Quick Pickled Red Onions

Quick Pickled Red Onions bring a tangy pop of flavor and bright color to any sandwich, bowl, or salad to turn them into classy bistro fare. These pickles have just 6 ingredients and take only a few minutes.

Like my Quick Pickled Cucumber with Lemon, these pickles are ready to eat in minutes and add a gourmet touch to salads, sandwiches, and meals.

Even if you have never made pickles before, you can make these Quick Pickled Red Onions. They are one of the easiest pickles to make because they are quickly pickled in a simple brine and they keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Jump to:

• Why We Love Quick Pickled Red Onions
• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Ways to Use Quick Pickled Red Onions
• My Top Tips
• Substitutions & Variations
• Equipment
• Make-Ahead & Storage
• More Delicious Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why This Recipe Works

Red onions have a sweet and savory flavor that is perfect for pickling. They don't need much to turn them into pickles, just vinegar with a little sugar and salt and they look like you worked so hard to make a fancy bistro treat for that sandwich, bowl, or salad you want to perk up.

But making these pickled red onions is super easy. Jars with screw top lids, a simple pickling solution, and thinly sliced onions are all you need. But I am diligent in cleaning the jars and lids... and I do mean diligent.

I grew up in a home where my mom did a lot of canning and preserving. Year in and year out we canned the bounty of summer and enjoyed it over the fall and winter months into the next year and we never had a bad jar.

So, I still follow one strict rule when making anything that is pickled or preserved, even if it is just a refrigerator pickle.

Everything Must Be Clean

Clean. The jar and the lid must be squeaky clean, and boiling water is used to make sure they are. We literally boiled the jars and lids and removed them from the boiling water baths as we were packing the jars.

We did this for all preserving whether it was canned fruit, jams, pickles, or relishes, and never had a problem with spoilage.

These pickled onions are a refrigerator pickle, so you can be a little lax and pack the jars after a good cleaning and then rinsing with boiling water. Why? Because you are not canning them and expecting them to last for months.

But they will last for up to 3 weeks because you do start with sterile jars and lids. What can I say? I am careful even though these are "refrigerator pickles" because this is a best practice in cooking and can be applied every time you make jam, pickles, or can.

So, let's cook!

Ingredients

Here's what you need:

• Pickling Spice - Pickling spice is a blend of spices that gives a nice kick to pickled onions.
• Red Onions - Use onions that are firm and without any blemishes. They need to be peeled and thinly sliced.
• White Vinegar - Look for any clear white vinegar with a 5% acidity. It can be any brand.
• Water - Just plain tap water is fine.
• White Granulated Sugar - A small amount of white sugar will take the edge off the tartness of the pickling solution.
• Salt - Just plain table salt is best. Don't use Kosher as it measures differently and the amount won't be enough to pickle the onions for this recipe.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Prepare the jars. Wash 3 half-pint jars (1 cup each) well with hot sudsy water, rinse, and fill each jar with boiling water. Discard the water.

Combine in the jar. Add ½ teaspoon of pickling spice to each half-pint jar. Pack the thinly sliced red onions into the 3 jars.

Make the pickling solution. In a medium saucepan bring to a boil over medium-high heat the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute.

Pickle. Pour the hot pickling liquid over the onions in the jars. Screw on the lid and shake each jar. Let the onions pickle for 30 minutes.

Serve. Serve and enjoy immediately or refrigerate the jars of pickled onions for up to three weeks.

My Top Tips

♡ CLEAN. Make sure that all of your equipment and especially the jars and lids are clean. Rinse the jars and soak the lids in boiling water.

♡ Be creative and have fun. Try adding your own twist to these pickles. Add sliced peppers or chiles.

Substitutions & Variations

• Substitute Apple Cider Vinegar - Some people prefer the slightly sweeter flavor of apple cider vinegar for their pickles. You can substitute apple cider for white vinegar 1 for 1 as long as it also has a 5% acidity.
• Substitute Cloves - Instead of pickling spice you can use whole cloves. You only need 3 to 5 whole cloves for each jar.
• Substitute Whole Allspice - If you don't have pickling spice or whole cloves you can add whole allspice to each jar. This spice gives a very nice flavor all by itself to the pickles. It gets its name from tasting and smelling like all of the sweet baking spices together in one spice.
• Add a Bay Leaf - For a stronger savory, pickled flavor, you can add a small whole bay leaf to each jar.

Equipment

A mandoline slicer is very handy for making uniform thin slices. I cut peeled onions in halves or quarters and then slice them on a mandoline using the guard.

If you don't have a mandoline slicer you can still slice the onions with a sharp knife.

Make-Ahead & Storage

These pickles can be made and served within 45 minutes and stored in a jar with a lid in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

More Delicious Recipes

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