Name: How to Make Pickled Red Onions
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Varies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 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

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 half-pint mason jar (which is 1 cup), but you can easily double it for a bigger batch.

Ingredients

Units Scale

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

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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) and jalapeno. 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 5-10 whole black peppercorns. Add the sliced red onions (and jalapenos if using). 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 the heat-safe glass container to fill. Cover with a 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. (*Use a lid that fits, but no need to screw it on super tight. The lid prevents spilling, but you don’t want any pressure to build from the hot liquid cooling.)
The onions will be “quick-pickled” in about 30 minutes, and get better the longer they sit.