Pickled red onions are probably one of my favorite pickles to make. They are versatile, delicious, and that beautiful pink adds a nice pop of color to any dish.
The versatility of the almighty pickled red onion
This recipe is going to be a very basic pickle brine. Water, vinegar, salt, and sugar. This will allow us to use these pickled red onions in nearly any dish that could benefit from a bit of acidity and flavor. But, this brine can easily be modified to adjust the flavors to a more specific style of cooking. Planning on using them to top some braised beef? Then add some sprigs of thyme and a few garlic cloves to your brine when pickling. Do you want to make pickled red onions that are specific to taco night? Then add some Mexican oregano and some slices of fresh limes to the jar with your onions.
Like I said, this is a barebones (but delicious), entry-level pickle. They are at home on a taco, just as much as they would be on deli sandwich, or a pile of shredded chuck roast. But, small tweaks in the ingredients can give you a much more cuisine specific pickle. Use your imagination…..or just subscribe to our mailing list and I’ll let you know when I release another pickled red onion variation. LOL
What will I need to make pickled red onions?
- About 4 pounds of red onions. This made 2 quarts. I use them a lot, especially now that I am a big, fancy-pants food writer. So, feel free to scale this down. But, they last for a long time in the fridge, OR you could go through the actual canning process so you can store them in your pantry for many months.
- White Vinegar. This is another point of potentiality of flavor. Try swapping the vinegar with apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, pineapple vinegar…..you get the point. Personally, I would stay away from the sweeter vinegars, like balsamic, for this recipe. You want lots of brightness and acidity.
- Sea Salt. I used Redmonds Real Salt for this recipe.
- Turbinado Cane Sugar. Again, feel free to try different sweeteners. Sugar is definitely not the star of the show with this recipe. It’s mostly just to help enhance the flavors of the other ingredients. I might use maple syrup next time I make these (I use maple syrup in almost everything. I have a couple of Canadian friends, so it’s cool. LOL)
- 2, Quart-sized jars. Feel free to spread them out into pint-sized jars if that’s what you have….I guess you would need 4 of those?
- A heavy bottomed sauce pot.
What are some uses for pickled red onions?
Really, the sky is the limit. Pickles are used to add acidity and brightness to dishes, especially for rich cuts of meat like our Texas Style Brisket. Another great use for them would be as a topping for tacos. Any kind of taco would benefit from a pickled red onion. You could even try it on our Smoked Chicken Tinga or Al Pastor Country Style Ribs. Another way to use them, which may not be quite as obvious, would be as an add-in for our insanely delicious Potato Salad. Just swap out the raw red onion for some pickled red onions and turn the flavor meter up a notch!
Basic Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Red Onions
- 3 cups Water
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- 10 tbsp Turbinado Cane Sugar
- 2 tbsp PLUS 2 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Place the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar into a heavy bottomed sauce pot. Heat over medium heat and whisk periodically, just long enough to dissolve the salt and sugar. We do not need to simmer or boil for this recipe. We just need to dissolve the crystals. Set aside to cool.
- While brine is cooling, slice the onion in half, from the root end to the top. Peel away the papery exterior and discard.
- Slice each half of the onion, parallel to and working towards the root end, into 1/4 inch thick slices.
- Pack the onion slices into clean jars.
- Pour brine over onions in the jars.
- Seal with lid and allow a day or two for flavors to combine. You'll know they are pretty much ready to go by looking at the color of the onions. They will start out with the typical purple and white appearance. Once the brine does it's job, the onions will be a solid shade of pink.
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