Want to jazz up your next salad or bowl? Add pickled red onions! Tangy & sweet, they're the best way to give almost any dish a bright pop of flavor!
Pickled red onions have been an indispensable ingredient in my kitchen for years. Not only are they a gorgeous, vibrant pink, but they’re tangy, sweet, and a little crunchy. I like to say that they give sandwiches, salads, bowls, and more a “bright pop of flavor,” and though Jack makes fun of me for how often I use that phrase, I can’t think of a better way to describe them.
Try making a batch of quick pickled red onions, and you’ll see what I mean. Top a few onto an otherwise good sandwich or salad, and it’ll become great. Their vinegary, zippy taste adds an irresistible extra dimension of flavor, brightening and sharpening the other elements of the dish. You only need a few minutes and 5 ingredients to make this pickled onion recipe, so give them a try – you’ll add them to everything!
How to Make Pickled Onions
To make pickled red onions, you’ll need 5 basic ingredients: red onions, white vinegar, water, cane sugar, and sea salt.
First, thinly slice the onions (I recommend using a mandoline for quick, uniform slicing!) and divide them between two jars. Then, heat the vinegar, water, cane sugar, and salt over medium heat, and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. This will only take a minute or so!
Let the brine cool slightly, and pour it over the sliced onions. Allow the jars to cool to room temperature before covering them and transferring them to the fridge. Your onions will be ready to eat when they are bright pink and tender. This could take anywhere from 1 hour to overnight, depending on the thickness of your onions. They will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Sometimes, I’ll add a few peppercorns or garlic cloves to the jar along with the onions to make their flavor a little more complex. I like to change up the vinegar too! 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!
What to Do with Pickled Red Onions
As I said above, pickled onions are my favorite way to add a bright pop of flavor to almost any dish. Most simply, they’re excellent on avocado toast, but your options don’t end there. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use them:
- Add them to a salad! This roasted cauliflower salad and this grilled potato salad show them off well.
- Stuff them in a sandwich! Pair them with any bright sandwich filling like egg salad, chickpea shawarma, or onto avocado toast.
- Pile them on a burger! I like them with my favorite veggie burger, these falafel burgers, and my classic black bean burger.
- Top them onto any Mexican dish! They’d be delicious with these sweet potato tacos, these many-veggie tacos, or even breakfast tacos or a breakfast burrito!
- Add them to a bowl! Try them in this grain bowl or this buddha bowl, or top them onto a DIY-burrito bowl with cauliflower rice or cilantro lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, mango or tomatillo salsa, guacamole, and your favorite veggies!
Do you have a favorite way to use pickled onions? Let me know in the comments!
If you love these quick pickled red onions…
Try my roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, or pickled chard stems next!
Pickled Red Onions
Equipment
- Mandoline (makes it super easy to make thin slices!)
Ingredients
- 2 small red onions
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
optional
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon mixed peppercorns
Instructions
- Thinly slice the onions (it's helpful to use a mandoline), and divide the onions between 2 (16-ounce) jars or 3 (10-ounce) jars. Place the garlic and peppercorns in each jar, if using
- Heat the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve, about 1 minute. Let cool and pour over the onions. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then store the onions in the fridge.
- Your pickled onions will be ready to eat once they're bright pink and tender - about 1 hour for very thinly sliced onions, or overnight for thicker sliced onions. They will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
I regularly make pickled red onions. I do the same vinegar combination with garlic, sea salt, sugar and peppercorns. I like to add lime juice, fennel seeds, and fresh dill. FLAVOR!
I use them on shrimp tacos. Make the shrimp a bit spicy (saute in butter and cajun spice), add avocado cream (avo + sour cream + cilantro blended together) and pickled red onion on corn tortillas. Delish!
Yum, that sounds so delicious!
Can you place in hot water bath for long term storage in pantry?
How long do you let the vinegar mixture cool before pouring it over the onions?
Thanks!
Just a minute or so, so that it’s not steaming hot. The most important part is letting it cool after you pour it over the onions, before you close the lids.
Thank you for sharing! Can you link the jars you used?
Hi Stephanie, they’re very similar to these: https://amzn.to/2Oh8GSd
All I have in the house is white distilled vinegar and raw turbinado sugar. Will these work? I can hardly wait to try this. It looks soooooo good!
Hi Linda, yes, white distilled vinegar is what I use. Turbinado should work in a pinch – it’ll likely turn the brine a little bit brown.
Can I use regular white sugar instead of cane sugar?
Yep!
So good.
Can you use coconut sugar?
You can, it’ll become a little darker in color, but will still taste great.
thanks!
Can I process these in the traditional way to make them last longer?
You can!
Hi, I just made the recipe and halved it….I have half of the vinegar/water mixture remaining after pouring into the 16 oz jar. Is this normal? I’m not able to add in the remaining liquid. Thanks in advance, I love your recipes and book!
Hi Meghan, as long as the onions are submerged, it’ll be fine!
Thanks so much, they turned out great!!
The amount of liquid the recipe calls for fits perfectly in a 32oz jar so having half of the liquid left after using a 16oz jar is normal. Hope this helps!
Love this recipe! So simple to make and it complemented many dishes in the following week. Next time I’m going to double the recipe and make a couple of jars with a little spicy kick to it!
Have you ever used Apple Cider Vinegar ? … I would rather not use white vinegar .. thanks !!
yep – apple cider vinegar works!
I don’t think you can over-use the word “Pop” – LOL. Enjoy these many ways. Can you re-use the brine for the next batch of onions?
Is it distilled white vinegar?
I am wondering this too! or White Wine Vinegar?
Just regular white vinegar! (either would work, white vinegar is just the cheapest option and it’s great here).
Absolutely addictive 😋
Hi
How long do they last in the fridge?
Don’t worry – I just spotted it – thanks
How long are they good for in the refrigerator?
I keep them for about 2-3 weeks.
Don’t know. We eat them up!
I make a batch of pickled onions at least once a week and put them on pretty much everything — eggs, sandwiches, tacos, salads, cheese plates, etc. My favorite combo is adding whole clove & bay leaves. Adds a really lovely flavor!
I have also made it successfully subbing maple syrup for the cane sugar, for those that don’t do sugar.
Thanks for sharing that about maple syrup, Jen. Great info, and the other additions sound good too
So, Jen, do you ADD the clove and bay to the garlic and peppercorn version or just to the standard onion recipe? Gonna have to try this too!
I don’t add clove and bay to the garlic and peppercorn, preferring just the bay & clove as the seasoning. It’s a wonderful taste – warming and spicy but goes with nearly anything.
Jen, would you share your recipe? How many cloves to how much water/sugar/salt?
Thanks,
Jean
Can you make this with Stevia or honey? Can’t use sugar
Hi Fay, you can skip the sugar, but they will just be much tangier. I haven’t tried pickling with Stevia. I think honey might give it a honey taste – if you try honey, I’d use much much less. Hope that helps!
I used monkfruit sweetner and it was amazing!
Use honey. Down here in Sonora where I live, plain ol’ white sugar is most often used, but many folk, especially out in the country, use honey instead. Que tenga buen apetito.