Quick Pickled Red Onions

A tasty condiment for burgers, tacos, BBQ (or anything)

Quick pickling – also called refrigerator pickling – is an easy way to pickle almost any vegetable you can think of. It’s much faster (and much less work) than the traditional canning process.

Red onions are a great choice for pickling. They make a tasty topping for burgers, tacos, and BBQ. Even scrambled eggs. You can also use them as an ingredient in wraps and sandwiches. Or add them to a cheese/charcuterie board for extra color and flavor. Or just drop them atop cream-cheese covered crackers.

Some people say you can even eat them all by themselves, out of the jar, standing in front of the refrigerator. Not that we’d ever do that. 

Recipe: Quick Pickled Red Onions

Look on the interwebs and you’ll find numerous recipes for pickled red onions. Ours is inspired by one that David Tanis wrote about in the New York Times years ago (he recreated a recipe from Zuni Café, an iconic San Francisco restaurant).

Most recipes for “quick pickles” are pretty similar. See, for example, our Pickled Watermelon Rind recipe. Basically, you just need to make a tasty brine of vinegar, sugar, and seasonings, then let the fruit or veggie swim in it.

You can finish this recipe in less than an hour (and much of that time is unattended).

This recipe yields about 2 pints. You can store the pickled onions in the fridge for 2 weeks or more. But you’ll have eaten them long before that.

Ingredients

• 1 cup white wine vinegar or cider vinegar (rice wine vinegar works too)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise (optional)
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (see Notes)
• ~6 whole allspice berries (or a pinch of powdered allspice)
• ~6 whole peppercorns
• ~6 whole cloves (or a pinch of powdered cloves)
• ~1 pound of red onions
• pint glass pickling jars with lids (2 should be enough)
  

 Procedure

1. First, make the brine: Combine all the ingredients (except the onions) in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then let the mixture simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the brine to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the red onions: Peel the onions, then cut them in half. Then cut each half into slices (we like slices that are about ¼-inch wide). 
3. Add the sliced onions to the brine. Bring the mixture back to a simmer, then continue simmering for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Place a small plate or pan lid on top of the onions to keep them submerged in the brine. Let the mixture cool to room temperature (20 to 30 minutes).
4. Sterilize the glass pickling jars: Bring a kettle of water to a full boil. Pour the boiling water into the jars, filling them to the brim. Splash extra water over the lids (we do all of this in the kitchen sink to avoid a mess). Let the water-filled jars sit until the onions have reached room temperature.
5. Empty the water from the pickling jars. Using a slotted spoon, fish the onions out of the brine and pack them into the jars. Pour the remaining brine into the jars (you want to fully submerge the onions). Place the jars of pickled onions in the refrigerator. You can use the pickled onions immediately, but they’re best if you let them sit for 24 hours.
   

Notes

• The mix of spices you use to flavor the pickling brine is pretty much up to your taste. We’ve suggested what we like to use, but feel free to add or omit spices. 
• You can substitute a small whole red pepper (we’d vote for one of the Asian-style peppers) for the red pepper flakes. 
• We sometimes add mustard seeds to the spice mix. Or minced garlic. Or a sliced jalapeño pepper. Or minced ginger.
• And of course you can always add herbs. Dill would be the most obvious choice, but other herbs would work too.
• We don’t add salt to this recipe (we don’t think it’s necessary). But many recipes add a teaspoon or more.
• If you don’t have glass pickling jars, plastic containers will work in a pinch. But plastic can absorb odors, and it’s harder to sterilize. Given a choice, we’ll go with glass every time.
• We’ve mentioned several uses for these pickled onions. But once you make them, you can probably find many more.
  

Rise and Brine

“So good!” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs. “These onions have layers of flavor, you might say.”

“Yup,” I said. “We relish them.”

“Is there a joke marinading in there somewhere?” said Mrs K R.

“Just giving you my considered opi-onion,” I said.

“Stop!” said Mrs K R. “The onions have brought enough tears to my eyes.”

“What shallot be next?” I said. “We could post a peck of pickled peppers!”

“Careful,” said Mrs K R. “You could wind up swimming in the brine.”

Better knock off. Wouldn’t want to create a dill-emma.

You may also enjoy reading about:

• Easy Pickled Watermelon Rind
• Romesco Sauce (or Dip) 
• Peach Salsa
• Grilled Hamburgers 
• Shredded-Beef Soft Tacos
• Or check out the Index for more