Pickled onions might be one of my favorite secret weapons to add something a little different and surprising to sandwiches, burgers, tacos or even salads. They add a bright, vinegary, fresh pop of flavor, and crunch – without being super oniony. The onion flavor is there but the strong bite of onion is really mellowed out. And the best part? They are really easy! And I always have the stuff for them in the pantry, which is really handy in our current pandemic environment – it helps us keep pantry food exciting.
Basically, all you need to do is slice onions, bring vinegar and some ingredients up to a simmer, pour over the onions and let them sit a bit. Easy as that. I keep a jar in the fridge for a couple weeks. I haven’t tried this yet but I heard or read this recently (so many cooking shows, blogs, and cookbooks – it’s hard to keep track!) that you can also blend them up to make the vinegar for a vinaigrette – the perfect thing to if you still have some left when they start to get soft.
Here’s all you need:
I use a mixture of 3 different vinegars in this recipe, red wine vinegar for the flavor, cider vinegar for the bright fruitiness and rice vinegar for its mellow vinegar flavor. I basically played until I found something I liked. You need 1 cup of vinegar and I’d recommend at least some red wine vinegar.
Start by slicing a red onion. I like relatively thin but not paper thin slices. I prefer to slice my onions this way – America’s Test Kitchen recommends the other way – slicing through the root end because they say it prevents a stringy texture but I have never had issues with it and I find I get more consistently sized slices the way I showed. Try both and see what you like.
In a saucepan bring red wine vinegar, cider vinegar, rice vinegar, peppercorns, smashed garlic cloves, sugar and a little canning and pickling salt up to a simmer. Stir and simmer until the sugar dissolves.
Place the onions in a bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the top.
Allow to cool to room temperature, stirring periodically. This will probably take about an hour.
When cool, serve or place into a 1 pint mason jar and cover with pickling liquid and store in the fridge.
- 1 red onion sliced into thin slices
- ½ c red wine vinegar
- ¼ c cider vinegar
- ¼ c rice vinegar
- ½ T peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- ⅓ c sugar
- ¼ t canning and pickling salt
- Place sliced onions in a medium bowl.
- In a small saucepan bring remaining ingredients to a simmer. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolves.
- Pour mixture over onions in bowl.
- Allow the onions and vinegar mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about an hour.
- When cool you can use them immediately, otherwise transfer the onions to a pint jar and pour brine over the top to cover. Store in the fridge.
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