Beets are one of the most underrated vegetables in a Canadian kitchen: easy to grow, easy to store, and far more versatile than the pickled jar most of us grew up with. Canadian farmers, concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, grow tens of thousands of tonnes of beets every year, and the crop’s excellent storage life means fresh Canadian beets are realistically available from late summer right through winter. Whether you know beets best from a bowl of borscht, a roasted side dish, or a vivid magenta-stained cutting board, here is what to know about buying, storing, and cooking this everyday Canadian root vegetable.
At a Glance: When Are Beets in Season in Canada?
Fresh, bunched Canadian beets hit their stride from midsummer through fall, with the bulk of the harvest landing in August, September, and into October. Because beets store exceptionally well in cold, humid conditions, the season does not end there: topped, bulk beets pulled from storage keep Canadian-grown beets on shelves well into winter. Unlike tomatoes, peppers, or cucumbers, beets are not a meaningful Canadian greenhouse crop, so this is a field-grown vegetable whose long availability window comes from smart storage rather than year-round greenhouse production.
This storage-extended pattern is worth keeping in mind whenever you see “Product of Canada” on a bag of beets in February. It almost certainly means the beet was harvested months earlier and has been holding well in cold storage ever since, not that it was just pulled from the ground.
Where Are Beets Grown in Canada?
Ontario and Quebec are the country’s main beet-growing provinces, with Ontario’s Holland Marsh region in particular known for vegetable production that includes beets alongside carrots, onions, and other root crops grown in the area’s distinctive dark, mucky soil. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Statistical Overview of the Canadian Field Vegetable Industry, Canadian farmers grew over 50,000 metric tonnes of beets in 2025, a solid, steady showing for a crop that rarely gets the spotlight given to flashier vegetables.
It is worth distinguishing table beets from sugar beets, a related but separate crop grown mainly in Alberta and Ontario and used exclusively for sugar production rather than fresh eating. Canada’s sugar beet growers, represented by the Canadian Sugar Beet Producers Association, supply the only domestic source of Canadian-grown sugar, but that crop never reaches grocery produce aisles as a vegetable. The two are easy to confuse by name, but table beets are the only vegetable in this guide.
Types of Beets You’ll Find in Canada
Most grocery stores and farmers’ markets carry a small handful of beet types rather than the dozens of named varieties you might see with apples or potatoes. The differences are mostly about colour, sweetness, and whether they bleed onto everything else on the cutting board.
Red beets are the everyday default: deep crimson, earthy-sweet, and the type most home cooks reach for in borscht, roasted side dishes, and pickles. Golden or yellow beets are milder and noticeably less messy, since they do not bleed the way red beets do, making them a good choice for salads where you want the colour to stay put. Chioggia beets, sometimes called candy cane beets, have a striking pink-and-white striped interior and a mild flavour that holds up especially well raw or shaved thin.
Beyond colour, how a beet reaches the store matters too. Early in the season, beets are typically sold bunched, meaning the leafy greens are still attached. Later, once cooler weather sets in and the crop shifts into storage, beets are more often sold topped and loose or bagged, with the greens already removed. Both are entirely normal ways to buy beets; the choice mostly comes down to whether you want the greens as a bonus vegetable.
For a closer look at how to choose between these types and formats, see Canadian Beet Varieties: Taste, Texture and Best Uses.
On another note: sugar beets, grown in Alberta and Ontario, are a completely separate crop that is harvested and turned into sugar – learn more.
How to Buy Beets
Look for beets that feel firm and heavy for their size, with smooth, unblemished skin. Smaller to medium beets are generally more tender; very large beets can turn woody in the centre. If you find bunched beets with the greens still attached and looking bright and fresh, that is usually a good sign of recent harvest, since the greens wilt faster than the root itself. Once the bunched season tapers off, most beets sold are topped (greens removed) and sourced from storage, which is perfectly normal and reflects how well this vegetable holds up over time rather than a sign of lower quality. Avoid beets that feel soft, shrivelled, or have noticeable cracks, as these are signs of moisture loss or age.
How to Store Beets
Few vegetables reward a little storage know-how the way beets do. In the fridge, keep beets in a loosely closed plastic bag for up to two weeks. If the greens are still attached, it is best to trim them off and store them separately, since the leafy tops pull moisture out of the root and shorten its fridge life; the greens themselves are worth keeping and cooking within a few days. Raw beets do not freeze well, but cooked beets freeze beautifully: boil or roast until tender, peel, slice or chop, and freeze in an airtight container or bag for up to a year. For a full breakdown of fridge, freezer, and pantry handling, including a simple way to use up softening beets before they go to waste, see How to Store Beets: Fridge, Freezer and Pantry Tips to Cut Food Waste.
Easy Ways to Use Beets
Beets are far more versatile than the pickled jar suggests. Roasting brings out their natural sweetness, whether served whole, halved, or cut into chunks with a little oil and fresh herbs; a hot oven and roughly 30 to 45 minutes, depending on size, is usually all it takes. Boiled beets, cooled and sliced, are the base of a quick salad, especially paired with citrus, soft cheese, or this Beet and Pomegranate Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing. Shredded raw beet adds crunch and colour to slaws and grain bowls. And the greens themselves cook down just like spinach or chard, making them worth keeping rather than discarding. No conversation about beets is complete without borscht; try this Healthy Borscht for a hearty, vegetable-packed version that also makes good use of carrots and cabbage. For more ideas, see Easy Ways to Use Beets.
Healthy Borscht
This Healthy Borscht is a hearty main dish that needs only a salad, bread and a glass of milk to complete the meal.
Beet and Pomegranate Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
This is the perfect salad to serve in the winter for all of the big feast days like Christmas and New Year’s.
Nutrition at a Glance
Beets bring a genuinely strong nutrition profile to the table. They are an excellent source of folate and a good source of manganese, with smaller but meaningful contributions of vitamin C, potassium, iron, magnesium, and thiamin, according to Fresh Vegetable Growers of Ontario. The deep red colour comes from anthocyanins, plant pigments associated with antioxidant activity, while golden beets owe some of their hue to beta-carotene. Do not overlook the greens: like other leafy tops, beet greens are an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C and potassium, so cooking them alongside the root is an easy way to get more nutritional value out of one purchase. Because beets contain plant-based (non-heme) iron, pairing them with a source of vitamin C, such as a squeeze of lemon, can help the body absorb that iron more efficiently.
How Beets Are Grown
Planting and Growing Cycle
Beets are a cool-season root crop, direct-seeded into the field rather than transplanted. Because each beet seed can actually produce a small cluster of seedlings, growers typically thin the rows once seedlings emerge so the remaining plants have enough room to develop properly sized roots. From seeding to harvest generally takes a couple of months, which allows growers to time plantings so that fresh beets are ready through the heart of summer and into fall.
Harvest
Harvest timing and method depend on the market the beets are headed for. Beets destined for the fresh, bunched market are typically harvested by hand with the greens left on, while beets headed for bulk storage and processing are more often harvested mechanically and topped (greens removed) at or shortly after harvest. Both approaches are common on Canadian vegetable farms, often on the same operation, depending on what a given field is destined for.
Field Production
Unlike greenhouse vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, beets are exclusively a field crop in Canada; there is no meaningful greenhouse beet production. That makes beets a useful example of how Canadian growers extend a vegetable’s season through storage and crop timing rather than through greenhouse infrastructure.
Storage and Availability
This is where beets really shine. Their dense root structure and thick skin make them naturally well-suited to long-term cold storage, which is the main reason Canadian-grown beets can stay available well beyond the harvest window itself. Properly stored beets can keep for months, which is part of why this crop tends to be a reliable, reasonably priced option through much of the fall and winter, long after more delicate summer vegetables have disappeared from the produce aisle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are beet greens edible? Yes. Beet greens are nutritious and can be cooked much like spinach or chard. For more ways to use them, see Easy Ways to Use Beets.
Why do beets stain everything? The same anthocyanin pigments that give red beets their colour will readily stain cutting boards, hands, and clothing. Wearing an apron and using a dedicated cutting board for beets can help; golden and Chioggia beets are far less prone to staining. Read more in Canadian Beet Varieties: Taste, Texture and Best Uses.
Do beets need to be peeled before cooking? Not necessarily. Many cooks boil or roast beets unpeeled, then slip the skins off once cooked and cooled, which is often easier than peeling raw.
Can you eat beets raw? Yes, especially when shredded or thinly sliced; Chioggia beets in particular are popular eaten raw.
Are canned or pickled beets as nutritious as fresh? Canned and pickled beets retain much of the vegetable’s nutrient profile, though pickled versions typically add sodium and sugar. Fresh and frozen beets remain the most versatile options for everyday cooking.
How long do fresh beets keep? Properly stored in the fridge, fresh beets keep for up to two weeks; cooked and frozen beets keep for up to a year. Full details are in How to Store Beets to Cut Food Waste.
Are beets a budget-friendly vegetable? Generally, yes. As a sturdy storage crop, beets tend to be among the more reasonably priced fresh vegetables through fall and winter. See Seasonal Beets and Your Grocery Budget in Canada for more.
For more questions and quick answers, see Frequently Asked Questions About Canadian Beets.
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