Cooking with Beetroot
Recipes with Beetroot — Moroccan Beetroot Salad and Cumin
Beetroot appears in Moroccan cooking mainly as a cooked salad, its earthy sweetness lifted with cumin, orange blossom water and a little sugar in a treatment similar to the classic carrot salad. It is boiled whole rather than peeled and cut raw, which keeps its colour vivid and its texture smooth once tender. This guide covers the Moroccan beetroot dishes worth knowing and how to cook and peel it without staining everything red.
How Moroccans cook beetroot
Beetroot is boiled or steamed whole, skin on, until a knife slides in easily, then peeled once cool enough to handle, since the skin slips off far more easily after cooking than before. It is diced or sliced and dressed warm with olive oil, cumin, a little sugar and sometimes orange blossom water, echoing the seasoning used for Moroccan carrot salad.
The best Moroccan recipes with beetroot
Cooked beetroot salad with cumin, dressed while still warm, is the standard preparation, served as part of a mezze spread. Beetroot and orange salad, adding citrus segments for brightness, is a refreshing variation. Beetroot dip, blended smooth with garlic and a little yoghurt or tahini, makes a striking pink starter. Beetroot in couscous occasionally joins the vegetable medley for extra colour, though this is less traditional than carrot or turnip.
Cooking beetroot without staining everything
Boil or steam beetroot whole with the skin on and a little of the stem left attached, which helps prevent the colour bleeding out into the cooking water. Peel using gloves or under running water once cooked, rubbing the skin off with your thumbs rather than using a knife, which limits staining on your hands and board.
Buying and prepping beetroot
Choose firm, smooth-skinned beetroot without soft spots, ideally still with fresh-looking leaves attached, which indicates recent harvesting. Smaller beetroot tend to be more tender and less woody than very large ones. Leave a little stem attached when trimming before cooking, rather than cutting flush to the bulb.
Cook's tips
- Boil or steam beetroot whole with skin on to keep the colour from bleeding into the water.
- Peel cooked beetroot by rubbing with your thumbs under running water rather than using a knife.
- Dress beetroot salad while still warm with cumin and a little sugar for the classic Moroccan flavour.
- Wear gloves when handling peeled beetroot, or expect stained hands for a day or so.
- Choose smaller beetroot, which tend to be more tender and less woody than large ones.
Questions about cooking with Beetroot
How is Moroccan beetroot salad made?
Beetroot is boiled whole, peeled once cool, then diced or sliced and dressed warm with olive oil, cumin, a little sugar and sometimes orange blossom water, echoing the seasoning of Moroccan carrot salad.
How do you peel beetroot without staining your hands?
Peel once cooked and cool enough to handle, rubbing the skin off with your thumbs under running water, or wear gloves if you would rather avoid any staining altogether.
Should beetroot be peeled before or after cooking?
After — boiling or steaming beetroot with the skin on keeps its colour from bleeding into the water and makes the skin much easier to remove once tender.
What flavours pair well with beetroot in Moroccan cooking?
Cumin, orange blossom water and a touch of sugar are classic, along with orange segments for a brighter variation, all echoing the seasoning used for Moroccan carrot salad.
Is beetroot traditional in Moroccan cuisine?
It is used, though less centrally than carrot or turnip, mainly in cooked salads and occasionally dips, adapting the same warm-spiced, lightly sweetened dressing style found throughout Moroccan vegetable cookery.
Cook these dishes with a local in Marrakech
Learn to handle beetroot the Moroccan way in a hands-on cooking class, or taste it across the medina on a guided food tour.