Quick pickled red onions are a kitchen staple—simple to make, perfect to prep ahead, and incredibly good on tacos, in sandwiches, salads and with grilled or braised meats.
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Pin ItWhile quick pickled red onions are probably one of my favorite refrigerator pickles to make, 4 of my other favorites are Pickled Garlic (eat in lettuce wraps and in grilled cheese sandwiches), Pickled Carrots (incredible in salads), Pickled Beets (I eat these straight out of the jar, yum) and Spicy Jalapeno Pickled Eggs (so addictive!).
How to Make Quick Pickled Red Onions
Learning to make pickled red onions couldn’t be easier. There are very few steps and ingredients, but they turn out so, sooo good.
- Prep the Red Onions and Garlic. Thinly slice red onions and peel garlic cloves.
- Make the Apple Cider Vinegar Brine. Boil water, apple cider vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, and salt in a saucepan, stirring to combine.
- Combine and Chill. Pack onions and garlic into a jar, pour the hot brine over them, let cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 2 days before using.
Can I Pickle White Onions Instead of Red Onions?
You can absolutely pickle white onions if you prefer them over red onions. However, if you’re planning on doing so, you should be aware of one subtle but important difference between the two types of onions.
While both types of onion will crisp up perfectly when pickling them, red onions tend to be a bit ‘meatier’ and absorb the flavoring of the brine slightly easier. I would actually recommend giving white onions an additional day of pickling time before eating.
Aside from that though, both types of onions feature near identical nutritional profiles; they each offer an abundance of essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
More Good Homemade Pickle Recipes:
How to Store Quick Pickled Red Onions
You’ll be able to store these pickled red onions for up to one month as long as you keep them in the jar and store them in the fridge.
Freezing your pickled red onions is an option as well if you want to extend their shelf life even longer.
If you’re planning on freezing them, I would recommend first chopping up your onions before transferring them into a heavy duty freezer-safe bag. Add a bit of the brine mixture into the bag (about ¼ worth) and transfer the rest into a separate airtight and freezer-safe container.
Pickled red onions can be frozen for months, so stock up!
Quick Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 2 large red onions, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tbsp honey
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a saucepan combine the water, vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes and salt.
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- In a jar pack the onion and garlic.
- Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onion.
- Put the lid on and leave to cool.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 days before eating.
- Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thankyou for the recipe.
Great recipe thanks
Glad you liked it Colleen!
I made the pickled red onions
1st time I ever pickled anything.
The whole family really enjoyed it.
Will try other recipes soon
Awesome, so happy to hear it Terry! And this is a really great recipe. SO, so good on fish tacos if you haven’t tried them on tacos before. Also incredibly good with grilled meats of any kind.
Very good recipes
I love the pickled red onions!! They’re the best — they are great on burgers, hotdogs, and so much more!! Thank you!
Love how simple these recipes are and they come out perfect. I did change a bit of this recipe to add whole chopped chilies instead of the chili flakes. We love spicy food and I use this on everything. Love love your recipes.
Aww thank you so much Zelia!