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These quick-pickled red onions are the perfect topping to elevate burgers, tacos, bowl meals, sandwiches, salads—you name it. They’re perfectly tangy, slightly sweet, and last weeks in the fridge.
Quick-pickled red onions are one of those things I just always have going. Sharp, a little sweet, exactly the brightness most meals are missing. They go on spicy shrimp tacos, chicken burgers, burrito bowls, or a cracker with a slab of sharp cheddar if that’s where the day’s headed.
I make a batch every couple of weeks. They’re useful for basically everything, and it only takes x minutes. No special equipment or water baths required—just a saucepan and some clean jars!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Overview
A quick look at the essentials before we dive into the recipe card:
- Red onions—they pickle into something milder and sweeter than white onions, and you get that pop of bright magenta that looks beautiful on tacos and salads.
- Apple cider vinegar—for its slightly fruity, mellow, and well-rounded flavor.
- Sea salt or Kosher salt—to enhance flavor and preserve texture.
- Maple syrup—a natural sweetener that dissolves easily.
- Garlic—a few smashed cloves for a slight garlicky flare.
- Pickling spices—optional, but I like using them because they add a warm, complex flavor to the onions. Pickling spice blends can vary, but I usually use this one, which includes cinnamon, allspice, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, bay leaves, ginger, cloves, red pepper, black pepper, and cardamom.
- Chili flakes—for a little kick!
Note About Salt
If using fine-grain sea salt as I do in this recipe, make sure it’s pure sea salt and doesn’t contain added iodine or anti-caking agents that would cloud your brine.
If using coarse Kosher salt, add 3-4 teaspoons depending on the brand. Coarse crystals don’t pack into a spoon as tightly as fine grains, so a teaspoon of coarse salt just weighs less. Use 3 teaspoons if you’re working with Morton, since its flakes are dense and pack tightly. Use 4 teaspoons for Diamond Crystal, whose hollow, light pyramids take up twice the volume of fine salt.
How to Make Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Step 1: Make the Brine
Transfer the apple cider vinegar, water, and salt to a medium-sized saucepan. Heat it over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the salt dissolves completely. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool.
Step 2: Fill the Jars
Pack the jars with sliced onions, smashed garlic cloves, pickling spices, and chili flakes, if using. Pour the cooled brine into the jars, ensuring the onions are fully immersed.
Step 3: Refrigerate
Pop the jars into the fridge to cool for about an hour before using. When the onions are tender and magenta in color, they’re ready to go.
Substitutions & Variations
Onions
- Shallots: They work great if you want to keep that same flavor profile and magenta hue.
- White Onions: Sharper and more onion-forward, but they’ll still work everywhere red onions do.
- Sweet Onions (Vidalia): Perfect if you want something sweeter and less pungent. You won’t get the bright pink of a red onion, but they’re plenty flavorful on sandwiches and salads.
Vinegars
- Distilled White Vinegar: The classic—crisp and neutral, lets your vegetables do the talking, won’t discolor light produce like cucumbers or onions.
- Rice Vinegar: Milder than white vinegar, which makes it the right call for delicate vegetables or Asian-inspired quick pickles.
- White Wine Vinegar: Softer acidity, more sophisticated. Best on fruit or softer vegetables.
Tips for Success
- Use a mandoline to slice onions very thin.
- Be sure the salt is completely dissolved.
- Store in glass jars with airtight lids.
- Let the jars cool to room temperature before covering and transferring to the fridge.
How to Use Quick-Pickled Red Onions
On tacos: I top my spicy shrimp tacos with these onions ALL the time. They’re also great in these grilled mahi-mahi fish tacos, pulled pork tacos, baked chicken tacos, or slow cooker chicken tacos.
Over bowl meals: These are a great topping for burrito bowls, street corn chicken bowls, sheet pan chicken fajita bowls, and Greek quinoa bowls with chicken.
Stacked onto a burger: Instead of pickles, use these onions on turkey burgers, juicy chicken burgers, and even salmon burgers!
In sandwiches & wraps: The acidity does wonders for cutting through the richness of an egg salad sandwich and for jazzing up a tuna sandwich. Also consider adding them to your next pan bangat, Buffalo chicken wrap, or tuna wrap.
Tossed into a salad: Quick-pickled red onions are a great way to kick things up with a Greek salad or a strawberry spinach salad.
As a pizza topping: Fantastic when added to a crispy cast-iron pizza or veggie pizza right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most popular is distilled white vinegar for its neutral flavor and sharp acidity, but apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, and rice vinegar are all good in their own way. Apple cider vinegar is a bit milder with a subtle sweetness and fruity note. White wine vinegar is essentially the same, except for the amber hue and health benefits. Rice vinegar is mild, sweet, and great for Asian-inspired dishes like pickles or julienned carrots in Bánh Mì.
No, sugar isn’t necessary for pickling. It’s there to balance the vinegar’s sourness against the brine’s saltiness, but the actual preserving work comes from vinegar’s acidity and salt.
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Equipment
- 1 medium saucepan
- 1 mandoline
- 1 funnel
- 2 8 oz glass jars or 1 16 oz glass jar
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 tsp fine sea salt, See notes for coarse Kosher salt conversion
- 1 TBSP pickling spices
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 1/4 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Fill a medium-sized saucepan with the apple cider vinegar and water, then stir in the maple syrup and the salt.
- Heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the salt dissolves. No need to bring it to a simmer—as long as the salt dissolves, you're good to go. Remove from heat and set aside to cool a bit.
- Slice the onions, preferably thin and with a mandoline slicer for uniform shape.
- Divide the pickling spices, garlic cloves, and red chili flakes (if using), between the two jars, followed by the sliced onions, packing them in up to the headspace of the jar. If you're using one 16 oz jar, just pop everything into it.
- Place the jars into the sink to avoid a mess and once the vinegar mixture is warm instead of hot, carefully pour it into the jars up to the headspace. Use a funnel if you want to be extra careful.
- Let the jars sit on the counter, uncovered, until they come to room temperature. Then seal them with lids and pop them in the fridge for at least an hour. At that point, they should be nice and softened, and carry out that tangy pickled taste you want!
Notes
Nutrition
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