Pickled Red Onions are quick and easy refrigerator pickles anyone can make ~ they go with literally everything!
Pickled onions make just about anything better!
You can’t make a great fish taco without pickled onions, but they are also great on sandwiches, burgers and hotdogs, salads, cheese boards…pretty much anywhere you’d use sliced onions. Pickling takes a bit of the raw bite off of onions and replaces it with a nice sweet-sour tang. And like most pickles they’re almost calorie free, so they are a great way to add interest and flavor to food if you’re watching your weight.
Pickled red onions change from purple to vivid pink
It’s a fun chemistry experiment to watch the purple onions turn bright pink the minute they hit the acidic vinegar. I love the vibrant color of these pickled red onions, they really brighten up food in more ways than one!
what you’ll need
- red onions, thinly sliced. A mandoline slicer helps with this.
- vinegar ~ white or other light mild vinegar like white wine, champagne, or rice wine vinegar will work.
- water ~ dilutes the sharpness of the vinegar.
- spices ~ use individual spices or a ready-made pickling mix.
- salt
- sugar
The method for these pickles is very simple and lends itself well to adaptation and experimentation.
I used a few extra spices like multicolored peppercorns, yellow mustard seeds, and cumin seeds, but feel free to substitute in others. And just one sliced jalapeno pepper makes the whole jar pretty hot. But you can do this without any spices at all if you want to. The classic combination of vinegar, salt and sugar also makes a wonderful simple pickle.
I love making quick pickles–you can pickle all kinds of vegetables and it’s nice to have a little collection in the fridge so you have just the right pickle for all your recipes! Here are a few more of my favorites that are easy, fast, and sure to brighten up any dish.
- How To Quick Pickle (almost) Anything!
- Quick Pickled Fennel
- Quick Pickled Vidalia Onions
- Quick Pickled Jalapeños ~ easy recipe!
- Quick Pickled Rainbow Carrots
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Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 2 medium red onions
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp multicolor peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seed
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper, sliced. Optional!
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice the onions. Note: I use my mandoline slicer for thin, even slices.
- Put the vinegar, water, and all the spices in a small pan and bring up to a simmer. Take off the heat, and add the onions and hot pepper. Mix well.
- Place the onions in a mason jar and pour the liquid over them. Make sure the liquid covers the onions. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate.
- Your pickled onions are ready to enjoy once they have chilled. They will keep in the refrigerator for a month.
Notes
- You can use pickling spice in place of the individual spices listed.
- You can use any wide mouth canning jar for these pickles.
Nutrition
My favorite restaurant makes a killer Greek salad with pickled onions and ever since I tried it, I’ve been wanting to pickle onions. I’m SO happy I saw this post – I’m definitely following your how-to!!
They weren’t really on my radar until I had them on some great fish tacos and now I’m trying to find new ways to use them. A Greek salad sounds perfect, I bet they’d complement the feta cheese really well.
They should be great on corn torillas quesadillas.
I’m going out to get canning jars right now . . . or at least when the store opens. Great idea.
Pickled onions are the perfect condiment!! I love that you added in a jalapeno to really spice things up.
Gorgeous, Sue. I only recently discovered how easy these were to make. And that saves me a trip to the Mexican market where I used to buy them. You are right. They are fabulous in so many dishes!
Great post! I’ll be making these this weekend! 🙂 Thanks!
Love pickled onions and have been on the look out for some little onions to pickle but using red onions would be a great alternative. They look so pretty in pink too.
We enjoy pickled onions..seems that’s all I am doing these days..preserving..
But I have never added Jalapenos..Bonne idée!
Ooh, these look so lovely! You have to love bright pink pickles. 🙂
wow, beautiful.. I have all these jars now and I need to fill them… onions are so simple but they look and no doubt taste spectacular… great recipe x
I’ve tried pickled onions twice now and been unimpressed. Yours look and sound great though and I much prefer that the onions aren’t cooked first! I’m trying these this week. Thanks, Sue.