Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (2024)

You are here: Home / Budget Friendly / Easy Pickled Onions

By Chris co*ckren 29 Comments

Asheley loves pickles. LOVES them. I even got her an "I Love Pickles" t-shirt for Christmas. She wears it with a smile on her face and pride in her heart.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the conventional cucumber pickle. They just don't do it for me, unless we are talking about those little bread and butter pickle chips. I've liked those since I was a little squirt of a kid.

But we're about to embark upon a completely different story. Pickled onions are a precious gift. I cherish them. I adore them. And they are ridiculously easy to make. 5 minutes and you're done.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (2)

You can add pickled onions to pretty much anything and it will taste better. They add a perfect, tart crunch to sandwiches, burgers, salads, nachos, tacos, and really anything else you can think to add them to.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (3)

And it really is as easy as mixing up a quick brine solution and pouring it over a thinly sliced onion. No cooking required.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (4)

The pickled onions really taste best once they've had at least a day to relax and chill out in the brine bath. And they last for a few weeks kept refrigerated.

I always try to have a mason jar full of them in the fridge... you don't want to be unexpectedly caught pickled-onion-empty-handed. That would just be plain embarrassing.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (5)

I attended a pickling seminar this past fall at the NYC Wine and Food Festival, hosted by Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian. He mentioned that when he cooks a dish and feels like it's missing a certain something, 9 times out of 10 he ends up adding some sort of pickled vegetable. The power of the pickle!

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (6)

Go ahead and useredonions. You won't achieve this vibrant pink color with any other onions, unless your talking about adding some artificial food dye to your pickled onions. And really, why would you do that?

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (7)

You're going to see a bunch of recipes coming up in the next couple of weeks that include these pickled onions. Get ready now and whip up a batch. It will literally take you 5 minutes, unless you are out of red onions and need to go the store. In which case, can you pick me up some milk? I'm out of milk.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (8)

I'll just come out right now and say You're Welcome, since I'm pretty sure you'll want to thank me after adding pickled onions to your condiment pantry.

I found this recipe in one of my recent issues of Bon Appetit...

Print

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (9)

Easy Pickled Onions

★★★★★5 from 10 reviews
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together until sugar and salt is fully dissolved.
  2. Place onion in a jar or bowl (I like to use a mason jar). Pour vinegar mixture over the onions and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour if you're in a rush. Preferably, cover jar or bowl and place in refrigerator for at least 1 day. Pickled onions will last for a few weeks stored in the refrigerator.
  3. Use pickled onions to top tacos, nachos, sandwiches, salads, and more!

« 10 Ways To Immediately Improve Your Cooking

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lokness

    I love pickled onions, but not sure how to make them. Thanks a lot for sharing. Love to try this.

    Reply

  2. Linda

    I just now found your website while looking for Strawberry Habenero Jam recipe. Saw your Pickled Onions recipe and you mention you have several recipes incorporating pickled onions. Can you mention a few of those recipes. Thank you!

    Reply

  3. Joan Johnson

    I made a quart of these last month and my oh my - they were wonderful! We just finished up the jar last night. We've put them on hamburgers, hot dogs, pork chops, meatloaf, you name it. I'll be making more very soon. Thanks for a great "keeper" of a recipe.

    Reply

    • Chris

      So glad you loved the pickled onions, Joan! Aren't they great with pretty much everything?! I love putting them on burgers, sandwiches, and Mexican-type things. YUM!

      Reply

  4. Beth

    After you make these, do you continue to store them in the vinegar/water liquid mixture, or do you drain them?

    Reply

    • Chris

      Yes Beth, keep and store them in the liquid mixture. This is what's going to pickle them and will actually keep them from spoiling b/c of the vinegar. I've had a jar of them in the fridge for weeks and weeks without it going bad.

      Reply

  5. Matthew

    Could I use distilled white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar?

    Reply

    • Chris

      Hmmm probably, although it would probably change the flavor a little. Cider vinegar has a lighter taste. The acidity in apple cider vinegar is normally 5-6%, versus distilled white which is normally somewhere in the range of 4-7%... since they are pretty similiar in the acidity range, you can swap out the apple cider for the distilled white and still get the pickled effect. Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply

  6. Lorraine Abronski

    love pickled onions my son got me hooked on these.

    Reply

  7. Shay

    Hi I just came back from Mexico and tried these onions for the first time and fell in love with them. So happy I found your website can't wIt to make these, thanks.

    Reply

    • Chris

      Thanks so much Shay! Pickled onions are a fave of mine 🙂

      Reply

  8. Tyler

    Love this recipe !!!!

    Reply

    • Chris co*ckren

      Thanks so much Tyler! My family loves it too!

      Reply

    • John Pennino

      It's soooo good!

      Reply

  9. Sarah

    What else can I pickle

    Reply

    • Chris @ Shared Appetite

      You can pickle pretty much any vegetable! And even some fruits!! They add so much flavor!

      Reply

  10. Andrew

    Wow this recipe is really easy to make thanks Chris.

    Reply

  11. John Pennino

    This was a huge hit yesterday for father's day barbecue! Thanks so much for posting.

    Reply

    • Chris co*ckren

      So glad it was a hit!

      Reply

  12. Eline

    Can the sugar be skipped? Or would that take away the crispness?

    Reply

    • Chris co*ckren

      I think from a flavor standpoint it would make the onions too tart and astringent. The sugar helps to balance out the salt + vinegar.

      Reply

  13. Brian

    These were delicious, thanks.

    Reply

  14. Steven T

    Perfect accompaniment to a pulled pork sandwich! It’s a recipe I use over and over again, just love it!

    Reply

  15. James S

    Great simple recipe with too many uses to count! We particularly like them when we fire up the grill for some burgers, but I always like to keep some on hand!

    Reply

  16. Talina

    Can I use regular salt?

    Reply

    • Chris co*ckren

      Yes, but you'll have to use a bit less table salt since the granules are smaller.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Easy Pickled Onions | Red Pickled Onions Recipe | Shared Appetit (2024)

FAQs

How does Bobby Flay pickled onions? ›

Place the vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil, sugar, peppercorns and thyme in a large noncorrosive saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the onions to the hot liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the onions to steep for at least 2 hours or overnight.

What's the best vinegar to pickle onions? ›

I particularly like a mix of white wine and rice vinegar, and apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are a fun tangy combination. These variations are great, but they're totally optional; your quick pickled onions will be delicious even if you stick to the basic recipe!

Do you have to soak onions in salt before pickling? ›

Now roll your bald onions in salt and leave in a bowl overnight, rinsing the salt away in the morning before patting dry. Although this stage is optional, the salt-and-rinse method will extract moisture from within the onion and you will be rewarded with a crisper, crunchier, firmer pickle in the long run.

Why do you boil onions before pickling? ›

Hot water is often pour over onions (that aren't going to be pickled or cooked) in order to tame their sharpness and soften them a little.

How long do pickled onions last in vinegar? ›

Pour over the warm vinegar and seal. Cool, then chill and leave to pickle for 2 hrs. Will keep for 6 months unopened, or 2 weeks in the fridge once opened.

Why are pickled onions so addictive? ›

Because it is high in salt, this plays a major factor in pickled products' addictive nature . It could also indicate a sign of low blood pressure. 'Pickle juice is also popular with those following a ketogenic diet as they may need more sodium to manage electrolyte balance,' says Shona Wilkinson, aka DR VEGAN.

Is white vinegar or apple cider vinegar better for pickling? ›

Because apple cider vinegar is made from apples rather than barley, corn rice or wine, it gives pickles a mellower taste. Using a white distilled vinegar, for example, will create a harsher flavour. But as well as being gentler on your palate, using apple cider vinegar also adds health benefits to pickles.

Should vinegar be hot for pickling? ›

Vinegar-based pickling is a much faster process than fermentation pickling. In its quickest form, you'll just boil a vinegar solution, pour it over the the object of your pickling desire, let it all cool and stash it in the fridge.

Why are my pickled onions slimy? ›

if your pickled red onions are slimy and limp then you May be cutting them the wrong way. we have two primary ways to slice onions pole to pole or orbital.

Which pickled onions are best? ›

Top 10 Pickled Onions Products
  1. Garner's. Original Pickled Onions. 454g. ...
  2. Vadasz. Pickled Red Onion. 400g. ...
  3. M&S. Pickled Red Onions. 260g. ...
  4. ASDA. Pickled Onions. 710g. ...
  5. Tesco. Pickled Silverskin Onions. 440g. ...
  6. ASDA. Pickled Silverskin Onions. 440g. ...
  7. Garner's. Pickled Shallots Drained. 300g. ...
  8. Waitrose Ltd. Waitrose onions spiced & pickled drained.

Can you reuse pickle juice to pickle onions? ›

Pickling doesn't have to be a long process involving canning and special supplies. If you have vegetables that would be good pickled, like onions, garlic, carrots or green beans, toss them in the jar of leftover pickle juice, and see what happens. They'll make a nice addition to a charcuterie platter or Blood Mary.

Are pickling onions the same as pickled onions? ›

Hi Marilyn, pickling onions are brown onions that are small and picked early or sown late, sow in November for harvesting in March. Sprouted onions are not poisonous. The only thing about using the pickling onions that have sprouted is that they may be soft and pulpy, and not hard like pickled onions should be.

Why are my pickled onions fizzing? ›

A lot of times when microorganisms grow, as part of the fermentation process they produce carbon dioxide gas,” she says. “And so definitely don't eat anything that's discolored or fizzing.”

Can you pickle onions without blanching? ›

I've been pickling onions for over 40 years but I have never, ever blanched the onions. Peel the onions, put them in hot jars and cover with boiling spiced, malt pickling vinegar. Screw the tops on while the vinegar is still hot. Job done, good for at least 3 years.

Do pickled onions need to be submerged? ›

Tips for pickling onions

However, it's important to ensure that the onions fit well in the jar, allowing them to be fully submerged in the brine. Clean your jar. Especially for the second recipe, make sure your jar and lid are very clean so as not to introduce bacteria to the onion pickling process.

How healthy are pickled onions? ›

There are many health benefits of pickled onions. Pickled onions contain high amount of good probiotics and digestive enzymes. Pickled onions can aid your digestion and overall energy levels. They are a good source of soluble fiber which helps us to lose body fat.

What are the best onions for pickling? ›

Shallots and red onions are best to use for pickling because of their vibrant, purple-red color. To preserve their bright color, pickle the sliced onions in red wine vinegar, which shares the same hue.

What is the science behind pickling onions? ›

According to culinary scientist Jessica Gavin, the anthocyanins (or coloring pigment) in the red onions react with the acid in the hot pickling liquid to turn the onions a radiant pink. The low pH of the pickling liquid also helps preserve the onions' crunch, she notes.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Tish Haag

Last Updated:

Views: 6204

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (47 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Tish Haag

Birthday: 1999-11-18

Address: 30256 Tara Expressway, Kutchburgh, VT 92892-0078

Phone: +4215847628708

Job: Internal Consulting Engineer

Hobby: Roller skating, Roller skating, Kayaking, Flying, Graffiti, Ghost hunting, scrapbook

Introduction: My name is Tish Haag, I am a excited, delightful, curious, beautiful, agreeable, enchanting, fancy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.