These quick-pickled red onions will add some zing to your typical bland recipes. No heating or fermenting required. Gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, ketogenic, low-carb, Paleo, vegan, vegetarian.
I am someone who loves the taste of raw onions. I could eat them in my salads and on my burgers all the time and not get tired of them. However, sometimes it’s nice to change things up and give your meals a slightly different, less pungent flavor like these quick-pickled some red onions.
These quick-pickled red onions bring such a fun, magenta color to whatever you are eating. It’s hard not to enjoy the beauty of them, but the taste is something special as well. All you really need for this recipe is some red onion and some vinegar.
I recommend using a vinegar light in color, such as red wine vinegar, white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Dark vinegar, such as balsamic, is too strong in flavor, plus they’re much more expensive. Option add-ins include a small amount of sugar, some salt, fresh herbs and other vegetables.
You can also do this with any other vegetable you’d like, there’s no need to limit it to just onions! Try this with cucumbers, carrots, ginger, garlic, carrots and cabbage. Pretty much any vegetable you can think of can be quick pickled.
It’s a fun intro to pickling, especially for someone who is sensitive to mold in foods and is avoiding fermented foods, such as myself. The quick pickling process is so fast that there almost no risk of mold formation.
The longer you leave these red onions in the fridge, the deeper the flavor will get. Fresh herbs also make fantastic additions to the pickling process. Bonus points if you have an herb garden and can just pick them straight off the stem and add to your jar!
There are so many ways to use the pickled onions as well. They’re perfect mixed into some Mediterranean lentils, or as a topping to some plantain chip nachos.
If you use the leftover vinegar in other recipes, this is also zero waste. Recipes don’t get much easier than this, guys! I hope you enjoy these incredibly tasty quick pickled red onions. If you liked these, please leave a comment below and let me know what you thought of it!
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion sliced thinly
- 1 cup white vinegar, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1 tsp Salt I love this Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tbsp sweetener optional
Instructions
- Remove skin from onion and slice as thinly as possible. You can do this by hand, but a mandoline slicer helps to make uniformly thin cuts.
- Break apart the rings and add to a sanitized glass jar. Do not use plastic because the vinegar will react with it. Add in vinegar, water, pink salt and sweetener, if desired.
- Put lid on jar and shake to mix. Leave at room temperature for at minimum 4-5 hours. Use right away, or place in refrigerator and use as needed. They are even better after they sit for 24-48 hours. They will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
- Tip: don't throw away the vinegar once you use up the onions! Use it for making salad dressings, sauces, etc. It gives a great subtle onion flavor to your foods!
