Top 5 uses of beetroot in Minecraft Pocket Edition

Beetroot has an interesting history in Minecraft. It was initially a Pocket Edition exclusive, having been added to the Pocket Edition alpha in 2013. However, it was not until 1.9 that Java players gained access to beetroot, a ripe three years later.

This makes beetroot one of the newest crops that most players can access. Given how new it is, the purpose it serves is yet unknown. This article will attempt to explain why players should grow beetroot over the other crops available in the game.

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The best 5 uses of beetroot in Minecraft Pocket Edition

5) Composting

Composting beetroot in a composter (Image via Minecraft)

The most basic use of beetroot, outside of being a potential food source, is increasing the compost level inside of a composter. Each beetroot placed inside of a composter has a 65% chance to increase the compost level by one. This means that players can use a beetroot farm to have decent access to unlimited bonemeal.

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4) Beetroots as food

The crafting recipe for beetroot soup (Image via Minecraft)

There are two different ways for beetroots to be used as a source of food for the player. The first way to consume beetroot is by simply eating it outright. This will restore one hunger as well as 1.2 saturation. Players can also combine six beetroots and a wooden bowl into beetroot soup. This will restore six hunger, as well as 7.2 saturation.

It is interesting to note that despite requiring extra resources in the form of a wooden bowl, the soup restores the same stats as eating the six beetroot used to craft it.

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3) Dye

A player turning beetroot into red dye (Image via Minecraft)

Beetroot can be crafted into red dye in a one-to-one crafting recipe. This is useful for players who need an abundance of red colored blocks, but do not have access to the unlimited bonemeal required for a long-term flower farm.

This is also a more efficient method for farming red dye in that there is no way to guarantee which color of flower will grow when using bone meal on the ground, meaning there is not a guarantee of getting red flowers. Beetroot is a guaranteed way to get red dye.

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2) Breeding

Beetroot causing two pigs to become willing (Image via Minecraft)

Beetroot is a double whammy of usefulness when it comes to breeding inside of the game. The first and most apparent use of beetroot is its ability to cause pigs to become willing. This is a better use of beetroot for food, as beetroot soup will only restore six hunger, whereas a cooked porkchop will restore a total of eight hunger.

However, the use of beetroot to cause willingness is not limited to pigs. Beetroot can also be given to villagers to cause them to become willing.

A total of 12 beetroots are required per villager to fill their inventory to the point of becoming willing. While this is not as efficient as other foodstuffs, it is a way to set up a villager breeder early on in the game, should the player have no other crops to use.

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1) Villager Trading

A farmer offering a beetroot trade (Image via Minecraft)

The best use for mass amounts of beetroot is, by far, villager trading. Farmer villagers in the Pocket Edition of the game have a 25% chance of having a beetroot trade. This means that they will buy 15 beetroots for a single emerald. Of course, this trade can be made much more lucrative for the player by converting the villager into a zombie and then curing them.

Given the amazing items players have access to through villager trading, this makes beetroot a great way to kickstart a villager trading system and jumpstart quick progression through the game.