Onion Pickle Recipe (Quick Pickled Onions, No Canning)

A jar of pickled onions is the fastest way to make ordinary food taste deliberate. Tacos, sandwiches, grain bowls, grilled cheese: a forkful of these bright pink ribbons adds acidity, crunch and color that nothing else in the fridge can match.

This is a quick pickle, not a canned one. There is no water bath, no sterilizing, and no waiting weeks. You warm a simple brine, pour it over sliced onions, and an hour later you have something genuinely good. By the next day, it is better: the onions turn a deep pink and the flavor rounds out.

The whole recipe takes about ten minutes of actual work. The hardest part is slicing the onions thinly and evenly, and even that is forgiving. If you can boil water, you can make this.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The flavor payoff is wildly out of proportion to the effort. Vinegar, a little sugar and salt, and heat transform a sharp raw onion into something tangy, slightly sweet and crisp. It is the condiment equivalent of a squeeze of lemon over everything.

It is also endlessly useful. Keep a jar in the fridge and it will find its way onto everything for two weeks: breakfast eggs, lunch sandwiches, dinner tacos. It belongs in the same family of fridge staples as our muffaletta olive spread recipe, the kind of jar that quietly improves a dozen meals.

And it is cheap insurance against boring food. A plain bowl of rice and beans, a simple grilled chicken breast, a cheese sandwich: all of them get better with a spoonful of pink onions on top.

Ingredients

Makes about 1 pint jar:

• 2 medium red onions, peeled and sliced very thinly
• 1 cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 clove garlic, lightly smashed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns (optional)
• 1 small dried chili or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 bay leaf (optional)

How to Make It

1. Slice the onions: Cut the red onions in half from root to tip, then slice as thinly as you can across the grain. A mandoline helps, but a sharp knife works fine. Pack the slices loosely into a clean 1-pint jar.
2. Add the extras: Tuck the garlic, peppercorns, chili and bay leaf among the onion slices if you are using them. They will flavor the brine as it sits.
3. Make the brine: In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring, just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Do not let it boil hard.
4. Pour and submerge: Carefully pour the hot brine over the onions until they are fully covered. Press down gently with a spoon so no dry slices sit above the liquid.
5. Cool, then chill: Let the jar sit uncovered until it reaches room temperature, about 30 to 45 minutes. Screw on the lid and refrigerate.
6. Wait an hour, enjoy for weeks: The onions are edible after about an hour, when they turn pink, but they taste best after a full day. They keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks.

Cooking Tips / Variations

Thin slices are the difference between a good pickle and a great one. Thick slices stay harsh in the middle, while thin ones soften evenly and drink up the brine. Take your time with the knife, and the jar will reward you.

White vinegar gives the cleanest, brightest pink color. Apple cider vinegar tastes a little rounder and fruitier but tints the onions slightly duller. Both work; choose by what you have and what you like.

For a sweeter, taco-truck style pickle, increase the sugar to 2 tablespoons. For a spicier jar, add a sliced jalapeño along with the onions. For a warm, earthy note, add a pinch of cumin seeds or a strip of orange peel. And if this kind of preserving appeals to you, our pineapple pepper jelly recipe is the next jar to try: sweet heat, made the same patient way.

Never pour boiling brine over the onions and seal immediately; the jar needs to cool uncovered first, or condensation will dilute the top layer.

Serving or Storage Tips

Serve straight from the jar with a fork. They are made for tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, curries and grilled meats, and they are just as good scattered over scrambled eggs or avocado toast.

Store in the fridge in the same jar, always keeping the onions submerged in brine. They last 2 to 3 weeks, and the color deepens the longer they sit. Discard if the brine turns cloudy with an off smell, though a little cloudiness from onion starch alone is normal.

Do not freeze pickled onions: freezing ruins the crisp texture that makes them worth making.

Conclusion

Ten minutes, one jar, and a pot of warm brine give you two weeks of better meals.

Slice them thin, keep them submerged, and let the fridge do the rest.

Onion Pickle (Quick Pickled Onions, No Canning)

Thinly sliced red onions in a warm vinegar brine with sugar, salt and optional spices: bright, pink and crunchy, with no canning required.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Chilling Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1 pint jar

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 medium red onions peeled and sliced very thinly
• 1 cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 clove garlic lightly smashed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns optional
• 1 small dried chili or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• 1 bay leaf optional

Method

 

1. Slice the red onions very thinly and pack loosely into a clean 1-pint jar.
2. Tuck in the garlic, peppercorns, chili and bay leaf if using.
3. Warm the vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a small saucepan, stirring, just until dissolved. Do not boil hard.
4. Pour the hot brine over the onions until fully submerged, pressing down gently.
5. Cool uncovered to room temperature (30 to 45 minutes), then lid and refrigerate.
6. Eat after 1 hour, but best after a day. Keeps refrigerated 2 to 3 weeks.

Notes

Slice as thinly as possible: thick slices stay harsh in the middle. White vinegar gives the brightest pink; apple cider vinegar tastes rounder. Sweeter taco-truck style: use 2 tablespoons sugar. Spicier: add a sliced jalapeño. Keep onions submerged in brine; do not freeze.