Description
Pickled red onions are an essential in my kitchen! They take just a few minutes to prepare and add wonderful flavor to just about any dish. Use a heat-safe glass container with a lid—a mason jar works great. For this recipe, I used a pint mason jar.
Ingredients
Units
- 1 small or 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced (I like to use a handheld mandoline, but a sharp knife works, too)
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar (or white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar works, too)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons salt (I use Real Salt or kosher salt, but any salt works)
- 2 teaspoons sugar (white sugar is fine—most of it stays in the brine and it adds a negligible amount of sugar to the onions; substitute honey if desired)
- optional: 1 teaspoon pickling spice blend (or use 7 whole black peppercorns, 2 whole cloves, 3 all-spice berries, 3 whole coriander berries, and/or 3 sprigs of fresh dill); if you don't have pickling spice simply grab 5-7 whole black peppercorns from your pepper grinder
Instructions
- Combine the vinegar & water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, add the salt & sugar and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat. This takes about 5 minutes total.
- While the brine comes to a simmer, thinly slice a small red onion (or 1/2 a large one). Slice enough to loosely fill your container. Save any leftover onion, covered, in the refrigerator for a soup or another recipe later in the week.
- If using, add about 1 teaspoon total pickling spice to the bottom of your half-pint jar. Or simply add 5-7 whole black peppercorns. Add the sliced red onions. Don’t pack them tightly but feel free to fill up the jar, leaving 1/2 inch at the top. Pour the hot brine into onions, leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Cover loosely with lid* and let sit at room temperature for an hour. Store in the refrigerator once it comes to room temp for up to two weeks.
- The onions will be “quick-pickled” in about 30 minutes, and get better the longer they sit.
Notes
Here’s the method with ratios to fit this into any jar if you don’t want to measure:
- Fill the jar 1/3 with 1/2 cup filtered water and 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar (apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar also work).
- Pour the liquid into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer (or microwave for 90 seconds).
- Add 2 teaspoons each of salt and honey (or sugar), stirring to dissolve. Add pickling spice or 3-4 whole black peppercorns. For a pint-size mason jar, use 2 teaspoons each of salt and honey; for a quart-size jar, use 4 teaspoons each.
- Thinly slice the red onion, then add sliced red onions to the jar, pour the hot brine over, and cover loosely with a lid. (Do not put the lid on tight as pressure can build from the hot liquid.)
- Let sit for an hour to cool, then refrigerate for up to two weeks. They’ll turn light pink within an hour and bright pink in about 24 hours.
