I love red onions because even just a few slivers of fresh red onion can truly transform a recipe (see Thai Curry Vegetable Soup and Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Lentils) and there’s no substitution that is really quite like it. BUT I can rarely find a red onion that is smaller than a softball and I usually only need 1/4 or less of it for a recipe. Because I hate to waste the rest of the onions, I always use the leftovers to make a batch of these Pickled Red Onions
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What Are “Quick” Pickles?
There are two methods for pickling vegetables: through fermentation or by using a vinegar-based brine. Both methods use a salty and acidic liquid to prohibit the growth of dangerous bacteria. With fermentation, the acid is created by microorganisms, but this can take days or even weeks to accomplish. Store-bought vinegar creates this brine almost instantly, hence the name quick pickle.
The trade-off for this quick process is that quick pickles do not contain probiotics, like fermented pickles, and the flavor can be a little more one-dimensional. Fermented pickles are a bit more of an exact science and can take some practice to get right (here’s a recipe for Fermented Sour Pickles, if you’re interested), whereas quick pickles are pretty hard to mess up.
How to Use Pickled Red Onions
Pickled red onions are AWESOME on tacos, sandwiches, carnitas, salads, pizza, nachos, flatbread, avocado toast, burgers, and lots of other things (practically any Mexican dish). Instead of thinking of these pickled red onions as a substitute for fresh red onions, think of them as a non-spicy alternative to pickled jalapeño. That tangy pickled flavor tastes great anywhere you’d normally use a pickled jalapeño.
How long do They Last?
Keep your pickled red onions refrigerated and in the brine and they’ll last 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator! The flavor gets better over time as the onions marinate in the brine. Just make sure to keep your pickled red onions refrigerated in a non-reactive, air-tight container, like a mason jar or other food-safe storage container.
Customize Your Onions
There are a million different ways to make pickled red onions, so I’ve provided a very basic version below. As you begin to make them more often, you can start to tweak the flavors to match your preferences. Experiment with the seasonings and spices by adding ingredients like bay leaf, star anise, sliced jalapeño, or red pepper flakes.
What Kind of Vinegar to Use for Pickled Red Onions
The recipe below uses white vinegar, but you can use different kinds of vinegar in your pickled red onion recipe to change the flavor. I suggest not using vinegar with strong flavors so they don’t overpower the onions or the other ingredients. Try using rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar in your pickled red onions!
(Tacos made with Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork, fresh jalapeño, pickled red onion, and cotija.)
Pickled Red Onions
Servings 10 1.5 cups totalIngredients
- 1.5 cups sliced red onion ($0.32)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 3 Tbsp white sugar ($0.06)
- 1.5 Tbsp salt ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp peppercorns ($0.05)
- 1 cup white vinegar ($0.06)
Instructions
- Thinly slice the red onion into 1/8-inch slices. Peel the garlic. Place the onion and garlic in a large glass or ceramic bowl.
- Add the sugar, salt, and peppercorns to a small sauce pot. Add the vinegar and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Place a lid on the pot and bring the mixture up to a boil over medium-high heat.
- When it reaches a boil, pour the vinegar over the sliced onion and garlic.* Press the onion down so all the pieces are submerged, then let the mixture cool to room temperature. I sometimes place a piece of plastic wrap over the onions to help push and hold them below the surface of the brine (see step by step photos below).
- Once cool, use the onions immediately or transfer the onions and all the brine to a covered non-reactive container (glass, ceramic, or plastic) for storage in the refrigerator. The onions can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Pickled Red Onions – Step by Step Photos
This recipe works for up to about 2 cups of sliced red onion, but you can use less if you have less. It’s great for using up a leftover half onion, but I’ve used a whole onion for demonstration purposes here. Slice the onion into ⅛-inch slices.
Place the sliced onions and one clove of peeled garlic in a large ceramic or glass bowl.
Add 1.5 Tbsp salt, 3 Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp whole peppercorns, and 1 cup white vinegar to a saucepot. Stir to dissolve as much of the salt and sugar as possible. Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil over medium-high heat.
Carefully pour the boiling vinegar brine over the sliced onions and garlic in the bowl. Stir to combine and press the onions below the brine. Allow the mixture to come to room temperature. I like to take a piece of plastic wrap and press it down onto the onions to help them stay below the brine just as soon as it’s cool enough to touch.
As the onions soak in the brine they’ll begin to turn an incredibly vibrant shade of pink. The pigment in red onions and red cabbage is a natural pH indicator. Don’t you just love food science??
Once the onions have come to room temperature and are a vibrant pink color, transfer them to an air-tight food storage container and refrigerate until ready to eat, or up to 4 weeks. The flavor gets even better after a few days!
(Tacos made with Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork, fresh jalapeño, pickled red onion, and cotija.)
Cut half the salt out – threw everything else in using – well that’s close enough technology – Glorious – 3rd time i have made the pickled onion – No worries,
Just like what i got served up in India!
Thank you for this recipe! We’re never without these in our house. We put them on everything! This is my favorite method, though I do tweak the vinegar. I always double the recipe amounts (because our red onions are very large) and use 12 oz. white wine vinegar, 2 oz. apple cider vinegar, and 2 oz. rice vinegar (for a total of 16 oz., or 2 cups). The different vinegars give them a very interesting bite.
Absolutely fantastic recipe!
Thanks so much from myself and my family!
This is my first recipe from this site and. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of I sliced my garlic as well. It turned out great and I love how simple it is to use leftover red onion. I put these on shrimp tacos with a cilantro lime cream sauce. They would be great as condiments to sandwiches and salads. Next time I make them, I might use a tiny bit less salt. I used kosher salt for reference.
Will these be good if put through a canning process?
Unfortunately I’m experienced with canning, so I’m not sure how these would do.
Can you fix these to be canned without having to be refrigerated?I’d like to make more at a time to give as gifts or just have without having to make a batch whenever wanted.
Unfortunately I am inexperienced with canning, so I don’t know what might need to be done to can them properly.
My red onion is too salty and garlicky. Also after one night the brine turned red but the onion turned white instead of the pretty magenta color!
These are the best! I made them to try and replicate a green goddess cobb salad and they were spot on. I ate them out of the jar, and just had them on a patty melt!
The only thing I did differently was add about 1/3-1/2 cup of water bc I felt like the brine was a tiny bit too vinegary!
Love! I added some ground rosemary from Italy and a tap of pickled jalopenos. Oh man this was a great and simple recipe! Thank you!
My only question is how long they will be good for. I have always thought one of the reasons things were pickled originally was to extend the food’s usability. If they stayed refrigerated it seems like they would last a lot longer than 3-4 weeks, unless you ate them all.
Yeah, that’s just a general recommendation. Determining how long things “last” isn’t an exact science because there are an endless number of factors that can influence it, which is why products in stores have “best by” dates and not hard “expiration” dates.
Mine are to salty as well. Is there anyway to remedy this besides starting over with less salt. I love the ease and the flavor of this recipe but I have that burning feeling in my mouth and stomach from to much salt.
You can dilute it with some water and the water will pull the salt out of the onions through osmosis.
Am I supposed to rinse these before serving? They are sooo salty. I don’t even know if rinsing world help but right now they are near inedible.
No, they shouldn’t be rinsed. They should be salty, like a dill pickle.
Do you use kosher salt, or regular table salt? If it’s supposed to be kosher salt but you used table salt, that would explain the extra-saltiness.
I use fine sea salt, which is the same texture as table salt.
I just made these (had to double the liquid, since my cut up onion was much larger than I expected) and they’re still cooling, but already really tasty! I used table salt. Thanks for a great, easy recipe!
This is the best pickled onion recipe we have ever used-hands down. No need to look any further, this will quickly become your go-to recipe.
I came upon the idea of ‘pickled red onions’ when looking for ways to serve liverwurst. Your recipe looked terrific, and terrifically easy. I used my mandoline to thin slice the red onion, and set the vinegar to cook in small pan. I used red wine vinegar, some cloves, pickling spices and thinly sliced garlic. I crammed two small, thinly sliced red onions into a ball jar, added the hot vinegar mixture, and sealed the jar.
I forgot to add the peppercorns, or water, so I’m hoping for the best. Thank you for the recipe! I’ll let you know how this worked out.
I was multitasking and failed to read the part about bringing vinegar to boil. Instead I mixed everything in a container with the onions without heating anything. Would this still be okay to eat?
It’s still okay to eat, it just might not soften the onions as much since it’s not hot. Also, the sugar may not fully dissolve.