Horseradish is a spicy and slightly pungent root served as a condiment with fish or meat dishes. I consider it the wasabi of the Eastern Europeans… it adds a hot, spicy bite to savory dishes. Horseradish is sold in three popular varieties- Prepared (plain), with Beets, and Cream-Style. All three varieties are widely available in most supermarkets, but nothing beats homemade. With the advent of food processors, this process became a heck of a lot easier. I can’t imagine hand grating this stuff like our grandmothers did, the fumes are seriously powerful. Just be sure to keep it at arms length while preparing, horseradish is some powerful stuff!
When making homemade horseradish, I like to wear my protective goggles. Also, you know, they’re super sexy.
Here I’ve put together methods for creating the three major varieties of horseradish. Each recipe begins with a basic prepared horseradish. Though they can all be made using a hand grater, I highly recommend using a food processor if you have one. Trust me, your sinuses will thank you.
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Horseradish 3 Ways
Ingredients
Prepared Horseradish Ingredients
- 10 inches horseradish root
- 1/4 cup water, or more if needed (see recipe note)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
Prepared Horseradish with Beets Ingredients
- 1 cup prepared horseradish
- 8 ounces beets, cooked and peeled (1 cup cooked beet chunks - can be boiled or roasted)
- Kosher salt to taste
Cream Style Horseradish Ingredients
- 1 cup prepared horseradish
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
- Sugar to taste (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
To make Prepared Horseradish
- First peel the horseradish using a vegetable peeler, I find that the serrated type works best. Use a knife to cut away any areas that are hard to reach with the peeler.
- Cut the horseradish into several smaller pieces that will fit through the opening of your food processor.
- Grate the horseradish using the food processor attachment with fine holes (small shreds). This can also be done using a hand grater, but a food processor is much easier and helps to keep some of the pungency away from your eyes and sinuses.
- Once the horseradish has been grated, replace the grater with blade attachment and add apple cider vinegar, salt and water. Many jarred prepared horseradishes will have more liquid, so the amount of water you add is really a matter of personal taste. Process the mixture until well combined. Do not puree.
- Transfer the prepared horseradish to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.This recipe will yield about 3 1/2 cups of prepared horseradish.
To make Prepared Horseradish with Beets
- Chop the cooked and peeled beets. In a food processor, combine the chopped beets with 1 cup of prepared horseradish. Add salt to taste.
- Process until the mixture is well combined, but still has a minced texture. Do not puree.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.
To make Cream Style Horseradish
- In a food processor combine the prepared horseradish, sour cream, salt and optional sugar. Most varieties of cream horseradish are not sweetened, however some are, so adding the sugar is really a matter of preference here. If you do add it, start with 1/2 teaspoon and add very little at a time until the flavor is right.
- Process until the mixture is well combined and creamy, but still has a minced texture. Do not puree.
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Hi Tori
Thank you for sharing this recipe, we use it for every Seder [also serving your butternut squash this year]. So easy! I remove half from the food processor for those brave guests who want the high-powered horseradish, then throw in the beets for everyone else. I’d give it six stars if possible.
Whoa!
This is fantastic! But be warned-keep your face away when you open the food processor!
Hi Tori. I meant to add that I used Silver Spring foods white prepared horseradish that has distilled vinegar, water, salt, and natural flavor (whatever that means here). I see your recipe had apple cider vinegar. Would that make it more palatable? Mine is bitter.
Hi Claudia! Fresh horseradish is definitely more potent than the bottled kind. The type of vinegar shouldn’t make a difference, but the piece of horseradish you used may have been a particularly spicy one. Trying a turnip might be a good idea! I’ve never tried it, but that’s the direction I would go in if I were wanting to mellow the flavor here a bit. I’ve also found that it tends to get less strong over time in the fridge.
Whoa! This is very hot! Sadly, so much so I can’t eat it. I’m wondering if you have any idea of how to soften the heat. I tried adding some plain green cabbage (to try to absorb the heat), even some maple syrup, both in small amounts. Neither worked. I don’t really like the idea of sweetener, but I didn’t know what else to try. (Oddly, I can tolerate Gold’s red horseradish more easily than this.) Someone online had suggested adding a turnip. Any thoughts on this? I don’t want to endlessly experiment, and trust you as the recipes of yours I’ve tried have always come out as you said they would…
I am trying to serve this tomorrow to my family, who also has trouble with spicy condiments.
Wishing you a happy Pesach.
Tori, I again followed your recipes right down to the goggles with complete success and the Horseradish on the Seder was a huge success. I used “soja sauerrahm” here in Germany (soy sour cream) to make the cream version Parve. All were very good. Thank you for what you do, Ari at the base of the Zugspitze Mountain on the German/Austrian border.
Wonderful! Thank you for writing!