This Quick and Easy Pickled Red Onions will elevate all your favorite recipes with flavor, crunch, color and an overall yumminess that’s hard to beat. This no boil pickled onion recipe uses just 4 ingredients, takes just 5-minutes to get into the jar with no cooking, and no refined sugar. Perfection!
Jump to:
Pickled red onions are my favorite condiment, and they go well with everything. They’re super quick and easy to make and they’re flavorful and colorful too! This recipe for pickled onions uses no refined sugar so there’s no need to dissolve the sugar by cooking….a step above the other recipes in multiple ways! Plus, you’re already hanging here on the regular, so I want to make things easy for you.
Take 5-minutes to make a batch of pickled red onions and they’ll stay good in your fridge for 2 weeks. Trust me though, you’ll want to put them on everything, so they’ll never last that long!
Let me ask you a serious question though. Why are they called red onions when everyone can plainly see that they are purple? I’ve seen all kinds of answers out there, and I’m not buying any of them. I’ll admit they do turn a gorgeous reddish color when pickled. Hit me up in the comments if you’ve got dirt on this one.
What to do with pickled red onions
I love to have a batch of these in the fridge at all times. Pickled red onions totally elevate any dish with a burst of color, flavor and texture. YUM!
- Mexican dishes like vegan lentil tacos and burritos, tostadas and nachos, enchiladas and dairy-free street corn.
- All the Mediterranean Recipes we adore like baked falafel and vegan shawarma. They’re my most favorite part of a mezze platter with low-carb hummus, baba ganoush and dairy-free tzatziki.
- Vegan veggie burgers….these quick pickled onions are the perfect addition to white bean veggie burgers, black bean burgers, quinoa burgers or sweet potato veggie burgers.
- Sandwiches and wraps: let’s not overlook how much pickled onions enhance a vegan tuna salad or mock chicken salad.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Onion: I like to use purple onions, they turn a nice deep reddish/pink color. You could also pickle white onions, spring onions, scallions or shallots.
- Vinegar: Use apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or a combination of the two.
- Maple syrup: I don’t like my pickled onions too sweet, so just a touch of maple syrup works well for me. Substitute with honey or granulated sugar, but you’ll need to boil with liquid to dissolve.
- Salt: Use kosher salt or coarse sea salt for best results.
- Water: I used hot water. Many recipes call for boiling the water and vinegar to help dissolve the salt and sweetener. I find that maple syrup dissolves into the liquid quite easily with a good stir. If you were using granulated sugar or honey, then I think cooking the liquid is necessary.
How to make them
Trim ends off onion, and take off papery outer skin. Thinly slice.
Place onion slices into clean jar, packing them in tightly.
Mix together apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt and hot water. Pour over sliced onions.
Push down onions so they’re totally covered in liquid. Close jar to have an airtight seal. Let sit for 30 minutes and then they’re ready to use.
Debra’s Pro Tips
- Make sure onions are completely submerged in liquid before covering.
- Red onions will turn from purple to a brighter reddish shade once they’ve begun to pickle.
- A variety of thicknesses is totally fine. Sometimes you’ll want a thicker pickled onion.
- Pickled red onions will stay good in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Did you know commenting and rating recipes is one of the best ways to support your favorite food bloggers? If you made this recipe, please consider a five star rating below and leave a comment. Also, please share your photos on instagram by tagging me @dkhealthcoach and using the hashtag #debraklein
📖 Recipe
Quick and Easy Pickled Red Onions
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 red onion
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Trim ends off onion and take off outer peel. Thinly slice and place in a clean jar.
- Whisk together hot water, vinegar, maple syrup and salt.
- Pour vinegar mixture over the onions. Push onions down to be sure all slices are covered in liquid. Cover to make an airtight seal.
- Pickled red onions will be ready to enjoy in 30 minutes. They will develop a stronger flavor over time.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
Leave a Reply