Pickled Red Onions are an easy condiment made with red onions, white vinegar and cane sugar, ready in 10 minutes of work. One batch fills two 16 ounce jars and needs five ingredients. They keep two weeks in the fridge.
I cut the vinegar with an equal amount of water, two cups of each, rather than pouring it over neat. Straight vinegar makes onions you can smell across the room and nobody eats. The split keeps them sharp without the burn, so they work on a sandwich the same day.
How thin you slice the onions decides everything, more than the brine does. Mandoline-thin rings go bright pink and tender in about an hour, while knife-cut slices need overnight. Thick and thin in the same jar means half are ready and half are still raw.
Pickled Red Onions
Course: SideCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalThe brine needs only a minute on the heat, long enough to dissolve the sugar and salt, then it cools first. If you add the optional garlic and peppercorns, split them one clove and half a teaspoon per jar.
Ingredients
- For the Onions:
2 small red onions, very thinly sliced
- For the Brine:
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 tablespoons sea salt
- Optional, per jar:
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon mixed peppercorns
Directions
- Slice and jar the onions: Thinly slice the red onions, using a mandoline if you have one, and divide them between 2 (16-ounce) jars or 3 (10-ounce) jars. Add the garlic and peppercorns to each jar if using.
- Make the brine: Heat the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve, about 1 minute.
- Pour it over: Let the brine cool slightly, then pour it over the sliced onions.
- Cool and refrigerate: Set the jars aside to cool to room temperature, then cover them and store in the fridge.
- Wait for the colour change: The onions are ready once they are bright pink and tender: about 1 hour for very thinly sliced onions, or overnight for thicker slices. They keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
No nutrition is published for this recipe, and the calorie figure is a rough estimate per 2 tablespoon serving. Most of the sugar and salt stays behind in the brine rather than being eaten.
Two things decide whether these are ready for lunch or tomorrow.
FAQs
How long until they are actually ready?
One hour if the slices are paper thin off a mandoline, overnight if you cut them by hand. The visual cue is color: they are done when the whole jar has turned bright pink and the rings bend without snapping. Rush it and they taste like raw onion sitting in vinegar.
Do I eat all that salt?
Two tablespoons of sea salt sounds alarming until you remember the brine stays in the jar. Only what the onions absorb ends up on your plate, which is a fraction of it. That is also why no reliable nutrition figure exists for pickled onions anywhere.
Can I use a different vinegar?
Picture the color first: white vinegar is clear, so the pink stays electric. Apple cider vinegar turns them a muddier rose but adds a rounder, fruitier edge. Rice vinegar is the mildest of the three and works if you find white vinegar too aggressive.
What do I do with the leftover brine?
Run a second batch of onions through it before you throw it out, since it has plenty of acid left. It also works as a mild vinegar in a dressing, or splashed over cooked beans. Do not reuse it a third time, because the salt and sugar are spent by then.
Can I pickle other vegetables in this brine?
Swapping in sliced radishes, carrots, jalapenos or cucumber works with no change to the brine at all. Denser vegetables like carrot need a day rather than an hour, so cut them thinner than you think. Onions stay the best match for something like this spiced chicken shawarma wrap.
Can I make a smaller batch?
Halving everything down to one onion and one cup each of vinegar and water fits a single jar. The ratio is what matters, equal vinegar to water with a third cup of sugar per four cups of liquid. A jar this size disappears fast on something like a cumin rubbed summer burger.
