Greek Style Fried Beetroot With Crispy Topping

Deliciously juicy with that wonderful earthy flavour fried beetroot is the perfect starter or side dish. Now add in that crispy crunchy topping and a squeeze of lemon juice and you are on to a winner every time.

Fried beetroot? I can almost see you cringing. This fried beetroot dish is my take on a Greek standard served as part of a meze sharing starter or as a side veggie to your main course.

I know we tend to think of the humble beetroot in terms of something that comes out of a pickle jar and leaves your hands looking like you’ve committed murder if you touch the damn stuff. Put that image away right now!

Step away from the pickle jar and read on. This is beetroot at it’s best, flavoursome and earthy, rich and rewarding, something to rejoice in and not just think of as an afterthought.

Cooking Beetroot

You will want cooked beetroot here so you can either do this yourself or buy beetroot in the shops. If fresh then boil the beets in water – make sure you cut off the stringy roots but do not cut into the actual beetroots themselves or all the red juice will come out. You can also wrap them in foil and bake in the oven.

After cooking wear a pair of rubber gloves (to avoid looking as if you have been slaughtering a pig!) and peel off the skins then chop those beetroots up. If you are buying ready cooked beetroot from the supermarket check that it has not been pickled or has vinegar added in any way. You want plain cooked beetroot for this recipe.

Buying cooked beetroot

If you buy ready-cooked beetroot in the supermarket do make sure that the pack says ‘cooked beetroot’ and that it does not have vinegar added to it.

Other Ingredients

• The other ingredients for my fried beetroot recipe are capers (really useful in cooking, always keep a little jar in the fridge).
• Bread to rip up and fry so it can be a couple of days old (see, another recipe where you get to use up old food and not waste anything).
• An anchovy fillet (another thing that is useful to have a little jar of in the fridge, great for adding flavour to dishes when cooking as they just melt away but pack a punch (not fishy) in the flavour department).
• Fresh chopped chili
• Olive oil and lemon.

How to serve fried beetroot

I like to serve this the Greek way as a meze starter along side other goodies like my homemade taramasolata, homemade tzatziki and skordalia dips and maybe some mini fried meatballs. A feast in itself.

Or you can serve this this beetroot dish as a side with a main dish like roast chicken, pork chops or steak.

So while it may be cold outside you can always have a little bit of Greek sunshine on your plate wherever you are.

Kali Orexi!

Looking for more great ways to use beetroot? Then check out these recipes before you go;

Spicy pickled beetroot (+video)

Beetroot tzatziki dip

How to make the best beetroot chutney

Beetroot and apple smoothie

Chilled summer borscht (beetroot soup)

Beetroot and orange salad with feta

Sardines with beetroot and blueberry salsa

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.