Home Recipes Dishes & Beverages Edible Gifts

Pickled Red Onions

Name: Pickled Red Onions
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 8 servings.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup water; 2/3 cup white wine or cider vinegar; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced; Optional: fresh rosemary, thyme or dill sprigs, whole black peppercorns, small dried chili or garlic clove

Add a Review

Test Kitchen Approved

Total Time

Prep/Total Time: 10 min.

Makes

8 servings

Updated: Dec. 17, 2022

Everyone should have a jar of this pickled red onion recipe in their refrigerator at all times. I put them on everything and they keep for weeks, if they last that long. —James Schend, Dairy Freed

Pickled Red Onions Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Next Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup water
2/3 cup white wine or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
Optional: fresh rosemary, thyme or dill sprigs, whole black peppercorns, small dried chili or garlic clove

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients until sugar and salt dissolve. Place onions and optional ingredients, if desired, into large glass jar; pour vinegar mixture over onions. Seal and let stand at least 2 hours at room temperature. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Pickled Red Onions Tips

What is the best vinegar to use for pickling?

White vinegar is commonly used in pickling recipes. This pickled red onion recipe calls for white wine vinegar or cider vinegar, and whichever one you have on hand will work well. If you don't have either, white vinegar is a suitable substitute. One vinegar that you won't want to use when pickling is balsamic vinegar—save that for salad dressings, marinades and finishing dishes. Check out our other pickled recipes for inspiration. And, learn how to pickle safely.

What are some variations of this pickled red onions recipe?

Experiment with adding some of the optional ingredients in the recipe: fresh rosemary, thyme or dill sprigs, or whole black peppercorns. If you want to add a little kick, try adding slices of jalapenos or red pepper flakes, along with some garlic cloves for more flavor. The more often you make pickled red onions with your choice of assorted herbs and spices, the closer you'll get to a perfectly personalized combination.

How do you store pickled red onions?

Use a tall mason or glass jar to store these onions. Once you seal the jar, let it stand at room temperature for two hours before refrigerating. In the fridge, they can last up to two weeks.

How do you use pickled red onions?

Pickled red onions are fantastic on tacos, burrito bowls, salads and panini sandwiches. For more, check out our best red onion recipes.

—Elizabeth Harris, Taste of Home contributing writer and Lauren Pahmeier, Taste of Home Associate Editor

Nutrition Facts

1 serving: 8 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 121mg sodium, 2g carbohydrate (1g sugars, 0 fiber), 0 protein. Diabetic Exchanges: Free food.