It has been a little while since I have been intrigued by the act of making ink oneself. In the rare event that I cut up beets to cook I am amazed by its strong color and how well it stains my hands—thus the perfect natural element to use to make ink with! Here instructions to make some for yourself 🙂
Get some beets! The more you cut up the more ink you will have. Next step – cut up beets into 1 inch pieces. If you wish to eat the beets after making your ink be sure to peel them before cutting them up
Place cut up beets into pot and add water so that they are just covered. Turn stove on to high until water boils, then let simmer for 20 minutes until beets are soft. If beets are not soft yet let simmer for longer. Periodically test the consistency of the beets. You will need to be soft enough to be able to press through a strainer later on.
When beets are soft pour the liquid through a funnel (unless you are good pouring without it 🙂 into a jar of your choice.
When beets have cooled down sufficiently place them into a mesh strainer and press though into your ink that is beneath the strainer. This adds a thickening consistency to the ink. You don’t need to press all of them through a strainer but just a few from what you cut up.
Stir well and let cool
to preserve your ink you can freeze it or add a small amount of rubbing alcohol or salt
6 thoughts on “How to make Natural Ink with Beets”
you can also juice the raw beets from raw and then place the juiced liquid and reduce to a syrup as well. Tried and true from chef tom.
ah that sounds great, thanks for the tip!
Thanks a great tip. I’ll be making this asap as I already havesome leftover beets in the fridge. Also the this helps me with air brush painting.
God bless.
Glad to hear this is helpful!
Hello I was wondering if the homemade ink would.fade over time?
Hello Kristan, Unfortunately, yes this beet ink would fade over time. I wouldn’t use it for serious art projects. However, it is a great introduction into natural ink making and you can make this ink (and other natural inks) more permanent if you wish to use it more seriously 🙂