XXL Silicone Bags, Set of 2
102oz each and see-through, so you can portion a whole week and still find it.
Home / Recipes / Salads / Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
These are the single highest return on fifteen minutes in the whole kitchen. Bright pink, sharp and sweet, they turn a plain salad, a taco, a sandwich or a bowl of beans into something that looks and tastes considered. They keep three weeks. Make a big batch, because the jar always empties faster than you expect, and once you have them in the fridge you will find a use for them every day.
Ingredients
- 4 large red onions, halved and sliced thin
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups white vinegar
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, optional
Directions
- Slice the onions as thin as you can manage, about an eighth of an inch. Thin slices take the brine fast and stay crisp; thick ones stay raw in the middle and taste harsh.
- Put the sliced onions in a colander and pour a kettle of boiling water over them. Five seconds is enough. This takes the raw bite out without cooking them soft.
- Combine both vinegars, the water, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve. Take it off the heat.
- Put the drained onions, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves and oregano into the bag. Pour the hot brine over them.
- Press out the air and seal, so the onions stay submerged without needing a weight. Any slice sticking above the brine goes brown and soft.
- Let it come to room temperature, then refrigerate. They are good in an hour, better the next day, and keep three weeks.
Tips and variations
- Slice thin. A mandoline set to an eighth of an inch is the difference between good pickled onions and chewy ones.
- The boiling water rinse is worth the extra minute. It removes the sulphurous edge that puts people off raw onion.
- Keep everything under the brine. A sealed bag does that on its own, which is why it beats a half-full jar.
- Add a sliced habanero for heat, or a tablespoon of coriander seed and a strip of orange peel for something warmer.
- Do not throw the brine away when the onions are gone. It makes a sharp vinaigrette with three parts oil.
The bag this recipe is built around
Pickling works when everything stays under the brine, and a jar always leaves the top slices dry. A sealed Clear XXL bag holds four onions flat with the air pressed out, so every slice is submerged and the whole batch pickles evenly. See-through means you can watch the pink develop, and silicone does not hold onto vinegar smell the way plastic does.
See the Clear XXL Bags
Common questions
- How long do quick-pickled red onions last
- Three weeks in the fridge as long as they stay under the brine. They are edible after an hour and at their best from day two onward.
- Why did my pickled onions not turn pink
- They will. The color comes from the acid reacting with the onion pigment and takes a few hours. If they are still pale after a day, the brine was not acidic enough.
- Do you have to boil the brine
- Heating it dissolves the sugar and salt and softens the onions slightly, which is what you want. A cold brine works but takes a day longer and stays sharper.
- What do you eat pickled red onions with
- Tacos, grain bowls, burgers, avocado toast, any bean dish, and almost any green salad that needs waking up. They cut through anything rich.
More salad recipes
Keep the ones that work
Copy this one onto a 4x6 card. Title across the top, the ten ingredients down the left, the six steps down the right, and Makes 6 cups, Keeps 3 weeks along the header. File it behind the Salads divider. Built to outlast the screenshot.
See the Recipe Box
