I don’t remember the first place I had pickled red onions. But I can tell you that they’ve been a big hit at parties for people aged 20-85. These are not likely to last for very long in your fridge because you (or your guests) will eat them all. These easy pickled red onions are an effective way to:
- Up your taco game
- Garnish a pot roast
- Jazz up a grilled cheese sandwich
- Eat on their own straight out of the jar like it’s pink sauerkraut
Okay. I don’t do the latter very often, but it IS an option. Any way you slice it, I hope you enjoy these!
Preparation & Photos
Peel the onion. Cut in half and for each half, cut in half again. Thinly slice into “half-moons”. Do your best to stay roughly consistent in the size of the slices.
Combine the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, kosher salt and whole allspice berries in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Boil the mixture for 3-5 minutes
A quick note: the salt in this recipe is important for flavor and shelf life. If you don’t have Diamond Crystal kosher salt floating around in your kitchen, I go over some of the differences in commonly available salts in my Salt 101 page. Use about 3/4 tsp of table salt if that is what you have handy.
Pour the hot vinegar mixture over red onions. Toss to coat, and cover if a lid is available.
Stir the onion-vinegar mixture periodically and allow them to cool to room temperature. You can remove the allspice berries if you want a milder flavor.
Transfer the onions and enough liquid to fully cover them to a lidded jar. Refrigerate for up to one week and add to anything you want.
After one or two days, you should get some of this hot pink color happening.
Substitutions
Red Onion
This recipe has only been tested with red onions, so I have no good suggestions on pickling yellow or white onions here. Hopefully a recipe for another day!
Allspice
The flavor of allspice is not everyone’s cup of tea. Feel free to omit the allspice berries (or ground allspice) entirely or replace with spices of your choosing.
Vinegar
You can definitely play with the type of vinegar here. The apple cider vinegar gave the right balance of sour acidity without being overpowering for me. If you like a stronger vinegar flavor, my suggestion would be to replace some of the apple cider vinegar with either red or white wine vinegar. Let me know if you find a proportion that you enjoy!
PrintPickled Red Onions
Quick, easy, and flavorful pickled red onions are a great addition to tacos, sandwiches, or just about anywhere you want a pop of flavor (or color)!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Side Dish
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion (Or two small)
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar (Unfiltered is fine)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1½ tsp granulated sugar
- 2¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (See notes)
- 6–9 whole allspice berries (Generous ½ tsp of berries or 1/4 tsp ground. Can be omitted.)
Instructions
- Peel onion. Cut in half and for each half, cut in half again. Thinly slice into “half-moons”. Try to be consistent in the size of the slices.
- Combine apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, kosher salt and whole allspice berries in a saucepan
- Stir to dissolve salt and sugar.
- Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3-5 minutes
- Pour the hot vinegar mixture over red onions.
- Toss to coat, and cover if a lid is available.
- Stir periodically and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. You can remove the allspice berries if you want a milder flavor.
- Transfer to lidded jar with enough liquid to keep the onions submerged.
- Refrigerate for up to one week.
Notes
The salt is important in this recipe. If you don’t have Diamond Crystal kosher salt, take a quick look at the Salt 101 page where I go over some of the differences in commonly available salts. If you only have table salt, use about 3/4 tsp.
The intense pink color in some of these photos should be visible after a day or two in the fridge – you won’t see much color from the onions right after adding the vinegar.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 41 g
- Calories: 16 kcal
- Sugar: 2.8 g
- Sodium: 0.525 g
- Fat: 0.04 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.012 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.014 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.92 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 0.19 g
- Cholesterol: 0 g
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