Homemade Overnight Pickled Red Onions

Published by

Jasmine

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Pickled red onions are one of my go-to condiments; I make them and leave them in my fridge to use as a tangy, flavourful topper. I particularly like using them with flavours like lime, coriander and coconut and they’re great for cutting through richer and creamier flavours. Here’s my quick and easy method for making them at home…

INGREDIENTS

Essentials:

Red onion

Sugar (for preservation)

Salt (for flavour and preservation)

Vinegar:

I used apple cider vinegar but white vinegar also works

Optional extras:

Whole black peppercorns

Cumin seeds

Whole coriander seeds

You will also need an empty jar, rinsed through with boiling water to sterilise it.

TIPS

Some methods recommend heating the pickling liquid but personally I don’t find this necessary (I easily keep my pickled onions for up to a month with no issues) and I don’t like the texture as much (it seems to cook the onions a little so they lose their bite). So, I just use room temperature vinegar for the process and pickle a little less; they often don’t even last me 2 weeks!

How much vinegar to use depends on the jar, but mine is was about a 250g jar of sun-dried tomatoes and I used 3/4s of a cup. I recommend measuring out the vinegar in the jar (filling it up between 2/3s to 3/4s) before adding everything to it.

I also recommend finely slicing your red onion into the shape that you actually want! I personally never use whole rings of pickled red onion without cutting them down, so I cut the red onion into wedges before slicing them.

Easy Pickled Red Onions

  • Servings: up to 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Homemade pickled red onions

A small jar sterilised with boiling water is required and these need to be prepped at least 12 hours before use


Ingredients

  • 1/2 a red onion (finely sliced)
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • c. 3/4 of a cup of vinegar (see Tips)
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp of whole black peppercorns (optional)
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp of coriander seeds (optional)
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp of cumin seeds (optional)


Directions

  1. Add the vinegar to your jar (it should be no more than 3/4s full)
  2. Add any optional whole spices and the red onion
  3. Shake to combine
  4. Store in the refrigerator and they’ll be ready to use the following day (they can be stored safely in the fridge for up to 4 weeks)

These pickled onions add the perfect tangy added element to some of my favourite dishes, like this coconut lentil dahl and Mexican dishes; from tacos to just sprucing up a snack of tortilla chips.

Let me know if you try these pickled onions!

Video method:

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