Polish Shredded Beets are a delicious side dish traditionally served hot. It features roasted beets and a handful of pantry ingredients for a hearty, warming dish that’s perfect served alongside simple meat-and-potato dinners.
Preparebeets: Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C/ gas mark 6. If your beets are small roast them whole, but large beets can be halved. Wrap the beets individually in foil and place on top of a small baking sheet. Alternatively, line your baking sheet with foil and place the beets on top (cut side down if they’ve been halved) then cover with foil.
Roast beets: Place in the centre of the oven and roast for 45-50 minutes or until fork tender (but not too soft). Remove from the oven and set aside for a few minutes until the beets are cool enough to handle.
Shred beets: Peel the beets by gently scraping the skin off with a knife (the beets will be tender so this should be easy to do). Coarsely grate the beets (also easy to do using just a box grater though you can use a food processor instead if you like).
Make roux: In a medium sized pot melt the butter, add the flour and whisk in until smooth.
Add beets: Add the grated beets, lemon juice, salt and pepper, stir thoroughly and cook for a minute or so until hot, stirring often.
Add sour cream: Stir in the sour cream and adjust the seasoning if needed (optionally add the soy sauce). Add 1-2 tablespoons of hot water to loosen the mixture if you find it too thick and heat up again if necessary. Serve hot.
Notes
I do NOT recommend using store bought ready-cooked beets.
You can roast the beets in advance, refrigerate, once cooled, and peel, grate and make the dish the next day.
It is important not to cook your roasted shredded beets any longer than is necessary (once you’ve combined them with the other ingredients heat until hot then serve).
If you omit the flour the sour cream is likely to split once you combine it with the hot mixture. This won’t look very appealing so I do not recommend omitting the flour.
Best served hot. Refrigerate leftovers, covered, for up to 3-4 days. You may need to add a splash of water to loosen the mixture when reheating the dish.
Freeze for up to 3 months.
I recommend wearing rubber gloves when handling the beets.