French "Peasant" Beets Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Hello all. 👋 I got this recipe from my Alexa when asking, "what's a great recipe for beets.?" It was the 3rd or 4th suggestion. The name caught my attention. So I started. Instead of peeling, I left it on. We all know how hard it is to cut lol. Once done I used one table spoon of butter and sautéed the shallot and put in the beets. Added olive oil to the mix and some garlic. Pepper and salted Once done I used the greens from the beet and added the white wine. Ehh, nothing special from publix. Let it sit and my kid came 🏃‍♂️ running, mouth watering. I heated some oag bread made it crispy. It was Spectacular!!! Thank you so much for this. ♡ I will be making again soon.

This is AMAZING!!!! I am using fresh beets from my garden, the ones that are red and white, and using the greens from them instead of Swiss chard. I added one glove of garlic and added zest of one lemon. Used goat cheese! I am in heaven!!!!! Thank you so much for this easy and delicious recipe.

A couple of years ago, when I was a poor student with a tiny kitchen and also a vegetarian I found this recipe, liked it A LOT and from then on made it at least once a week. It was always great, even with cheap wine and cheese (mozarella is not bad here) :) i need to add this back into my rotation... Thanks for posting!

K September 8, 2018

This was amazing! I served it with a thyme and oregano risotto, added black kale to the greens and user choggia beets. My husband who hates both beets and kale said “wow”’after his first bite and cleaned his car late. So did my five year old. So happy I made enough for a another meal. Also, the whole meal only took me 40 minutes to make! Incredible!

So I have made this recipe a few times and every time it’s always beautiful. I don’t usually have bread with my beets because I just make some couscous from a box and a nice glass of wine. So delicious!!

This is probably my favorite way to prepare beets, and I've made this recipe many times. I love how easy to make yet sophisticatedly flavored the recipe is. Also love a beet recipe that incorporates the greens without just throwing them in as a salad afterthought. Usually sub in goat cheese, and the last few times I've served on homemade bread (Alexandra Stafford's peasant bread - so easy and so good). Posted about it here: https://thankles.com/2018/02/27/cabbage-rolls-french-peasant-beets/

Susan November 7, 2017

This is a wonderful basic recipe that leaves plenty of room for interpretation. I made this recipe in a black cast iron skillet with a pile of small beets from our garden. It took about 25 minutes of sauteeing and steaming to get the beets carmelized. We did not have any Bucheron, so served with chevre toasts and a poached egg. I added a pinch of chervil and fresh rosemary. The results were lovely! I will make this again.

Jan S. September 25, 2017

You should proofread your recipes. This one is full of typos and misspellings. Looking forward to trying the dish!

judy September 11, 2016

I like the skin on. The large slices allow plenty of surface area to absorb butter. I also toss these in a bowl with melted butter and a little garlic and roast in the oven. I add the greens at the last 5 minutes. I always make sure the greens are a beautiful as the roots. Love beet greens.

We didn't have any chard, so it was less leafy but still delicious. For anyone wondering about which wine to use & possible substitutions, I didn't want to open a bottle just for this -- husband was drinking one of those trendy sour beers, so I used that instead, and it was great. The acidity keeps the beets from being too sweet.

Jess August 27, 2015

Lovely dish! We skipped out on the cheese, and served this as a side dish to sherried sardine toasts with mashed avocado. I think next time I'll double the swiss chard -- I always want more greens, and this recipe can definitely handle them.

These were amazing. Used spinach instead of Swiss Chard. Had Sauvignon Blanc in the fridge and used that. Also, organic goat cheese from Texas... Yummy.

Donna, I did peel and slice the raw beets so they'd absorb the butter and wine while cooking. It wasn't hard with a vegetable peeler and no more clean-up than peeling potatoes or carrots. I'm not sure how much flavor you'd lose if you roasted the unpeeled beets first, then peeled and sliced them, but that might be easier.

Donna October 5, 2014

Am I missing something with this recipe? It says 'simple' but peeling raw beets and slicing them 1/4" thick is a task that is anything but simple!!!!! Not to mention the cleanup involved. How did everyone handle this part of the recipe?

Lucy August 16, 2014

Tried this for dinner tonight and it was delish, but plenty for two without the chard and cheese. We added toasted walnuts to the mix and it was heavenly, with a great crunch

Made this for lunch and it was great! Such a nice way to eat beetroot. We did not have the boucheron but I bet it is nice with it! I saw a comment suggering to put some mint leaves and I would try next time, the idea of beetroot and mint sounds nice

This was a hit last night, served as a warm salad after a first course of pan-fried scallops and risotto. Substituted chevre medallions for the boucheron because that's what my store had. We'll have the leftovers tonight with cucumber-yogurt salad.

No one else mentioned any difficulty cooking the beets. Mine were still not cooked through after 40 minutes of sauteeing them - even though mine were cut thinner than the ones in the pictures above. My shallots ended up burning after so long in the pan. I'm wondering if I had the heat too high? the beets too thin? I can imagine how good these would be if I could perfect the method.