Beets are richest in folate (vitamin B9), providing about 20% of your daily value in a 3.5-ounce serving. They also contain vitamin C and smaller amounts of other B vitamins. But the full nutritional picture of beets goes well beyond vitamins, including key minerals and unique plant compounds that make them one of the more nutrient-dense root vegetables you can eat.
Folate: The Standout Vitamin
Folate is the headliner in beets. A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of cooked beetroot delivers roughly 20% of your daily folate needs. This B vitamin plays a central role in cell growth, DNA production, and heart health. Your body uses it to break down homocysteine, an amino acid that can damage blood vessels when levels run too high. Folate is also critical during pregnancy for proper neural development, which is one reason beets show up frequently on lists of recommended whole foods for expectant mothers.
Vitamin C and Other Vitamins
A 100-gram serving of raw beets contains about 4 mg of vitamin C. That’s not a major source compared to citrus fruits or bell peppers, but it contributes to your daily intake and supports iron absorption from the other foods you eat alongside beets. Vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant, helping protect cells from damage.
Beets contain trace amounts of several B vitamins beyond folate, including B6, which supports brain function and immune health. Vitamin A in the root itself is essentially zero. However, the story changes dramatically if you eat the greens (more on that below).
Minerals That Round Out the Profile
While you searched specifically about vitamins, the minerals in beets are worth knowing because they work alongside those vitamins. One cup of raw beets contains about 442 mg of potassium, 31 mg of magnesium, and 0.45 mg of manganese.
Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and fluid balance. Magnesium supports muscle and nerve function. Manganese is involved in bone formation and metabolism. Together with folate, these minerals are a big part of why beets are considered nutritionally valuable, not because any single nutrient is sky-high, but because the combination is broad and useful.
Dietary Nitrates: Not a Vitamin, but Worth Knowing
Beets are one of the richest food sources of dietary nitrates, and this is often the real reason people seek them out. When you eat beets, bacteria in your mouth convert those nitrates into nitrite. Once the nitrite reaches your stomach, some of it converts into nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels. The remaining nitrite gets absorbed in your gut, enters your bloodstream, and continues raising nitric oxide levels there.
This process is why beet juice has become popular among athletes. Higher nitric oxide levels can improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, and potentially boost exercise efficiency. A concentrated 30-gram beet supplement can contain roughly 0.77 grams of nitrates, though a whole beet or a glass of beet juice delivers meaningful amounts too.
Beet Greens Are the Real Vitamin Powerhouse
If you’ve been throwing away the leafy tops, you’re discarding the most vitamin-rich part of the plant. One cup of raw beet greens contains about 2,404 IU of vitamin A, 152 mcg of vitamin K, and 44 mg of calcium. Compare that to the root, which has essentially no vitamin A and no significant vitamin K.
Vitamin A from beet greens supports vision, immune function, and skin health. Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting and bone metabolism. That single cup of greens provides well over 100% of your daily vitamin K needs. You can sauté them like spinach, toss them into salads, or blend them into smoothies.
How Preparation Affects Vitamin Content
Folate and vitamin C are both sensitive to heat and water. Boiling beets in a large pot of water will leach some of these nutrients out. Roasting tends to preserve more of the vitamin content because the beets aren’t sitting in water that gets discarded. Steaming is another good option for the same reason.
Eating beets raw, grated into salads or slaws, preserves the most vitamins. Juicing concentrates the nitrates and some vitamins into a smaller, more drinkable volume, but you lose most of the fiber (about 3.4 grams per cup in whole beets). If your goal is specifically to maximize folate intake, raw or lightly roasted preparations are your best bet.
A Note on Oxalates
Beets, including both the root and greens, are very high in oxalates. These are naturally occurring compounds that can bind to calcium and contribute to kidney stone formation in susceptible people. The National Kidney Foundation lists beets in the “avoid” category for people following a low-oxalate diet. If you’ve had calcium oxalate kidney stones, this is worth factoring into how often and how much you eat beets, despite their otherwise strong nutritional profile.