Instead of tossing your beet greens, use them to make fermented beet green kimchi – a spicy side dish with a boost of gut-healthy probiotics!
If you have been fermenting for any amount of time, you’ll know that every ferment is a bit of an experiment. Some foods are more successful when left to ferment for 3+ weeks. Others are delicious after just a few days.
I was a bit hesitant to write about fermented beet tops – after all, it’s not something that’s super popular (or even popular at all). I wanted to make sure the batch was good and others agreed that it was worth doing again and again.
My oldest daughter has been a bit of a soup kick the last few weeks. Most recently she put her first batch of Borscht on the dinner table with some sour cream. She kept the beet tops and decided that there had to be a way to use them without tossing them… and she was right. I would have done the same thing.
You can ferment almost anything actually. One of my favorite ferments is hot sauce – it requires your favorite peppers, salt and water.
Get creative… use hot yellow peppers, jalapeños or even Fresno peppers. No matter what you chose, all three make a great gift when bottled in these hot sauce bottles and passed on at the holidays.
Beet Green Kimchi
This Beet Green Kimchi is a variation of traditional kimchi. It combines our leftover beet greens with ginger, chiles, and onions. It’s easy to throw together and uses up something that would have normally been tossed (beet tops).
The result is an earthy flavor that packs a some serious heat. The process of making this beet green kimchi is easy. Combine a few ingredients, cover, wait and then enjoy.
In a quart canning jar, combine all of your ingredients. Mash them down, because the more you mash, the more liquid you will draw out of the greens. Mash enough & you won’t have to add additional water. The liquid from the greens will be enough to cover the contents of the jar.
Things to remember:
- When fermenting, avoid using plastic or metal containers/utensils.
- Layer your beet greens between the other ingredients to make sure everything gets distributed well.
- Sprinkle your mash with 2% salt (if you are using a quart canning jar, then 2% of 32 oz is .64 oz.) Mash the greens, and draw out the liquid, or top off with water.
- Start tasting your ferment after 3-4 days. Then put in the fridge to slow fermentation.
- Once refrigerated, fermented foods will be fine for a few months.
Beet Green Kimchi
Ingredients
- 2 green onions chopped
- 2 Tbsp ginger peeled and minced
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 8 beet greens chopped
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- sea salt as needed
- water as needed
Instructions
- In a quart canning jar, combine the ingredients - layering the garlic and onions between the greens. Sprinkle with salt as you layer... you want a 2% brine (which is .64 oz of salt).
- Pound the greens down until they start to release their own juices. If you mash them enough, there will be enough juice to cover the contents of the jar. If not, top off with a little water.
- Lay a fermentation weight in the top of the jar to keep everything submerged, or use a jelly jar in the mouth of the quart canning jar.
- Top with an airlock, and allow to ferment anywhere from 2-7 days until it tastes the way you like. Then move to the refrigerator to slow fermentation.
Nutrition
Have you ever thought of fermenting beet tops?
If you give this recipe a try, please leave a comment, rate the recipe and be sure to tag me on Instagram!
Hi, I was amazed to find an actual beet greem recipe much less a fermented one. I’m a bit confused by the 2% brine though because not the entire contents would be liquid so not sure if 0.64 oz of salt would be too salty. Thanks.
Wasn’t too salty at all. My 13 year old basically sat and ate the entire jar with a fork on her own. If you wish, you could lessen the salt a tiny bit, I would just be cautious though. I always worry about not using enough salt because it’s quite hot here where I am in Arizona and ferments can take a nose dive really quick with the heat.
Hi do you rinse off the salt after you mash up the greens?Do I have to store in fridge? How long will they last in fridge 6 months?
No, you don’t rinse the salt. The salt is required for fermentation. Should last 5-6 months.
Thomas C is right about the “salt as needed” or “2% brine” part being confusing. Normally, salt is added according to the WEIGHT of the food to be fermented—such as 1-1/2 to 2 tsp. per pound of cabbage or beet greens or whatever. So what happens if my beet leaves/greens are larger or smaller than yours? The salt ratio could be off. I have tried your recipe using your ingredients, but I had to look up someone else’s recipe to try to get a sensible salt/beet green ratio. (If anyone else wants to try this recipe but have a more standard measurement than ‘salt as needed,” other people say that 1-1/2 lbs of beet greens require 2 tsp. of salt, but, honestly, that tasted pretty salty to me.) 1-1/2 lbs of beet greens is way more than 8 leaves, so keep in mind that this recipe is a great starting place, but you have to figure out your own salt content for sure.
Salt brine can vary so greatly from person to person – which is why I mention “as needed”. 2-5% is traditionally the variance with brine – while some sites may say 2% .. others may go as high as 5%. That, also, depends on the item that you are fermenting. I have fermented almost every veggie – softer veggies with a 5% brine is more appropriate. But harder veggies, certainly as low as 2%.. it can vary. This is why you can read a dozen or so sites and everyone will say (similarly) a variance – nobody will give a “hard” number, because it wouldn’t be appropriate to do that. If you are fermenting, you almost have to have a basic understanding of this as well, there is no one site that is going to tell you a definite hard number, it would be irresponsible for any of us to assume that ;). j Also, while some may add salt according to the “weight” of the food being fermented, many of us don’t do that – some of us actually make a separate 2-5% brine and cover the veggies in that (given hard/soft veggies), and then toss what brine is leftover. I find that to be even easier than weighing veggies. Depends on what you prefer. When you start getting into a rhythm of ferments, you do what works best for you, given what you are fermenting and your situation. Take notes, and try different ratios. Eventually you figure out what your taste buds prefer and you do what works for you.
I would try this… and I will once I’m growing beets! I love beet greens and imagine they are a great texture for kimchi. Thank you, very easy to follow recipe.
I would try this… and I will once I’m growing beets! I love beet greens and imagine they are a great texture for kimchi. Thank you, very easy to follow recipe.
You are so welcome 🙂 Let me know how it goes for you!