Benefits of Golden Beets: Nutrients per Serving and How They Compare with Red Beets

The benefits of golden beets are the nutrients of beets in general: an 85 g serving of raw beets has about 35 calories, 2.5 g of fiber and 93 mcg DFE of folate, which is 23% of the Daily Value, with little sodium unless salt is added, by our calculation from USDA data. [1] [2] [3] FDA’s label guide counts 20% DV or more per serving as high. [4] Golden and yellow beets are the same plant as red beets, and the clearest measured difference is pigment: golden roots carry yellow betaxanthins instead of the red betacyanins. [5] [6] USDA’s reference records list beets without naming a color, so the per-serving figures apply to beets in general, and the pigment research comes from laboratory tests on plant extracts, which cannot show an effect in people. [1] [6]

This page is general food education for adults. It makes no health promise and does not tell anyone how much to eat. If your health care team has given you a potassium, sodium, oxalate or vitamin K plan, or you take warfarin, follow that plan; the safety checklist below explains why each one matters for beets.

Safety first. If you or someone you feed has difficulty swallowing, double vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech or difficulty breathing after eating home-canned food, CDC says botulism is an emergency: see a doctor or go to the emergency room immediately. [7] Beets, like all fresh vegetables, are a low-acid food, and pressure canning is the only recommended method for canning low-acid foods at home. [8]

Use the food-comparison guide

Food-comparison guide: beets and beet greens per serving

The table puts raw, boiled, canned and pickled beets, plus cooked beet greens, on the same footing: the FDA reference amount for each form, which is 85 g for fresh vegetables, 130 g for vegetables canned in liquid and 30 g for pickled vegetables. [2] Values come from USDA FoodData Central records, multiplied by the reference amount, and each %DV uses the FDA Daily Values (fiber 28 g, folate 400 mcg DFE, potassium 4,700 mg, sodium 2,300 mg). [1] [3] Total sugars have no %DV on the Nutrition Facts label, so that column shows grams only. [4]

Rounding is ours: calories to the nearest 5, grams to the nearest 0.5, milligrams to the nearest 5 and %DV to the nearest 1%. These are averages from reference data, not the label of any product.

What the numbers show

• Folate is the standout. Raw beets reach 23% DV per 85 g and boiled beets 17%. Under FDA labeling rules, 20% DV or more per reference amount is the threshold for “high” and 10% to 19% for “good source”; applying those rules to USDA averages is our calculation, not a label claim. [9] [1]
• Manganese is the other notable nutrient. Raw beets have 0.28 mg (12% DV) per 85 g, within the “good source” range. [1] [3] [9]
• Canning changes the picture. Per 130 g, canned beets have 38 mcg DFE of folate (9% DV), less than half the folate of a raw serving. Sodium depends on the can: 25 mg for no salt added versus 185 mg (8% DV) for the regular pack. [1] FDA’s “low sodium” label term means 140 mg or less per serving. [10]
• Pickled beets are compared at only 30 g. Per 100 g, the USDA pickled record has 11.05 g of total sugars and 149 mg of sodium, compared with 6.76 g and 78 mg for raw beets, so a larger helping adds up faster than the table row suggests. [1] The tested home recipe for pickled beets includes sugar and canning salt. [11]
• Beet greens are a different food. Per 85 g cooked, they have 775 mg of potassium (16% DV) and 411 mcg (343% DV) of vitamin K, while the roots have less than 1 mcg. [1] [3]

How sure these numbers are

• The table uses USDA’s SR Legacy records: historical data derived from analyses, calculations and published literature, with a final update in 2018. [1]
• A newer USDA analysis of raw beets (FDC 2685576, Foundation Foods) found 3.1 g of fiber and 112 mg of sodium per 100 g, compared with 2.8 g and 78 mg in the older record, so expect real beets to vary. [1]
• Some cells rest on thin data: the pickled-beet values were back-calculated from a product label, and the potassium value for cooked beet greens comes from one sample. [1]
• None of these records names a root color, so they describe beets in general rather than golden beets alone. [1]

Using the guide with a package label

• Check the serving size first, because sodium can vary a lot between similar foods; use the Nutrition Facts label to compare products. [10] The food label reading worksheet walks through each line.
• Read 5% DV or less of a nutrient per serving as low and 20% DV or more as high. [4]
• “No salt added” means no salt was added during processing; the food may still contain some sodium. [10]
• FDA suggests choosing fresh, frozen without sauce, or low sodium or no-salt-added canned vegetables, and rinsing canned vegetables, which removes some sodium. [10]

How golden beets differ from red beets

Golden, yellow and red beets are varieties of the same species, Beta vulgaris. Named golden types include Burpee’s Golden and Touchstone Gold, and garden guides list golden beets alongside red and multi-colored Chioggia types. [6] [12] [13]

• Pigment. In a University of Ljubljana study of yellow and red cultivars, the red betacyanin pigments were completely absent from every part of the yellow beet tested. [5] A 2025 study found only betaxanthin in the golden variety and only betacyanins in the red one, and the golden roots held 0.14 mg of total betalain pigments per gram of dry weight versus 23 mg in the red roots. [6]
• Sugar and oxalic acid. In that same study, the golden roots had 34.4 g of total sugars per 100 g of dry weight versus 41.5 g in the red roots, and 0.85 g of oxalic acid versus 1.33 g. Fiber was about the same (19.5 g versus 19.9 g). [6]
• Laboratory antioxidant test. The red root extract showed the highest antioxidant activity of the root samples, and the golden root extract the lowest of all samples tested. [6] Tests like this measure extracts in a dish and do not show what happens in the body.
• Color in the kitchen. One extension fact sheet describes a gold variety as keeping its color when cooked. [14]

Those figures come from one golden and one red variety, grown in pots in Greece for one season and measured with the water removed, so they are not per-serving values and may not hold for other varieties or farms. [6] Peel usually holds more pigment than flesh, so peeling changes what you eat. [5]

Safety checklist for golden beets and their greens

Go through these before making beets or beet greens a regular part of your meals.

• Taking warfarin? NIH says vitamin K can interact seriously with warfarin and that it is very important to get about the same amount of vitamin K each day. [15] Beet greens have 411 mcg (343% DV) of vitamin K per 85 g cooked, while the roots have almost none, so ask your care team before adding or dropping the greens. [1]
• Kidney disease? Kidney disease can make it harder to remove potassium from the blood, and NIH advises working with a health care professional to find the right amount for you. [16] Cooked beet greens have 775 mg of potassium per 85 g and raw beets about 275 mg. [1]
• Had calcium oxalate kidney stones? NIH suggests talking with a health care professional about food sources of oxalate. [17] Beet roots contain oxalic acid, and the leaves contain more: 2.89 g versus 0.85 g per 100 g of dry weight in the golden variety studied. [6]
• Watching sodium? Compare canned and pickled labels, choose no-salt-added cans, and rinse canned beets. [10]
• Pink or red urine? Beets are a known cause of pink or red urine. [18] Golden beets lack the red pigments, so do not assume golden beets explain it. [5] See your health care provider for pink, red or smoky-brown urine not due to a food or medicine, or for blood in your urine even once. [18]
• Canning at home? Use tested directions: plain beets are processed in a pressure canner, and the tested pickled-beet recipe uses 5 percent vinegar in a boiling-water canner. [19] [11] Refrigerate canned or pickled foods after opening the jar. [8]
• Cleaning and storing. Rinse beets before peeling, rub them under plain running water without soap or produce wash, and use a clean brush on firm produce. [20] Cut the greens off for storage, then wash and dry the beets; Oregon State Extension says they keep a long time that way. [13]

Ways to use golden beets and their greens

• Raw beets keep the most folate in the table, and boiled beets keep most of the fiber and potassium. [1]
• Cook the greens as you would chard, collard greens or kale, or add raw greens to salads. [13]
• If you buy canned beets, the no-salt-added kind has 21 mg of sodium per 100 g, compared with 143 mg for the regular pack. [1]
• For dishes that keep sodium in check, see these low salt asian recipes.

What this page cannot tell you

• USDA nutrient data do not separate golden from red beets, and the only direct golden-versus-red comparison cited here covers one variety of each in one season. [1] [6]
• Pigment and antioxidant findings come from laboratory tests on extracts, not from studies of people eating golden beets. [6]
• This page covers whole beets and beet greens as food. It does not cover beet juice, beet powder or supplements.

Common questions

Are golden beets healthier than red beets?

The sources cited here do not show that. USDA lists one set of values for beets, and in the one side-by-side study cited, the golden roots differed mainly in pigment, with somewhat less sugar and oxalic acid by dry weight. [1] [6]

Are golden beets high in sugar?

A raw 85 g serving of beets has about 5.5 g of total sugars, and total sugars have no %DV. [1] [4] Pickled beets usually have more, because the tested pickling recipe includes sugar. [1] [11]

Can you eat golden beet greens?

Yes: extension guidance suggests cooking them like chard or adding them raw to salads. [13] They are much higher in vitamin K and potassium than the roots, which matters if you take warfarin or have kidney disease. [1] [15] [16]

Do golden beets stain like red beets?

They lack the red betacyanins that give red beets their color, and one extension fact sheet describes a gold variety as keeping its color when cooked. [5] [14]

More guides on everyday food choices are in Nutrition and practical resources.

Safety first. If you or someone you feed has difficulty swallowing, double vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech or difficulty breathing after eating home-canned food, CDC says botulism is an emergency: see a doctor or go to the emergency room immediately. [7] Beets, like all fresh vegetables, are a low-acid food, and pressure canning is the only recommended method for canning low-acid foods at home. [8]

Use the food-comparison guide

Sources and limitations

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: FoodData Central. SR Legacy values are historical reference data, last updated in 2018, and the beet records do not name a root color. The pickled-beet values are back-calculated from a label, and cooked beet greens potassium rests on one sample.
2. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: 21 CFR 101.12, Reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion. Labeling rules, not intake advice; a product label may list a different household serving.
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels. Daily Values are label reference numbers for the general population, not personal targets.
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label. General label-reading guidance; it does not evaluate any specific food.
5. Slatnar A, Stampar F, Veberic R, Jakopic J. HPLC-MS(n) Identification of Betalain Profile of Different Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris) Parts and Cultivars. J Food Sci. 2015;80(9):C1952-8. Pigment chemistry in a small number of cultivars; it reports no nutrients per serving and no effects in people.
6. Almeida D, Petropoulos SA, da Silveira TFF, et al. Exploring the Biochemical Profile of Beta vulgaris L.: A Comparative Study of Beetroots and Swiss Chard. Plants (Basel). 2025;14(4):591. One cultivar per color, grown in pots for one season in Greece; values are per dry weight, not per serving; antioxidant results are laboratory tests on extracts.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Symptoms of Botulism. Lists common signs; not every case shows all of them.
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Botulism Prevention. General prevention advice; tested recipes and process times come from the home food preservation sources below.
9. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations: 21 CFR 101.54, Nutrient content claims for “good source,” “high,” “more,” and “high potency.”. Defines when a label may use these words; applying them to USDA averages is our calculation, not a label claim.
10. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Sodium in Your Diet. Consumer summary; the full rules for package terms are in the federal regulations.
11. National Center for Home Food Preservation: Pickled Beets. Safe only as written; changing the vinegar ratio changes the acidity.
12. West Virginia University Extension: Variety Selection for the Home Garden. A garden variety list for one state; it does not compare nutrients.
13. Oregon State University Extension Service: Beets. Gardening guidance for Oregon; it gives no storage times.
14. University of Delaware Cooperative Extension: Beets. A gardening fact sheet describing one gold variety; it does not compare nutrients.
15. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Consumers. It does not list beet greens by name; their vitamin K value comes from USDA data.
16. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Healthy Eating for Adults with Chronic Kidney Disease. General guidance; potassium needs are set individually.
17. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: Eating, Diet, & Nutrition for Kidney Stones. Its oxalate food list does not name beets.
18. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Urine - abnormal color. Review date July 1, 2025. A general list of causes; it does not distinguish beet colors.
19. National Center for Home Food Preservation: Beets, Whole, Cubed, or Sliced. Process times depend on jar size, pack style and altitude; follow the full directions.
20. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: 7 Tips for Cleaning Fruits, Vegetables. General produce advice; it does not mention beets.