Moroccan Roasted Beets with Pomegranate Seeds, toasted pistachios and a balsamic glaze. A simple, healthy vegan side dish!
You are a unique being. You have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world–and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates abundance. Expressing your talents to fulfill needs, creates unlimited abundance. ~ Deepak Chopra
Beets get a festive Moroccan twist in this easy, healthy vegan recipe. Moroccan Roasted Beets with pomegranate, toasted pistachios with a balsamic glaze, served warm, makes for a hearty side dish, and save the leftovers and toss with greens for a lovely winter salad during the week.
It can feel so vulnerable though. Scary. Exposing who we really are, requires a good amount of courage. Our fear of the criticism and judgment of others too often wins this internal battle. And our fears that we are not “good enough” often stop us in dead our tracks.
How to make Moroccan Roasted Beets
Step One: Roast the Beets
To peel or not to peel? When roasting beets there is much debate over whether or not to peel them, and when. Some people roast beets whole, letting them cool and slipping off their skins. To me, this seems to defeat the purpose. All the yummy flavor of the olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper, gets tossed with the peel.
Out of laziness, I suppose, and the hopeful idea that the skins are really nutritious, I leave the skins on. Just make sure to give them a good scrubbing. If skins are not your thing, peel them first with a vegetable peeler.
Why Roast Beets?
Step Two: Prep the pomegranates
How to cut a Pomegranate | 2 min video!
Step three:
Step four
When the beets are tender, toss them with the glaze, pomegranate seeds, pistachio, and a little orange zest. Sprinkle with mint if you like.
Serve immediately and save the leftovers for salad the next day – this is good chilled too!
Other Beet Recipes you may like:
Spaghetti and Beetballs! (Vegan Meatballs)
Delicious Beet Salad Recipe with Feta & Pistachios
Farro Salad with Beets and their Tops
Simple Borscht Recipe (Instant Pot or Stove Top!)
Moroccan Roasted Beets with Pomegranate and Pistachio
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: Side, vegan side dish, vegetables
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Moroccan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Moroccan Roasted Beets with Pomegranate Seeds, toasted pistachios and a balsamic glaze. A simple, healthy vegan side dish.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds beets – scrubbed and cut into wedges no more than 3/4 inch thick ( see note). If you prefer not to eat the peels, peel with a vegetable peeler before cutting.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
Reduced Balsamic
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Garnish:
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/4 cup crushed roasted pistachios
- 1 tablespoon orange zest, optional
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint or cilantro
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425F
- Roast Beets: Toss beets with olive oil, balsamic, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, salt, pepper in a bowl and coat well.Place on parchment-lined baking sheet place on the middle rack, and roast until fork tender, checking and stirring every 15 minutes, about 40-45 minutes.
- Make Balsamic Glaze: Place balsamic and maple syrup in small pot on medium-low heat, and reduce 20 minutes or until you have about 3 tablespoons.
- When beets are done, place in a serving dish and toss with balsamic glaze, pomegranate seeds and pistachios.
- Garnish with orange zest and mint.
Notes
If you’d like to cut your beets bigger than 3/4 inch thick, cover with foil ( so they steam and soften a bit) the first 20-30 minutes, then remove foil, continue baking until tender.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2/3 cup
- Calories: 198
- Sugar: 16.5 g
- Sodium: 355.7 mg
- Fat: 5.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.4 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Made this to bring to a Moroccan dinner party and everyone loved it! Made it exactly as written with the optional orange zest and used mint. Delicious!!
Wonderful! Themed dinner party sounds fun!
Bright and delicious!
Thanks so much Chris!
Dear Sylvia,
what would you recommend as a main dish here?
Best,
Meta
Hey Meta -the Moroccan Salmon or Moroccan Chicken would be nice here. Just type it in the search bar at the top of the blog. 🙂
Hi,
I followed this recipe exactly and the beets burned to a crisp. In retrospect, beets with balsamic for 45 minutes in a hot oven is never going to work.
Hummmm, sorry about that. I haven’t made this in a while. I’ll double-check the recipe.
It says check every 15 minutes. Temperature’s not going to work the same for everybody’s oven. Experience will teach you that. Nearly everything I’ve made off of this woman’s website has been top-down delicious. So good. Thank you, Sylvia! I am so grateful for these delicious meals.
Thanks. 😉
The recipe does not say to roast the beets with the balsamic dressing. You put it on after they are roasted
Love the flavors of this dish- simple and tasty.
These turned out excellent.
Over the years we have made this numerous times and never thought to rate. One of our favorite beet recipes.
I made this tonight in my insta pot. It was my first night using it and I was looking for a side dish for my Moraccan pork roast.
I live in a small Midwest city and the grocery store I stopped at on my way home from work only had two ingredients on the list that I needed. Beets and Fennel seed, no cumin seed or pomegranates. I looked for pomegranate juice. None of that either. I had a long day at work so I skipped a few ingredients.
I peeled three Med to large beets and cut them into larger cubes, i doused them with two Tablespoons of olive oil, one chunky sliced red onion one tsp of Fennel seeds and a couple of good shakes of ground cumin. I set the insta pot Pressure cooker for 15 min( it should have been 30). At the end of the 15 min I set it for 10 more and the beets were fairly firm and delicious. We were just too hungry to cook ‘em any longer and they were delicious. I tasted them when they came out of the pot and they were so good that I gave up on the maple syrup and all the other ingredients. Just a great simple taste. Thanks for the inspiration!
These Moroccan roasted beets are delicious and Pomegranate makes it more delightful. I can’t wait to try them and making the Beet Salad. Really enjoy the step by step pics….makes me confident of what it should look like! Thanks!!
a. What’s wrong with roasting twice?
b. Balsamic -> pomegranate molasses
This recipe looks good, but I do not see the fennel or cumin used in the actual recipe instructions. I do see the note above the recipe about tossing some in while roasting the beets. Are they only optional toss-ins when roasting the beets or is something missing from the recipe? Thanks!
Sorry, I fixed the recipe- it really needed it, so thanks!!! Somehow it got messed up, appreciate you letting me know!
Thanks for the recipe update. I made it for Thanksgiving. Delicious!
Awesome!!
Yum!
Just wondering what a good main dish would be to go along with the beets. Im thinking pork chops? What would be something quick and easy? And what about a starch?
Pork Chops sound great. And how about goat cheese mashed potatoes? 🙂
I found your blog looking for fabulous beet recipes for a Valentine’s Day round up on beets. I used your picture inside the post linking back to you. I hope that’s okay. I subscribed. Very happy to find you. I think we have a similar food view.
Roast the beets ahead, cool, reheat and then toss all the components together.
Made this yesterday and it was delicious. I didn’t have any pistachios and forgot the zest and it was still great. Had it over mixed greens with a little extra glaze as “dressing.” My new go-to salad.
This is delcious! I didn’t have any pistachios and forgot the zest but still loved it. Had it over mixed greens and a little extra glaze served as dressing. My new go-to salad.
Mint!
Love this recipe. I made it today, and it was delicious. Here is my blog post about the beets I made, with you cited as my inspirationhttp://angiecooksinportland.blogspot.com/2013/06/beautiful-balsamic-beets.html
Thank You for the recipe.It was delicious :)http://miszmasz-marghe.blogspot.com/2013/03/saatka-buraczana-z-granatem-i-mieta.html
Normally I dont like beets, but your pictures make my mouth water for them. 🙂 Ill have to try roasting them since I havent had them that way.
We love roasted beets! We have them almost every week or so, but never tried them with pomegranate. We will definitely try your recipe. It looks amazingly delicious 🙂
Thanks, let me know what you think!
Hi Sylvia,We made the recipe last night and it turned out great! Next time we will reserve some time to take photos of it 🙂
I love beets! Beet and pomegranates together sounds wonderful!
It’s a good combination!
Beautiful post and photos! This looks amazing!
Thanks Rachel!!