How to Make Pickled Red Onions — The Tangy Condiment You Need To Try (On Everything!)

A couple of years ago, Kelley gifted me with a spring trip to Charleston, one of my favorite places on earth. While we were there, we discovered Millers All Day, the most perfect, and delicious, breakfast/brunch/lunch spot. We heard they filled up early, so we got there before they opened to avoid the wait. The food was so delicious, we went there twice during our three-day stay. And crazy enough — one of the most memorable bits that stuck with me were the picked red onions. When we returned home, I added quick pickled red onions to my list and today, I’m sharing how to prepare, store, and serve them.

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Recipes from Gran Nan’s Kitchen

Salad Plate | Napkin (similar)

I was so inspired and wanted to replicate the sweet and tangy onion relish. I made the pickled red onions quickly and with only a few ingredients and will be making this on repeat in the future. They are so good and are so very easy to make!

What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Quick Pickled Red Onions?

Any pantry should have most of the ingredients you need to have on hand.

• Red onion
• Red wine vinegar
• Sugar
• Salt
• Peppercorns
• Water

What Kitchen Tools Do You Need To Make Pickled Red Onions?

You only need to have a few kitchen tools to make this recipe.

• Mandoline (recommended for uniform thin slices) or sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Small bowl (I like to use a large measuring cup since it has a pouring spout)
• Spoon
• Covered canning jar

Salad Plate | Napkin (similar)

What Do You Put Pickled Red Onions On?

This condiment is a great topping for lots of different sandwiches or can be used as a side relish, like chow chow. It would be a great topper or side for:

• Avocado toast
• Chicken salad
• Turkey salad (See my recipe HERE.)
• Tuna salad
• Roast beef
• Grilled chicken
• Grilled fish
• Hamburger
• Hot dog
• Barbecue
• Sub sandwich topping
• Bagel topping
• Salad topping
• Grain/rice/quinoa bowl
• Fish taco
• Chicken taco
• Veggie plate side

What Kind of Vinegar Do You Use for Quick Pickled Red Onions?

I’ve seen other recipes that use white vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar to make pickled red onions. Some recipes even use a mixture of two different vinegars. I chose to use red wine vinegar for its flavor and color.

How Thinly Do You Cut The Red Onions?

It is important to cut the onions in uniform, thin “ribbons,” which may be difficult to do if you are cutting the onion by hand with a knife. This is an excellent time to use a mandoline, if you have one in your cabinet. When we prepped the recipe, we actually used Kelley Nan’s KitchenAid mixer with the slicer attachment, which worked beautifully. (The attachment comes with two grater attachments too, which cut shredding down to seconds with zero effort. Highly recommend!) We started by peeling the onion and then cutting it in half from end to end so that if would fit into the food chute.

How Do You Store Pickled Onions?

Store the pickled red onions in the refrigerator in the covered jar you used in preparing them.

How to Make Quick Pickled Red Onions

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Quick Pickled Red Onions

This slightly sweet and tangy onion condiment is a great topping for sandwiches, salads and more.

Course condiment

Cuisine American

Keyword condiment, red onion, relish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Red onion
• 1/2 cup Red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Peppercorns

Instructions

1. Peel and slice onion in very thin slices. Place them in the jar.

2. Stir the red wine vingar, water, sugar, salt and peppercorns together until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Pour the liquid mixture over the onions.

4. Cover and let the jar stand at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours.

5. Store the jarred onions in the refrigerator.

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