Beetroot Salad with yogurt, peanuts, and cilantro is so easy when you use your Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker to cook beets. You'll fall in love with this classic Indian side dish.
Not everyone loves beets, and I don't know that I could just chow down on an entire cooked beet by itself. But if you like them and are wondering how to prepare beets, let me tell you one the easiest ways. My favorite way for cooking beets is in the Instant Pot.
This is a classic cold dish that we make in India, and it's been a while since we made it so I thought I'd try it, especially since having an Instant Pot makes it so easy to cook beets.
I cooked them the night before and decided to just leave them in the fridge but they were so easy to peel once they were cooked, even when they were cold.
How To Cook Beets
Instant Pot Beets Cooking Time
When cooking beets for your beetroot salad, it's important to cook them for the correct amount of time to get the texture just right. Cook them for 12 minutes, using NPR (Natural Pressure Release).
Then you'll want to let them cool completely before trying to peel them. This will make the process much less tedious.
Variations On This Indian Beetroot Salad
I want to show you a slight variation on this salad as well. I've used yogurt for a slightly acidic/souring effect in this dish. You can omit the yogurt and use either lemon juice or chopped tomatoes instead.
It's a nice change and actually, it gives you a brighter colored salad, which makes it pretty on a summer lunch table.
Ingredients For Instant Pot Beets Salad
You just need a few common ingredients for this very simple Indian Beetroot salad.
Want More Beet Recipes?
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Instant Pot Beets- Quick and easy beets recipe.
Roasted Beets- Make delicious beets in your air fryer.
Equipment
Ingredients
Cooking the Beets
- 2 (2) Beets, tops cut off and halved
- 1 cup (250 ml) Water
Other Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (4 g) Cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup (36.5 g) Roasted Chopped Peanuts, chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons (1 teaspoons) Kosher Salt
- 1/4-1/2 cup (50 g) Full-Fat Greek Yogurt
Tempering Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons (1 tablespoons) peanut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Black Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Turmeric
- Kosher Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Place 1 cup of water into your Instant Pot. Cut the beets in half and place on a steamer basket or on a trivet.
- Cook them for 12 minutes, using NPR (Natural Pressure Release).
- Allow the cooked beets to cool before trying to peel, but once they're cool the peel will just slide off.
- Dice them into even pieces, and combined all the other ingredients except the items for tempering.
- Heat up the oil and when it starts to shimmer, put in the cumin and mustard. If you don't have mustard seeds, that's fine just double up on the cumin seeds.
- Once they the seeds start to sputter, turn off the heat and put in the turmeric, allowing it to cook and flavor the oil.
- Carefully pour this over your chopped ingredients, and mix it together.
- Chill and serve.
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Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
Shirley K
Wonderful flavors in the creamy dressing. Paired great with Tikka masala and naan.
URVASHI PITRE
So happy to hear that! I love that pairing. Also good with the chicken tikka bites and naan or karahi chicken and naan
LM
This is one of my very favorite recipes. It's incredibly satisfying and tasty.
S
There is no red or green chile (hot) pepper (mirchi) or powder in this dish? Is the dish meant to be without that? What would you recommend adding? Thanks,
URVASHI PITRE
I would add green chilis to the tadka for this one.
Joan Bubacz
What was the approximate weight of the beets? I purchased several small beets at the farmers market and wanted to use them in this recipe. Thanks
URVASHI PITRE
Oh my. I honest don’t know. Think of it this way. I had about 2-2.5 cups of chopped beets. I hope that helps
Anne-Mette
I can't wait to try this. Can I use parsley in stead of the cilantro? Also, are the mustard seed you use, black or yellow?
URVASHI PITRE
Yes to parsley. I use black ones but either would do.