Beet tops recipes

Over the past 100 years, beet tops in Russia have ceased to enjoy proper respect, but in vain. In southern countries, Europe and America, it is still considered an even more valuable product than the beet itself. And the beet tops recipes are so varied that even green salads and herbs cannot match it. Indeed, in fact, it is in the beet tops that more vitamins and nutrients are contained than in the beet roots.

What can be cooked from beet tops

Experienced chefs are well aware of what exactly beet tops can bring to a variety of dishes and unusual taste and convey their useful properties. It is not for nothing that in traditional national cuisines it is difficult to imagine some dishes without it. So, in Russian cuisine, not a single botvinya can do without it, and in Belarusian cuisine, a cold pot. The famous Georgian pkhali and fillings for Ossetian pies are made from young beet tops, and among the Armenians it is excellently combined with fermented milk products and spicy herbs.

Beet tops can be used to prepare not only first, second courses and salads, but even casseroles and other various pastries. Moreover, even a delicious sauce is prepared from it. The most delicious recipes for various dishes from beet tops with photos are described in detail in the article.

For the happy owners of their own land plots, it is not difficult to grow beets. The rest, choosing beet tops on the market, should prefer bright and elastic greens with strong and short stalks.

The main stage in preparing the beet tops for culinary processing is to thoroughly rinse them. This is done first in a large container filled with water. Finally, the greens are washed under running water and lightly dried on a towel.

That is, in most recipes, these green foods are interchangeable.

Beet tops salads

Beet greens salads are very popular, first of all, because all useful elements are fully preserved in them.

Beet leaf vitamin salad

This salad is prepared from the freshest and most delicate vegetables and herbs, so for a hot summer day this is an irreplaceable and very healthy dish.

You will need:

• a bunch of beet tops;
• a bunch of green garlic or onions, parsley and dill;
• 1 fresh cucumber;
• 1 sweet pepper;
• 1 tbsp. l. natural apple cider vinegar;
• 3 tbsp. l. olive or sesame oil;
• salt to taste.

The main thing in this recipe is to stock up on a sharp and convenient knife and chop everything finely.

1. All vegetables and herbs are rinsed in cool water.
2. Then they are finely chopped.
3. Cut the cucumber and bell peppers into small cubes.
4. All ingredients are mixed in a large bowl, salt is added, apple cider vinegar and vegetable oil are topped up.
5. Mix thoroughly and serve in a spectacular vase.

Delicious beet greens salad with egg

Eggs add satiety and nutritional value to a fresh beet green salad.

You will need:

• 200 g of fresh young beet tops;
• 50 g of green lettuce leaves;
• 30-50 g of dill and parsley - optional;
• 1 hard boiled egg;
• ½ lemon;
• 50 ml of sunflower oil;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. All beet tops and greens are finely chopped;
2. The egg is peeled, also chopped finely and mixed with juice from half a lemon. Beat thoroughly.
3. Chopped greens are mixed with butter, an egg beaten with lemon, and salted.

Peasant salad with beet tops

It is difficult to imagine anything simpler than this salad in terms of the composition of ingredients, it is not for nothing that it has such a self-explanatory name. Meanwhile, a dish properly prepared according to the recipe turns out to be incredibly tasty and very healthy.

For 2 servings you will need:

• 200 g of beet tops;
• 2 medium-sized onions;
• 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Beet tops are divided into petioles and leaf blades.
2. The petioles are cut into small pieces (about 1 cm) and boiled in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then they are taken out and cooled.
3. The leaf blades are washed, finely chopped and kneaded by hands, mixed with a small amount of salt.
4. Finely dice the onion.
5. Mix an equal amount of decoction from the stalks and vegetable oil.
6. In one container, combine the leaves, boiled cuttings and onions, pour over the prepared mixture and add salt if necessary.

Healthy salad with greens and beet tops

The salad according to this recipe is usually made from young beet leaves. If you use the tops of ripe beets, then it is pre-boiled.

You will need:

• 200 g beet tops;
• 200 g of radish with herbs;
• a small bunch of green salad (50 g);
• a bunch of dill, celery, parsley;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp. l. grape vinegar;
• salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. The tops of the already ripe beets are boiled in salted water for 10 minutes. The young are used fresh.
2. The cooled greens are finely chopped.
3. Lettuce leaves are cut into thin strips, radishes - into cubes, greens - finely chopped.
4. In a separate small container, mix oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
5. Pour salad with this sauce, mix thoroughly and after 10 minutes of infusion, you can taste it.

Beet green appetizer salad in Georgian style

In this national dish, the taste of beet greens is very harmoniously complemented by nuts and garlic.

You will need:

• 100 g beet tops;
• 1 red onion;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 50 g parsley;
• 50 g cilantro;
• 1/3 cup shelled walnuts
• 1 tbsp. l. adjika;
• 2 tbsp. l. sunflower oil;
• 2 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar;
• salt as needed and to taste.

Preparation:

1. Beet tops are washed, cut into small pieces and dipped in boiling water, boiled for 10 minutes.
2. Cool by discarding in a colander.
3. Cut the onion into thin half rings, finely chop the garlic and herbs.
4. The nuts are crushed using a crush or rolling pin.
5. Mix the tops with onions and herbs, season with a mixture of adjika, oil and vinegar, salt to taste.
6. You can serve it both in a small salad bowl and by forming small balls from the green mass.

First courses with beet tops

Beet greens are one of the main ingredients for making many national first courses. This is beetroot, botvinya, chlodnik, and sarnapur, and even borscht.

The classic recipe for beet tops

Botvinya is a national Russian dish, which is a cold soup made with kvass with the addition of beet tops and a variety of garden herbs, cucumbers and boiled or smoked fish.

The dish has practically disappeared from use, since it is rather laborious to manufacture and, according to the classic recipe, requires the use of expensive fish species. However, you can try it as a festive dish in case of a special occasion.

You will need:

• 1.25 l of sweet and sour natural kvass;
• 1 cup each chopped sorrel and nettle greens;
• 100 g of dill;
• 3 young beets with tops;
• 1.5 tbsp. l. grated horseradish;
• ½ cup chopped green onions;
• 1.5 fresh cucumber;
• 100 g of borage (cucumber herb), if possible and desired;
• ½ lemon;
• 1 tsp ready-made mustard;
• 1 tsp. salt and sugar;
• 0.5 cups of beetroot broth;
• 0.4-0.5 kg of a mixture of red fish (stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, salmon).

Manufacturing:

1. The beets, along with the tops, are washed and boiled until softened in boiling water for 5-10 minutes.
2. Sorrel is steamed in the same broth for no more than 3 minutes.
3. Nettle is only scalded with boiling water and discarded in a colander.
4. Chop all greens, including dill and green onions, as small as possible.
5. Rub the beets on a coarse grater.
6. Combine beets with chopped herbs and mash with salt.
7. At the same time, the zest is cut off from the half of the lemon, chopped with a knife and combined with squeezed lemon juice, mustard, horseradish, beetroot broth.
8. All this dressing is mixed with kvass and the resulting liquid is poured over the top of the vegetable mass.
9. Add finely chopped cucumber and send to a cold place for infusion for 15-20 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, the fish is being prepared. For botvinia, you can use both raw and freshly salted and even smoked fish.
11. A set of small pieces of different species of fish is boiled in a small amount of water with the addition of salt, black pepper, dill and bay leaves.
    
    Attention! Boil fresh fish for 10 minutes, and salted or smoked fish for 2-3 minutes. Boiling fish for use in botvinia is mandatory!
12. Pieces of boiled fish are placed in a chilled soup base and put together on the table.

How to cook botvinya with fish from beet leaves

There is a slightly different, slightly simpler recipe for making botvinia, in which less valuable fish species are used, to which crayfish necks are added if desired.

For 4 servings you will need:

• 220 g beet tops;
• 170 g of beets;
• 120 g of pike perch and salmon;
• 1 onion;
• 1 carrot;
• 8 cancerous necks (optional and possible);
• 60 g sorrel;
• 80 g cucumbers;
• 30 g green onions;
• 20 g dill;
• several stems of thyme and tarragon;
• 240 ml of bread kvass;
• 30 g of horseradish and mustard;
• 5 lavrushka leaves;
• 20 ml lemon juice;
• salt and sugar to taste;
• 1 g black pepper.

Manufacturing:

1. Pour 1 liter of water into a saucepan with a thick bottom and put onions, dill, carrots, thyme, tarragon, bay leaf and black pepper.
2. Put on fire and after boiling put fish and crayfish necks into the water.
3. Cook for about 7-8 minutes, then take out the fish and crayfish, cool, and filter the broth and pour 240 ml into a separate container.
4. Boil the beets until cooked and pour 120 ml of broth.
5. Beet tops are blanched for 1-2 minutes in boiling salted water and cooled.
6. Blanched tops and other greens are finely chopped, cucumbers and boiled beets are cut into cubes.
7. All the chopped components are mixed in a separate container, horseradish, mustard, a little sugar and salt, lemon juice are added.
8. Pour in beet broth, fish broth and kvass.
9. At the last moment, add fish pieces and crayfish necks and leave for about 10 minutes.

Beet leaf soup recipe

To prepare an unusual fermented milk soup from beet tops, the recipe for which belongs to Armenian cuisine, you will need:

• ½ cup dry green crushed peas;
• ¼ glasses of rice;
• a bunch of beet tops;
• 750 g of kefir;
• a few sprigs of cilantro and mint;
• ground black and red pepper and salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. The peas are washed, placed in a saucepan, poured into 1 liter of cold water and cooked until tender for about 40 minutes, periodically removing the foam that appears.
2. Pour rice into the pan 8 minutes before cooking.
3. In a separate saucepan, boil beet tops cut into strips in 200 ml of water for 5 minutes over low heat.
4. The tops are poured along with the broth into a saucepan, where peas and rice are boiled, and salted.
   
5. Add chopped greens, boil for another 3-4 minutes.
6. The ready-made soup is removed from the stove, kefir or yogurt is added (matsun is used in the original recipe of Armenian cuisine).
7. In bowls, the soup is seasoned with ground pepper.

Beetroot recipe from young beets with tops

You will need:

• 1 kg of beets with tops;
• 1 lemon;
• 150 g of dill, parsley and green onions;
• 300 g of cucumbers;
• 300 g of radish;
• about 2.5 liters of water;
• 4 chicken eggs;
• 200 g sour cream;
• salt and ground pepper to taste.

Manufacturing:

1. Beet root crops are peeled and grated. The tops are finely cut.
2. Stew the beets together with the tops in a saucepan with a thick bottom, add sunflower oil and cover with a lid until soft.
3. Top up with lemon juice and water according to the recipe.
4. Eggs are boiled, the white is separated from the yolk. The protein is cut into strips, and the yolk is kneaded into a gruel, after which they are added to a saucepan with soup.
5. Cucumbers, herbs and radishes are cut into strips and also added to the soup.
6. Add salt, spices and sour cream and cool in a cold place for about 2 hours.

Step-by-step recipe for beet tops borscht

A very tasty and vitamin borscht is also prepared with the tops of young beets.

For this you will need:

• 300 g of young potatoes;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion;
• 2 beets;
• 500 g of beet tops;
• 4 tbsp. l. tomato paste or sauce;
• 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp. l. vinegar
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

1. Cut the potatoes into small pieces, pour 2.5 liters of water, add salt and place on the fire.
2. Cut carrots and onions into strips and stew in a pan with tomato paste for about 10 minutes, after which they are added to a pot with potatoes.
3. Finely chop the beets and their tops, transfer them to a pan with sunflower oil, to which vinegar is also added. Stew for about a quarter of an hour until soft.
4. When all the vegetables are ready, stewed beets with tops are added to the borscht, mixed and removed from heat.

Interestingly, on hot summer days, borscht with beet tops prepared according to this recipe can be consumed cold.

Soup with beet greens and mushrooms

You will need:

• 500 g fresh mushrooms or 100 g dried;
• 200 g of beet tops;
• 600 g potatoes;
• 200 g cucumbers:
• 80 g green onions;
• 20 g horseradish;
• salt and vinegar to taste.

This soup is very tasty from the tops of young beets.

Preparation:

1. Mushrooms are boiled until tender (dry ones are pre-soaked in warm water until they swell). Then cut into strips and put back in the broth.
2. Potatoes are boiled and cooled at the same time.
3. Beet tops, cucumbers and green onions are cut into small pieces, and horseradish is grated.
4. All components are added to the mushrooms, salted and boiled for 5-10 minutes.
5. At the very end, add vinegar and sour cream.

Second courses from beet leaves

And the variety of delicious second courses that can be prepared from beet tops is simply amazing. And again, most of the recipes belong to the national cuisines of the southern peoples.

Beet tops cutlets recipe

You will need:

• 2-3 bunches of beet leaves;
• 1 egg;
• 4 tbsp. l. wheat flour;
• 3 tbsp. l. sunflower oil;
• ½ tsp each. suneli hops and salt.

Preparation:

1. Beet greens are washed, poured with boiling water for 5-7 minutes and chopped using a meat grinder or blender.
2. Salt the mass, stir in an egg, half a portion of flour and hop-suneli.
3. Form small patties.
4. Each is breaded in the remaining flour and fried in hot oil on each side for 3-4 minutes.

Beetroot cabbage rolls

You will need:

• 1 bunch of beet tops;
• 1 beet, carrot, onion;
• 2 potatoes;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• salt and ground black pepper to taste;
• 2 tbsp. l. sunflower oil;
• 100 g sour cream.

Manufacturing:

1. Beet tops are washed, poured with boiling water and left for 7-8 minutes.
2. Cut the onion into half rings.
3. The rest of the vegetables are peeled, cut into strips or grated for Korean carrots.
4. Then they are fried in a pan with hot oil for 5-6 minutes, pepper and salt are added.
5. Beet leaves are slightly crushed at the thickest vein for softening, placed on each sheet 1-2 tbsp. l. cooked vegetable filling.
6. Wrap in an envelope and place seam down in a flat saucepan with a thick bottom.
7. Top with chopped garlic and pour sour cream.
8. Turn on moderate heat and cook, covered, for about a quarter of an hour.

Stewed beet tops in Armenian

This versatile dish can be prepared in several ways. It turns out to be the most delicious and tender when using young tops. But mature greens are also fine, they just need to increase the cooking time.

And the ingredients for the recipe use the simplest:

• a couple of bundles of beet tops;
• 100 g butter;
• 100 g sour cream (in the original thick matsun);
• a few cloves of garlic;
• salt and black pepper to taste;
• 1-2 onions optional.

Manufacturing:

1. First, the tops are divided into two parts: coarser burgundy petioles and delicate green leaves.
   
2. The petioles are cut into pieces 4-6 cm long, and the leaves are cut into strips 1.5 cm wide.
3. A little water is poured into a deep frying pan on the bottom and chopped petioles are placed. Stew under the lid for 3 minutes.
4. Then add the chopped leaves there and stew the same amount, turning the green mass for even heating.
5. Then add butter, pepper, salt, as it should, mix everything and, covered with a lid, stew until tender for about 5-10 minutes.
   Attention! The finished stalks should remain slightly crunchy, and the bottom of the pan should not completely dry out - you can observe the remnants of vegetable juice on it.
6. The dish is almost ready, but it is compulsory to be served with garlic sauce, which is prepared from fermented milk products (matsuna, sour cream) mixed with crushed garlic.
7. You can diversify the dish by adding separately fried onions at the end of stewing.
   

Vegetable stew with beet tops

In this recipe, beetroot leaves act as an auxiliary component, but add harmony and healthiness to the overall dish.

You will need:

• 500 g of beet tops;
• 500 g zucchini;
• 1 sweet pepper;
• 200 g carrots;
• 1 large onion;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 100 g of cheese;
• 2 tbsp. l. balsamic vinegar;
• 2-3 st. l. olive oil;
• a bunch of parsley;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Manufacturing:

1. In a frying pan heated with oil, first spread the onion cut into half rings, then thin slices of zucchini.
2. Fry for about a quarter of an hour until golden brown.
3. Then add grated carrots, sweet pepper cut into strips, after 5 minutes finely chopped beet tops.
   
4. Add a little water, salt, pepper.
5. Preheat the oven to + 180-200 ° C.
6. The dish is supplemented with chopped garlic and parsley, vinegar, sprinkled with grated cheese on top and placed in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Omelet with beet leaves

You will need:

• several bundles of beet tops;
• 2-3 st. l. olive oil;
• 1 large onion;
• 4-5 eggs;
• pepper and salt.

Preparation:

1. Beet tops are cut across into small ribbons and steamed in a colander until softened.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan, fry the onion cut into rings.
3. Add chopped tops, fry for a few more minutes, stirring the contents of the pan.
4. Beat eggs in a separate bowl, season with pepper and salt.
5. Pour in the egg mixture to the fried vegetables, allow to brown for 6-7 minutes.
6. Then, using a large flat plate, gently turn the omelet over to the other side and reheat it for a couple of minutes.

Beetroot Sauce

The sauce made according to this recipe is distinguished not only by its delicate texture and seductive aroma. It can even be used as a separate dish, as a putty on bread.

You will need:

• 2 bunches of beet tops;
• 1 bunch of dill;
• 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste;
• 1 bell pepper;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 2 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
• 1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 0.5 tsp a mixture of ground black and allspice peppers.

Preparation:

1. All ingredients are cleaned of all excess, washed and cut into pieces of arbitrary size.
2. Spread in a frying pan with butter, add 100 ml of water and stew for about 20 minutes.
3. Then the contents are cooled slightly and converted into puree using an immersion blender.
   
4. Supplemented with spices, soy sauce, tomato paste and reheated to a boil.

The sauce is ready, it is poured into glassware and stored in the refrigerator.

Bakery products

But most of all, the recipes for baking with the use of beet tops are surprising. It turns out that it is in perfect harmony with the dough and makes delicious and healthy fillings from it.

Ossetian pie recipe with beet tops

You will need:

• 2 glasses of flour and water;
• 5 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp dry yeast;
• 2 bunches of beet tops;
• 1 bunch of greens;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1.5 tsp Sahara;
• a pinch of hops-suneli;
• 200 g of Adyghe cheese.

Manufacturing:

1. Yeast and sugar are diluted in 220 ml of warm water and left until foam forms on the surface.
2. The flour sifted through a sieve is poured into a deep bowl, a glass of water with yeast and the same amount of ordinary warm water are poured in the middle.
3. Add vegetable oil and salt, knead the dough, and set aside in a warm place for 22-25 minutes.
   
4. At this time, the filling is prepared: the tops and herbs are finely chopped, crumbled cheese and salt, if desired, are added.
5. The risen dough is divided into approximately 3 parts (for three pies) and one part is spread on a flat plate, thickly sprinkled with flour.
   Advice! Hands are greased with vegetable oil to avoid sticking of the dough.
6. Hands create a circle of dough on a plate with a diameter of about 25 cm, place a filling cake in its center and wrap all the edges on top so that the filling is completely covered with the dough.
   
7. Sprinkle flour on top and knead the future pie with your hands, so as to end up with a cake with a diameter of 40 cm.
8. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour, carefully spread the resulting cake on it, make a through hole in the middle of it for steam to escape.
   
9. They are placed in an oven preheated to + 250 ° C for 10 minutes on the lower level, and then rearranged for the same time to the upper level.
10. Taking it out of the oven, grease the surface with butter.

Khachapuri stuffed with beet tops

Khachapuri with beet-cheese filling is prepared according to the same principle. The difference between these two pies lies only in the composition of the dough. And the whole cooking process and even the appearance of baking are very similar.

Only a flat cake with a filling already inside can be even gently rolled out with a rolling pin.

But the dough for khachapuri is yeast-free, with kefir and soda.

Prepare:

• 500 ml of kefir;
• 1 egg;
• 1 tsp. sugar and salt;
• 4-5 glasses of flour;
• 1-2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp soda;
• 200 g of beet tops and hard cheese for the filling.

Curd casserole with beetroot leaves

You will need:

• 300 g of tops;
• 200 g of cottage cheese;
• 300 g cream cheese;
• 2 eggs;
• 80 g sugar;
• 1 tbsp. l. flour;
• 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice.

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the tops and cook for 5 minutes in boiling water with lemon juice and 1 tbsp. l. Sahara.
2. Thrown back in a colander and let dry.
3. In a bowl, mix cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, beat with a mixer and add flour and the remaining sugar. Beat the resulting mixture again.
4. Add chopped tops to it, mix gently.
5. A deep mold is greased with oil and a casserole piece is placed in it.
6. Place in an oven preheated to + 180 ° C and bake for 50 minutes.

Pie with beet tops and mushrooms

The recipe for a pie with mushrooms and beet tops is more related to Russian national cuisine.

You will need:

• 300 g ready-made puff or ordinary yeast dough;
• 120 g suluguni;
• 100 g of beet tops;
• 300 g of mushrooms (chanterelles or champignons);
• 1 egg;
• 1 onion;
• salt, pepper to taste;
• 10 g garlic;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil.

Preparation:

1. To make the filling, beet tops are blanched in boiling water for several minutes and chopped finely. Garlic, onion and cheese are also chopped and mixed with beet leaves.
2. The dough is divided into 2 unequal parts. Most are rolled out and placed in a baking dish, making punctures with a fork over the entire surface.
3. Then the filling is evenly laid out and covered with a thin layer of dough obtained from another, smaller part of it.
4. The top of the pie is greased with a beaten egg and baked in the oven at a temperature of + 200 ° C for 25 minutes.

Beet tops pancakes

For this summer recipe, it is advisable to use young beets.

For 6 portioned pancakes you will need:

• about 200 g of tops;
• 30 ml of 10% cream;
• 1 egg;
• 1 onion and a few cloves of garlic;
• several branches of any greenery - optional;
• 1 tbsp. l. whole grain flour;
• pepper, salt.

Manufacturing:

1. The tops are cut into thin strips, an egg, cream, flour, herbs and spices are added to it to taste. Mix thoroughly.
2. Spread in small portions in a frying pan preheated with oil and fry on both sides until golden brown.

Conclusion

The beet tops recipes presented in this article showcase all the variety of dishes that can be prepared from these healthy greens, which some young housewives underestimate.

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