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 are the best jars for pickling?
These 16-ounce Ball Mason jars are my absolute favorites for pickling onions. I love that they come in a pack of 12 (you can make a ton at once!) and that they’re BPA-free and dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.
Pickled onions keep well in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. I like that these jars don’t take up too much space when I have them in my fridge.
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
- ⅓ 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.
Wonderful and easy! I added the garlic, peppercorns, a bay leaf, mustard seeds and a few coriander seeds because they are classic pickling spices.
It a great condiment for so many dishes as well as sandwiches.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Could I freeze a batch?
Hi Gary, I wouldn’t recommend freezing these. Their texture could become soggy after thawing.
Quick question: Can you use honey in place of the sugar or part honey, part sugar? It would make them sweeter, right?
Be warned that these are addictive! Oh, my goodness!! SO good with anything and really, really easy to make. Highly recommend but you’ve been warned! LOL
So Easy and delicious
Absolutely delicious! It’s the perfect crunchy and acidic addition to a lot of my fresh dishes. I do have a question though. I’m the type of person who will reuse the brine of commercially packaged items like pickles to make more pickles. Could this brine be reused?
I was wondering if I can water bath can these?
Hi Karen, we haven’t tried canning these onions. I’d recommend looking for a recipe that’s specifically intended for canning to ensure good results.
Hi there, can you use any other type of sugar? White, brown? Additionally, can you please specify the ratios for the other vinegar options
Other sugars will definitely change the flavor and color. (If it helps, “cane sugar “is white sugar.)
Hi, you could use white granulated sugar here. I’d use the same vinegar:water ratio with a different type of vinegar.
I’ve just dug up some lovely multi coloured beetroot from my garden, would the same liquid quantities work for this veg too?
Hi Elaine, yep! You could use this brine to make pickled beets.
Hey recipe looks nice and simple. But I am wondering how a recipe with so much vinegar and salt will only last two weeks in the fridge? Isn’t this recipe basically fermenting onions to last for long time? Months? I’m sure I won’t use up a jar of onions in that amount of time, but would like it on-hand to consider for salads and such through-out this hot summer! Thanks for your answer in advance!
hi Bart I am no expert, but I have made this recipe and kept them for couple months . no issues at all . only reason I say couple months is because they were gone!
This is pickling and not fermenting. Fermenting would be with a salt water ratio and yes they would last a very long time when made properly. If you are concerned about using the pickled onions up in time I suggest you make a smaller batch. The ratio of water and vinegar is 1:1 so you can make a smaller amount to use up quicker
I don’t have any red onions at the moment, but I’ve got some lovely fresh brown ones. Will they work just as well?
Do you just heat the brine for 1 min only to dissolve the sugar and salt, or do you heat it a bit longer?
yep – just to dissolve the sugar.
This is my second time making this recipe. I like to add a bit more sugar (I love when the onions are a little sweet). We’ve added these tasty morsels to so many things! Thanks for the easy recipe.
Hi Lara, I’m so glad you’ve loved it!
Another vegie to try with this simple brine is fresh green beans, they get super crunchy and tasty. You can also add a few onions
Hi, what is one cup in ml in this recipe?
240 ml
1 cup is roughly 250mL
This recipe is so easy! The onions taste great! I use this for a quick refrigerator pickle as well and add my own mix of dried hot pepper flakes for that spicy kick!
Hi Steve, I’m so glad you love the recipe! Great idea to add pepper flakes to the brine to make it spicy. Sounds delicious!
What can you use in a pinch if you don’t have mason jars?
On no after slicing the onions so this I forgot to cool the brine! Are my onions ruined!
Hi Theresa, they should still be fine!
No they are not ruined! They are delicious and your onions will have a bit less crunch. I love them this way.
Hi Val, any airtight container will work! Just make sure that the onions are fully submerged in the brine.
What ratio of white wine to rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar to white vinegar do you use when you like to change it up? Do you heat up the brine as you do with the original recipe?
Hi Christina, I typically do a 1:1 ratio of each type of vinegar in those combos, though you can experiment with different ratios and see what you like! And yep, I’d still heat the brine.
Hi there, can these pickled onions last for a month in the fridge and would it be possible to reuse the pickling liquid, if so how many times can I reuse it and do I have to reheat for every reuse?
Hi Chantel, they start to lose their flavor after about 2-3 weeks. I generally reuse the brine once, I don’t heat it again, I just put the onions in and let them sit overnight or so.
There’s really no need for the sugar, but if you must, cut it down to a TBS or two
Love how these came out. Can I add more onions to the liquid?
Hi Kelly, you can! I would make fresh brine after 3 weeks-a month.