are you using an adblocker in viewing the site by any chance? A mason jar will definitely work, but a vegetable fermentation master equipped with an airlock produces more reliable results.
My beets and apples are still small – going to hold out on this one.
Oh you should hold out until they’re larger. When you do make it, it’s phenomenal – especially when paired with sage-rubbed pork chops. WOW.
Yes I will have a surplus of both beets and apples once they are ready. I can’t wait to try this out!
How long will this keep once you blend it? Will it still be good for a good long time?
Michele