Quick pickled red onions are the perfect, tangy accent to tacos, sandwiches, salads, and more! Ready in 30 minutes with just 5 simple and healthy ingredients.
When it comes to adding flavor to your meals, your best bet is a delicious homemade stir fry sauce, one of these easy homemade seasoning blends, and these quick pickled red onions never fail to add a punch of flavor and tang to any recipe!
The perfect topping for our favorite portobello tacos, these quick pickled red onions are sweet and sour, with a bite of sharp and tangy flavor.
Serve them up on sandwiches, wraps, nachos, pizza, salads, and more! Easy to make with just 5 simple ingredients, quick pickled red onions will be ready to enjoy in just 30 minutes and can be stashed away in the fridge to enjoy up to 2 week later.
Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
- it's so simple to prepare, but packs a ton of tangy delicious flavor
- the perfect topping to tacos, salads, sandwiches, and more!
- they keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks - making them the perfect addition to meal prep lunches and dinners
Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see how to make pickled onions! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel.
Ingredient Notes
- Garlic powder - swap garlic powder for 3-4 cloves fresh minced garlic if you'd like
- Apple cider vinegar- I prefer to use Bragg's raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar, but any brand should work for the sake of pickling. White vinegar does not make a good alternative for this recipe as it is far too sharp. Red or white wine vinegar might be better alternatives, however they have not been tested.
step by step directions
Slice
Slice onion in half through the root. Place cut side down and chop off the root and tip of bulb, peel skin off. Work slowly with a sharp knife to create the thinnest slices you can across the middle of the onion.
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Combine
To a 2 cup/1 pint jar, add the onion slices, salt, oregano, garlic powder and apple cider vinegar. Do your best to stir it up.
Note - don't worry if the onions are not submerged in the liquid; as they pickle they will soften and the salt will draw lots of liquid out for the onions. The top of the onions will become submerged eventually!
Pickle
Place the jar (ensuring no metal parts are present!) into a microwave and cook on high power for one minute. Stir, then place in the fridge for 30 minutes before enjoying.
Note - you can skip the microwave step and refrigerate onions overnight instead if you prefer!
Variations
- Add some sweetness - pickled red onions traditionally include some sugar, honey, or maple syrup for sweetness. We've opted to leave it out (I don't miss it) but you could add a small amount (1-2 teaspoons) of your favorite sweetener such as maple syrup or honey
- Herbs - swap oregano for thyme, basil, dill, or parsley (or leave it out, totally optional)
- whole spices- add ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, whole cumin or coriander seeds, fennel seeds, or caraway
- Garlic powder - swap for 3-4 cloves fresh minced garlic for stronger garlic flavor
- Red pepper flakes - add ½ teaspoon for some heat
- Balsamic vinegar - add in 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar for some rich and subtle sweet flavors
- Sliced jalapeños- to add dimension and a kick
FAQ
Sure! We haven't tested it, but it should work just the same. This could work well with shallots as well! Red onions are preferred because of their mild, sweet flavor.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Tangy, briny, slightly sweet - and totally delicious! They usually have a bit of crunch (the longer they are stored, the less crunchy they will be).
Storage
- Fridge - store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
- Freeze - we have never tried freezing these quick pickled red onions, but they would probably freeze/ thaw just fine. It might work well to portion out and freeze them in ice cube trays, too!
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Quick Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder note 1
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Slice- Slice onion in half through the root. Place cut side down and chop off the root and tip of bulb, peel skin off. Work slowly with a sharp knife to create the thinnest slices you can across the middle of the onion.
- Jar- to a 2 cup/1 pint jar, add the onion slices, salt, oregano, garlic powder and apple cider vinegar. Do your best to stir it up.
- Pickle- place the jar (ensuring not metal parts present!) into a microwave and cook on high power for one minute (see note 2). Stir, then place in the fridge for 30 minutes before enjoying.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Tips:
- swap garlic powder for 3-4 cloves fresh minced garlic if you'd like
- you can skip the microwave step and refrigerate onions overnight instead
- this recipe makes roughly 1 cup of pickled onions
- Fridge - store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks
- Freeze - we have never tried freezing these quick pickled red onions, but they would probably freeze/ thaw just fine. It might work well to portion out and freeze them in ice cube trays, too!
Video
Nutrition Information
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