Best 19 Types of Beets To Plant In Your Garden

Las updated: 06/08/21

Beets are one of the most widely grown root vegetables in the world, but the majority of these are grown commercially and not in home gardens. Beets can be grown from seed and thus are an excellent choice for a home gardener, but there are a variety of other options available to you depending on your environment.

Beets are generally easy to grow and can be planted earlier in the season than most of the vegetables you’ll encounter in the garden. Beet roots can grow in a variety of different environments, from full sun to partial shade and with different exposures to the wind.

French chefs subsequently saw its cuisine potential and used beets as a side dish. From that time the beet gained a permanent place on the menu.

This list of the best beets to grow will get you some ideas of the different ones to plant in your garden.

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Main 4 Beet Varieties | Unique Beetroots

There are four main varieties of beet roots (beta vulgaris) each having its own unique color, smell, taste, size and shape and like all of creation are beautifully made. 

All types of beets fall under the one name of ‘common garden beets’, table beets, sugar beet, or just plain beets which can be broken down again by color.

We will keep it simple and break beet roots down by color.

  1. Red Beets
  2. White Beets (Sugar Beets
  3. Golden Beets
  4. Chioggia or Striped Beets
beet varieties

Red Beet Varieties

Crapaudine, Crosby Egyptian & Detroit Red beets fall under this category and are the most common and perhaps the best known beets. Ever tasted these beets? 

Out of the can, the taste of these beets are dull with just a whiff of earthy smell. Fresh from the garden these beets have that liberating, tangy, sweet taste. 

These types of red beets can replace potato and pair with any other ingredient to produce an equally delectable dish.

Here are the top red beets to get you started:

1. Crapaudine Beets

The seed of these red beets dates back 1000 years and hence is a heirloom and seeded plant. 

This status was forever enshrined in the French book ‘The vegetable Garden’ (1885). Its seeds are valuable and should be bought at first sight. French chefs worldwide seek out this red delicious beet.

Check out the latest seed prices here.

crapaudine beet

2. Detroit Dark Red Beets

detroit dark red beets

The French chefs may not have discovered this one but be assured it’s the most popular heirloom variety of the 1800s with a sweet and tasty flavor.

Roasted or canned or pickled this beet is simply delicious and its greens hard to resist.

Put the seed in and 60 -65 days later you can harvest your beets.

You can grab some seeds to plant here.

3. Crosby Egyptian Beets

These red beets are more flat than round but it’s a fabulous beet with its greens a rave with local farmers. 

Originally from Germany, they entered the States in 1880. 

These beets are packed with color and flavor, another heirloom beet variety which has been a favorite with kitchen gardeners since the late 1880s

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

crosby egyptian beets


4. Okrągły Ciemnoczerwony (Bordo) Beets

Okrągły Ciemnoczerwony Bordo Beet

After getting the seeds and planting them, a 65 day period lapses before the roots are ready for harvesting.

The beet roots are smooth, top shaped and almost blood in color. Highly sweet and tender with a high shelf life.

These root vegetables originally came from Russia where they were eaten as a staple crop.

Check out the latest seed prices here

5. Mammoth Red Mangel Beets

Once the seeds are planted, this variety takes about 100 days to reach full maturity.

Versatile use for man and beast eaten cooked or raw by the former and as fodder for the animals.

Growing to a whopping 40 pounds and 6 feet long, it can enter competitions or create a bragging contest.

You can grab some seeds to plant here.

Mammoth Red Mangel Beet

6.Early Blood Turnip Beets

Early Blood Turnip Beet

Almost crimson in color this type of beet is a crisp and tender variety.

It is perfect for selling on the market or used in the home for preparing exquisite dishes.

Plants are usually planted in early spring for summer use and early summer for autumn use with a variable 48 – 68 growth period before harvesting.

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

7. Bull’s Blood Beets

This baby beets variety is grown for its sweet delicious leaves and is the perfect ingredient for salads.

For best results the leaves should be picked at 35 days during growth and the roots at the 55 days mark.

It grows best in cool weather and can beautify a home and garnish delectable dishes.

Check out the latest seed prices here.

Bull’s Blood Beet

8. Giant Red Beet

giant red beet

A brand new variety donated by Pennsylvania planter Stanley Yancic in 2004. 

They are 4-6” long and a diameter of 4-5”. The donor grew this big one for over 30 years before donating it and attests its great taste and tenacity.

It just keeps on growing even with intermittent harvesting.

You can grab some seeds to plant here.

9. Detroit Dark Red Medium Top Beets

This variety is perfectly round shaped with a 3” diameter and the strikingly crimson colored flesh is exceptionally delicious and sweet.

The young baby beets are just great eating, with soft, succulent and plain delicious flesh.

You can create rows by mixing your beet seeds with fast sprouting radish seeds during planting.

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

Detroit Dark Red Beet medium top

10. Early Wonder Organic Beets

Early Wonder Beet

This is a sweet and delicious beet that stands shoulder to shoulder with other varieties and touts a 3-4” all round size.

As with all beets, it’s sweeter when young and the greens are 18” tall are used in place of chard, spinach or kale.

Successive sowing of seeds is unnecessary as the roots continue to develop.

Check out the latest seed prices here.

11. Cook’s Custom Blend Beets

What’s so special about this deep red variety?

It offers the home cook a blend of seeds from which every beet variety except ‘Bull’s Blood’ can germinate and grow.

You can plant a variety of beets over a long period of time and enjoy different types of beets.

You can grab some seeds to plant here

cooks custom blend beets

White Beet Varieties

These beets are also called Sugar beets or Albino beets. They are so named because of their very high sugar content. 

These sugar beets produce around 20% of all the sugar produced in the world. The other 80% is produced by the world’s sugarcane crops. 

You may be able to provide a constant supply of sugar for the whole family.

The greens can be part of your salad dish or your main dish depending on your preference.

beet varieties

12. White Albino Beets

Hailing from Holland the planted seeds of this organic beet variety can be ready for harvesting after only 50 days after planting them.

They are extremely tender and may be planted for their leaves which can be used for preparing salad dishes.

They tout a very sweet flavor with white fleshy roots. 

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

White Albino Beet

13. Avalanche Beets

Avalanche Beets

These white beets are sweet tasting with a mild flavor. 

The greens are dark green with some reddish color.

The beets also have a round shape and are perfect for roasting for salads.  These are ready to harvest in about 60 days.

Check out the latest seed prices here.

Golden Beet Varieties

The unique quality of this beet variety is its mild and pleasant flavor compared to other beets. 

Many people in America are not aware that this golden beet was first brought into the US way back before the 1820s.   

Lately, the golden beets have steadily become a popular addition to the preparation of unique and tasty dishes. 

Three popular names given to this variety are ‘Burpee’s Golden’, ‘Golden’ and ‘Golden Detroit’.

14. Burpee’s Golden

Another totally organic beet with excellent bright orange roots and edible greens packed with a sweet flavor.

This variety can also be grown for their leaves or greens for the perfect ingredient for preparing your bowl of salad or for sautéing.

You can grab some seeds to plant here.

Burpee’s Golden beets

15. Golden Beets

Golden Beets

For the record, this variety has become by far the best seller of the other beet varieties.

A mere 55 days after the seeds are planted, the beets are harvested.

They date back to early 1800, very sweet, with a rich yellow color. The greens are also very tasty and popular.

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

16. Giant Yellow Eckendorf Beets

Looking for a treat for your farm animals? This is the beetroot for them.

They can grow to a whopping 20 pounds each which you can cut or mash for your animals.

The skin is yellow but the flesh is white and of high food value for animals, a traditional animal husbandry revival in the making. 

Check out the latest seed prices here.

Giant Yellow Eckendorf Beets

17. Touchstone Gold Beets

Touchstone Gold Beets

If you want some large golden beets, then give these one shot in your garden.

This type of beet has dark green leaves.  

They also don;t mind a little warmer soil, so these are perfect to plant a bit later than most others.


You can grab some seeds to plant here.

Chioggia Beets 

If you’ve never seen striped beets before, this is it. The striped red color stream running through white flesh gives the impression of a candy cane pattern or the concentric circles on a dart board. 

The red and white alternating rings are played out within the fleshy part of this beet giving it a unique and special look. 

The variety originally came from Northern Italy and is also fondly called Candy Stripe or Bull’s Eye Beets, which explains the striped circular patterns.

18. Chioggia Beet

An organic planted beet with alternating red and white concentric rings throughout the fleshy interior.

Perfect for eating fresh or pickled with a sweet flavor.

Known also as Bassano the name of a fishing town near Venice, from where it came, the markings remain visible when sliced fresh 

You can find the latest prices on these seeds here.

Chioggia beets

19. Cylindra Beets

Cylindra Beets

Another variety that falls under the striped beets category, excellent for eating fresh or pickled with alternating rings of white and red encompassing the entire inner flesh.

Once the seeds are planted this variety takes exactly 50 days to mature and be harvested.

Originally from Nordic Denmark they are an elongated version from 5” to 9” long


Check out the latest seed prices here.

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Nothing Beets Them

Hopefully you found some type of beet to get started planting.  This vegetable surely deserves a space in your garden.  

Beets also store pretty well if you grow an abundance and can’t eat all of them right away.  Nothing beets them when you roast them in your salad.

Green Thumb Gardener
beet varieties
Jeremy Starke

We at Green Thumb Gardener provide tips and guides for both for beginners and advanced gardeners out there. 

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