Pickled red onions add vibrancy to any dish in both taste and color. They’re best served as a part of a larger spread, especially with tacos or Mediterranean food. They add life to a salad and an acidic punch to truly anything you pair them with.
Pickled red onions are super simple to make. All you need to do to make a batch of pickled red onions is add a mixture of vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a jar with thinly sliced red onions. Although we keep it simple in this recipe, you can also add whole peppercorns to your pickling jar to add depth of flavor. You can make a big batch and keep it in your fridge for weeks because pickling is a form of food preservation.
This recipe follows the method found in Molly Baz’s debut cookbook Cook This Book. She details the recipe within her “Spiced, Grilled & Swaddled Chicken Thighs with the Works.” The pickled red onions in this case are “the works.” The main difference between her recipe and this one is we’re jarring our onions, and we use double the mixture to completely immerse the sliced onions.
Preparing your pickled red onions is always better in a jar because you can store them easily. I reuse an empty 16 oz pasta sauce jar for my pickled red onions. If you don’t have a jar, you can pickle your onion in a bowl.
The longer the onions sit in the jar, the better but they’re best enjoyed after at least two hours in the vinegar mixture. You’ll know they’re ready when the vinegar and onions turn a bright pink color.
Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1.5 cups water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Add 1 cup white vinegar, 1.5 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tbsp kosher salt to a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar and salt has dissolved (about 10 minutes).
- Meanwhile, thinly slice 1 red onion by cutting crosswise and then lengthwise through the root to create half-moon rounds.
- Add the red onion slices to a jar. You may need to divide your onion across multiple jars or bowls.
- Carefully pour the hot vinegar mixture into the jars with the onions.
- Allow onions to pickle for at least 30 minutes, but preferably for 2 hours before serving. When the onions turn a bright pink color, they're ready to enjoy.
Slicing your onion
The best way to slice an onion in thin slices is by cutting the onion in half crosswise and then again lengthwise. When cutting crosswise, the roots or ends of your onion should be on the left and right of your knife. Then, you cut lengthwise through each root, leaving you with a flat side. Place your onion on the flat side to safely cut thin half slices.
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