Usually the deep purple roots of beetroot are eaten boiled, roasted or raw, and either alone or

combined with any salad vegetable. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed
into boiled and sterilized beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe, beet soup, such as borscht, is a
popular dish. In Indian cuisine, chopped, cooked, spiced beet is a common side dish. Yellow-
coloured beetroots are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.[10]
The green, leafy portion of the beet is also edible. The young leaves can be added raw to salads,
whilst the adult leaves are most commonly served boiled or steamed, in which case they have a
taste and texture similar to spinach. Those greens selected should be from bulbs that are unmarked,
instead of those with overly limp leaves or wrinkled skins, both of which are signs of dehydration.
The domestication of beets can be traced to the emergence of an allele which enables biennial
harvesting of leaves and taproot.[11]
Beetroot can be boiled or steamed, peeled and then eaten warm with or without butter as a delicacy;
cooked, pickled, and then eaten cold as a condiment; or peeled, shredded raw, and then eaten as a
salad. Pickled beets are a traditional food in many countries.
A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish is pickled beet egg. Hard-boiled eggs are refrigerated in the
liquid left over from pickling beets and allowed to marinate until the eggs turn a deep pink-red colour.
In Poland and Ukraine, beet is combined with horseradish to form popular ćwikła, which is
traditionally used with cold cuts and sandwiches, but often also added to a meal consisting of meat
and potatoes. Similarly in Serbia where the popular cvekla is used as winter salad, seasoned with
salt and vinegar, with meat dishes. As an addition to horseradish it is also used to produce the "red"
variety of chrain, a popular condiment in Ashkenazi
Jewish, Hungarian, Polish, Lithuanian, Russian and Ukrainian cuisine.
Popular in Australian hamburgers, a slice of pickled beetroot is combined with other condiments on a
beef patty to make an Aussie burger.
In Northern Germany beetroot is mashed with Labskaus or added as its side order. [12][13]
When beet juice is used, it is most stable in foods with a low water content, such as frozen novelties
and fruit fillings.[14] Betanins, obtained from the roots, are used industrially as red food colourants,
e.g. to intensify the colour of tomato paste, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, sweets,
and breakfast cereals.[10]
Beetroot can also be used to make wine.[15]