Chef Freja
Æblegelé
Tart autumn apples, slow-boiled and strained clear overnight, then cooked with sugar to a trembling pale amber jelly that belongs on the cheese board, on morning toast, and in the kitchen of anyone who respects the season.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Syltede Rodbeder
Created by Chef Freja
Beets boiled whole, their skins slipped off, sliced into coins and jarred in sweet-sour brine with cloves and fresh horseradish. The condiment that belongs beside leverpostej on dark rye, at Christmas and every other day it's needed.
Sauces & Condiments
Danish
Make Ahead
Christmas
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield2 jars (about 1 litre total)
September is when the beets come in. You see them at the market stalls in bunches, their leaves still muddy and dark, the roots heavy in your hand with a weight that promises sweetness. This is when you make syltede rodbeder. Not because you need them today, but because you'll need them in November, in December, on the julefrokost table next to the leverpostej and the rugbrod, and again in January when the Christmas ham is finished but the pickled beets in the back of the fridge are still going strong.
Syltede rodbeder are one of the quiet pillars of Danish food. They don't announce themselves. They sit in a small bowl on the table and wait to be noticed, and then they do exactly what's needed: a bright, sharp, sweet note that cuts through the richness of liver pâté, the fattiness of pork, the density of dark rye. Without them, the cold table loses its balance. With them, everything falls into place.
The method is simple and forgiving. You boil the beets whole, slip off their skins, slice them into coins, and pack them into jars with a brine of vinegar, sugar, cloves, and fresh horseradish. The horseradish is the detail that separates these from a jar you buy at the supermarket. It builds slowly, a gentle warmth that reaches the back of your palate after the sweetness has passed. I'll walk you through every step, but the truth is that the hardest part is the waiting. Give the jars a week. You'll know when they're right.
Pickling beets in a sweet vinegar brine has been part of Danish household preserving since at least the 1800s, when autumn root cellars were stocked with jars of syltede rodbeder, syltede agurker, and red cabbage to carry families through the winter months. The addition of horseradish is an older tradition still, rooted in the rural kitchens of Jutland and Fyn where peberrod (horseradish) grew wild along field edges and was grated into everything from cream sauces to pickles. By the twentieth century, commercially produced syltede rodbeder had become so ubiquitous that the homemade version nearly disappeared, though the difference in flavor between a jar made in your own kitchen and one from the shelf is the kind of gap no convenience can close.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium beetroots
Quantity
1kg
unpeeled, roughly the size of a tennis ball
white wine vinegar
Quantity
500ml
water
Quantity
250ml
granulated sugar
Quantity
200g
whole cloves
Quantity
6
bay leaves
Quantity
2
black peppercorns
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fresh horseradish root
Quantity
30g
peeled, sliced into thin coins
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium beetrootsunpeeled, roughly the size of a tennis ball | 1kg |
| white wine vinegar | 500ml |
| water | 250ml |
| granulated sugar | 200g |
| whole cloves | 6 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| black peppercorns | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| fresh horseradish rootpeeled, sliced into thin coins | 30g |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot for boiling the beets
- •Two clean glass jars with tight-fitting lids, 500ml each
- •Saucepan for the brine
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Boil the beets whole
Place the unpeeled beetroots in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least five centimetres. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer. Cook for forty to fifty minutes, depending on their size. A thin knife should slide into the centre with no resistance at all. You boil them whole and unpeeled because the skin seals in the colour and sweetness. Cut a beet before boiling and it bleeds into the water, and you lose the deep garnet that makes these worth looking at.
Choose beets that are roughly the same size so they cook evenly. If you have a mix of sizes, pull the smaller ones out first and let the larger ones continue. - 2
Slip the skins
Drain the beets and let them cool just enough to handle. The skins should slip off under your thumbs with almost no effort. If they resist, the beets need more time. Rub the skins away under cold running water if they're still too hot, but don't leave them soaking. Once peeled, slice the beets into coins about half a centimetre thick. Uniform slices matter here because they absorb the brine at the same rate, so every piece in the jar will taste the same.
Your hands will stain. That's part of it. Wear thin kitchen gloves if the colour bothers you, but know that the stain fades in a day or two and it means the beets are good. - 3
Make the brine
While the beets cool, combine the white wine vinegar, water, sugar, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Let it boil for one minute, then take it off the heat. The brine should taste sharp and sweet in equal measure. If it's too sour, it will overpower the beets. If it's too sweet, it becomes cloying. Taste it. It should make you wince slightly and then want another sip. That's the balance.
- 4
Pack the jars
Layer the beet slices into clean jars, tucking the horseradish coins between the layers as you go. Distribute them throughout so the heat reaches every part of the jar over time. The horseradish is quiet at first, then builds over the days as it steeps. That slow warmth at the back of the palate is what lifts these above ordinary pickled beets.
Use jars with tight-fitting lids. Sterilise them by running through a hot dishwasher cycle or pouring boiling water over them and letting them drain upside down on a clean cloth. - 5
Pour and seal
Pour the hot brine over the beet slices, making sure the liquid covers them completely. Tap the jars gently on the counter to release any air bubbles trapped between the slices. Seal the lids tightly while the brine is still hot. The heat creates a vacuum as it cools, which is what preserves them. Let the jars cool to room temperature on the counter, then transfer to the fridge.
- 6
Wait
Leave the jars for at least three days before opening. Five is better. A week is best. The brine needs time to penetrate the beet slices fully and the horseradish needs time to release its warmth into the liquid. The colour of the brine will deepen to a luminous ruby. The joy of waiting is real here: these get better with every day in the jar.
Chef Tips
- •Choose beets that are firm, heavy for their size, and roughly uniform. Soft or wrinkled beets have lost their sweetness and no amount of brine will bring it back. The season decides: September and October beets are the best, freshly pulled and full of sugar.
- •Fresh horseradish makes this recipe. If you can't find the root, leave it out entirely rather than substituting the jarred version, which is vinegary and sharp in the wrong way. Without horseradish you still have excellent pickled beets. With the wrong horseradish you have something muddled.
- •These are the companion to leverpostej on rugbrod, and that pairing is not negotiable. A thick slice of warm liver pâté on dark rye, a few coins of pickled beet on the side, and you have one of the great simple meals in Danish food. Cooked with love, eaten in minutes.
- •White wine vinegar gives a cleaner, brighter brine than malt vinegar or cider vinegar. The flavour stays transparent and lets the beet's own sweetness come through.
Advance Preparation
- •Syltede rodbeder need at least three days in the brine before serving. A full week is best. Start them well before you need them, especially if they're for julefrokost.
- •Sealed jars keep in the fridge for up to two months. The flavour peaks around two weeks and holds steady after that. If the brine level drops below the beets, top it up with a splash of vinegar to keep them submerged.
- •You can double or triple the recipe without adjusting anything except the jar count. Late September is the time to make a large batch that will carry you through the winter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 130g)
Calories
155 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
350 mg
Total Carbohydrates
34 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
32 g
Protein
2 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Danish Pickles & Preserves
Browse the full collection
Chef Freja
Aeblemos
Autumn apples simmered slowly with vanilla until they collapse into a rough, golden sauce. The condiment that waits on the shelf for flaeskesteg, for roast duck, for the meals that carry you through the Danish winter.
Chef Freja
Blommechutney
September plums slow-cooked with onion, ginger, vinegar, and warm spice into a dark, glossy chutney that belongs beside aged cheese on a cold evening. The joy of waiting, sealed in a jar.
Chef Freja
Blommemarmelade
Ripe September plums from Fyn orchards, cooked slowly with sugar and cinnamon until the color deepens to garnet and the kitchen smells like the place where autumn meets winter. Give it a week on the shelf. It only gets better.