Quick Pickled Red Onions - Learn how to make this quick pickled red onions recipe in minutes using sliced red onions in a zesty, sweet, and tangy brine! Use them on everything for a crisp texture, tangy flavor, and a pop of color!
Quick pickled red onions are an easy way to ramp up your everyday sandwiches, wraps, salads, and even your morning eggs! They’re crunchy, tangy, sweet, and tart, and so good you’ll probably find yourself eating them straight from the jar!
Made with sliced red onions, red wine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt, all you do is make the brine and allow the onions to sit and absorb all that yumminess overnight. The longer it sits the better the onions taste. You’ll love how easy this pickled red onions recipe is!
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Why This Recipe Works
- Super easy. If you can slice onions and mix ingredients in a saucepan, you can make quick pickled red onions because that’s all it takes!
- They go on everything. I’m talking homemade hamburgers with pickled red onions, shawarmas, souvlaki on pita, Greek chicken gyros, in sandwiches, in salads, overtop your scrambled eggs, you name it!
- Can be stored for weeks. When they’re stored properly in an airtight jar, they can be kept in the fridge for weeks. You will probably want to double this recipe for this very reason, because they’ll be eaten quickly.
- A nutrient boost! Red onions are loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, so not only are they tasty, they’re healthy too!
Cooking Tips
- Use a small glass jar for this recipe as it only needs to hold about 2 cups of liquid. If you’re doubling or tripling the recipe, then you’ll need something bigger.
- I like to make the brine first and then slice the onions. This way the cut onions aren’t sitting there making me cry!
- For extra flavor, feel free to add cloves of garlic or even peppercorns to the brine.
- If you find pickling spice at the store and you want to use it, have at it. It will provide a very different flavor, but it’s worth a try for the next time.
- Make life easy on yourself and slice the onions evenly using a mandoline.
Ingredients Needed for Pickling Red Onions
- Large Red Onion: Remove the peel and slice them into ¼ inch slices. I love them sliced, but you can also chop them if that’s how you prefer to eat them.
- Red Wine Vinegar: When making pickled red onions red wine vinegar is what gives them that striking pink color and tangy flavor. It’s also the acid needed to break down and tenderize the onions.
- Water: Added liquid to the mixture, which helps the sugar and salt to dissolve. Once it’s boiled, it helps to soften the onions as well.
- Salt and Sugar: Pickling anything usually requires one or the other, and sometimes both for a great sweet and salty balance.
How to Pickle Red Onions Fast
Step 1: In a small or medium saucepan, mix the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. The sugar and salt should dissolve.
Step 2: Cut the onion into slices and place all of them into a glass jar, such as a mason jar or a container with a tight-fitting lid.
Step 3: Pour the hot liquid from the saucepan overtop the onions, filling up the jar with the liquid. The liquid should cover the onions.
Step 4: Allow it to sit and cool completely before closing it with a lid. Refrigerate it at least overnight or up to 24 hours.
Enjoy!
Ways to Use Quick Pickled Red Onions
Use it as a topping on my grilled chicken pita recipe or on the side of oven baked chicken wings. You could just as easily enjoy them in the morning in a tomato bacon egg sandwich or a potato eggs and hash recipe.
I’m sure once you take a bite you’ll be looking for any excuse to eat them!
Recipe FAQs
These will stay fresh, when kept airtight in the fridge, for up to 3 weeks. Don’t worry, they’ll be gone way before that.
You do want to make sure you’re keeping an eye on them, however. If at any point you open the jar and you notice a funny smell or the liquid looks blurry, discard them. They’re easy enough to make a fresh new batch in minutes.
Sure you can. The red wine vinegar gives the red onions that extra dose of delicious color, but if you prefer to use distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar, they are both great options.
Lots of them! Try pearl onions, sliced carrots, asparagus, radish, cucumber, beets, cauliflower, asparagus, and green beans. So many options!
More Delicious and Easy Onion Recipe
- Smoked Salmon Avocado Toast with Pickled Onions
- Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onion
- Fried Rice Recipe with Egg and Green Onion
- Caramelized Onions Burger
- Chicken Cutlets with Green Onion
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📖 Recipe
Easy Quick Pickled Red Onions Recipe
Equipment
- Glass Jar
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion sliced into ¼ inch rings
- ⅔ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon organic sugar
Instructions
- Using a sauce pan mix vinegar, water, salt and sugar and bring it to a gentle boil over medium/high heat.
- Slice red onion and place it in the glass jar or container, then pour the hot vinegar liquid over the onions. Mix and let it cool.
- After cover and refrigerate overnight or about 24 hours before serving. Enjoy with homemade Burgers.
Video
Notes
- Use a small glass jar for this recipe like the one that holds about 2 cups of mixture.
- Double the Pickled Red Onions Recipe if you love onions.
- Store in airtight container, inside the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Nutrition
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