Since I was a child, I’ve always loved pickled stuff. I don’t know if it’s because I’m Russian, or I just really love vinegar. Sour is one of my favorite tastes for sure. Pickled red onions are such a good condiment to add to your meals. It adds that nice zest that opens up your taste buds and makes your mouth salivate.
Where to use picked red onions?
There are so many different ways eat red pickled onions. Add them to your favorite tacos. Any taco, be it a veggie or meat. The onions will add a nice, contrasting flavor to any salads or sandwiches, especially meat or cheese filled sandwiches. Toss them onto your favorite pizza. Pickled onions add a nice zest flavor that goes along beautifully with the saltiness of the cheese.
Main dishes: Tacos, pizza, huevos rancheros, fajitas, sandwiches.
Veggies: green leafy salads, potato salad, beet salad, roasted veggies, beans.
Meats: Pulled pork, chicken, steak.
Seafood: Any shellfish, smoked fish, salmon, white fish etc.
Ingredients
Jar: Start off with finding the right container to pickle the onions. Choose something that will be airtight and won’t stain. I recommend a mason jar, or a tulip jar.
Onions: Next, you want to choose the onion. I prefer red onions because it adds such beautiful color to your dishes, and who doesn’t like to eat something so colorful?
Substitutions: If you are out of red onions, white or yellow onions will also work.
Vinegar: For this recipe I used apple cider vinegar. I like the taste of it and it’s not overly harsh.
Substitutions/additions: White vinegar, rice vinegar, any wine vinegar. Or a combination of any vinegars you like, if you feel like experimenting. You can even add some hot sauce to the vinegar if you like your food a little on the spicy side.
Sweetener: This sounds contradicting, but it’s not. You want to sweeten your vinegar just a bit before pickling the onions. Otherwise the vinegar taste will be too much and it might ruin the dish instead of adding flavor to it. I used 2 tablespoons of honey.
Substitutions: Maple syrup, regular sugar, agave or any other natural sweetener.
Flavorings: This recipe calls for garlic, black peppercorns, and caraway seeds.
Additions: Here is where fun begins. Pickled red onions can have many different additions. You can add red pepper flakes, dry herbs such as bay leaves or dill. Try some variations and find what you like.
Below are some recipes that pickled onions works well with.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Pickled Red Onions
Equipment
- Jar
- Small pot
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion
- 4 garlic gloves
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
Instructions
- Wash and sanitize the jar you will be using to pickle the onions.
- Peel and thinly slice the onions and set aside. Peel the garlic and set aside.
- Put the vinegar, water and sweetener in a pot and put on the stove on high heat.
- When the vinegar mixture starts to boil, turn the heat off and set aside for a minute to cool.
- Stuff the jar with onions, garlic, peppercorns and caraway seeds.
- a. Note: if you are using any other variation, this is the time to add all of that.
- b. Note 2: Stuff the onions and if you have left over onions, just cover the jar with your palm and shake the jar up and down a few times, that should help settle the onions and give your more room.
- When the vinegar mixture starts to boil, turn the heat off and set aside for a minute to cool (about a minute).
- Add the vinegar mixture to the jar with onions and herbs. Close the lid tight and let sit out for 45 minutes or until jar is cool to the touch.
- Serve after 45 minutes or put the jar in the fridge for later.
Made the onions and loved it!