Pickled Onions Recipe

One of my favorite take-out salads on nights when I don’t have time to cook and am looking for a healthy option comes from a tacqueria around the corner from my house.  I know salad from a tacqueria sounds funny and you may think I’m crazy for not ordering tacos, but it really is that good.  They start with fresh field greens and your choice of protein, then top with an assortment of ingredients including roasted corn, avocado, queso fresco and, of course, pickled onions.

I’ll admit I was a bit wary of the onions at first as raw onions have been known to give me heartburn (a lovely side effect of turning 30, apparently).  Fortunately I was willing to take the chance and to my pleasant surprise I liked the flavor of this pickled onions recipe a lot more than raw onions, they offered the same crunchy factor and, best of all, no heartburn!

Since first trying pickled onions in that capacity I have become a lover of pickled onions on, well, almost everything!  They offer a slightly sweet, piquant flavor while adding crunchy texture and a bright splash of fuchsia to salads, stir-fries, sandwiches, etc.  I’m pretty sure the possibilities really are endless.  They are super easy to make, requiring a handful of ingredients and only a few minutes for a batch that lasts for 2-3 weeks in my 2 person household.  They will keep in the refrigerator for about a month.  The flavor and color is best after several hours of marinating, but they are actually ready to eat within 30 minutes so they still work even if you need to make them last minute!

I read many recipes and tutorials before embarking on my first DIY pickled onion adventure, and the recipe I’ve come up with works perfectly for me.  If you prefer different spices or vinegars, I encourage you to play around.  I’ve tried variations on my first batch but ended up going back to it; apparently my instincts were correct!

Because I don’t like super sour flavors, I went with a mild rice vinegar as the base pickling ingredient and added a little unfiltered apple cider vinegar to amp up the flavor and for its health benefits.  I also pre-cooked the onions a tiny bit by pouring a kettle of boiling water over the sliced fresh onions.  I accidentally skipped this step once and found that it made a HUGE difference in the final result; if you like more of a raw onion flavor you can skip that step, but fair warning that they are much stronger if you don’t pre-cook.

You’ll want to add flavoring ingredients as well; garlic is a must-have for me but I eat garlic in almost everything so that’s a given.  I also wanted a hit of spice, so I incorporated allspice berries and whole peppercorns.  Throw in a bit of salt and sugar and your marinade is complete.

The actual process is simple; mix the marinade ingredients in a jar and let it sit, slice your onions thinly, place in a sieve or colander, then pour boiling water over top.  Drain onions and add to the jar, and that’s it.  30 minutes later you have a beautiful, delicious batch of pickled onions to eat to your heart’s content.  And in case you haven’t noticed yet, these are super low calorie.  So they add color, flavor, texture, and health benefits without packing on calories.  I love you pickled onions!

 

Pickled Onions Recipe

Ingredients:

• 18-20 oz red onion, sliced how you like
• 1 c rice vinegar
• ½ c unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar (any kind of granulated sugar works fine)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed
• 10 peppercorns
• 10 allspice berries

Method:

Boil a kettle of water.  Place sliced onions in a sieve or colander and make sure all the onion pieces are separated.  You can skip separating them but I’ve found they are easier to put in the jar if you make sure they are separated before proceeding.  Slowly and evenly pour boiling water over onions, then allow to drain.

While onions are draining, prepare your pickling marinade by combining all remaining ingredients and mixing until sugar and salt dissolve.  I mix everything in the jar I plan to store the onions in as that saves on dirtying up extra dishes.  I use a recycled 32oz pickle jar for my onions; it’s just big enough for this recipe, so if you don’t want it to be a tight squeeze you could use a slightly larger jar.  To make sure onions stay covered in the liquid I wouldn’t recommend a jar larger than 40 oz.

Add the onions to marinade, making sure they are completely covered by the liquid.  Let sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Pickled onions will keep refrigerated for about a month.  However, they never make it that long in my house as we generally polish off a jar within a couple of weeks.  Seriously, SO GOOD.

Serving Suggestions:

As I add recipes to the blog I’ll be sure to suggest more uses (because we seriously use them on like, everything), but for now here are a few suggestions for pickled onions that include some recipes-to-come.

Winter Side Salad — Layer mixed greens and shredded carrots, sprinkle small handful of chopped pecans, minced crystallized ginger and dried cranberries, top with pickled onions, then finish salad off with crumbled goat cheese and a drizzle of mildly sweet vinaigrette.

Indian Spiced Black-Eyed Peas — This entree starts with black-eyed peas slow-simmered with vegetables and Indian spices which are served over brown rice and topped with greek yogurt, hot sauce and pickled onions.

Turkey (or Tofurkey) & Swiss Open-Faced Sandwich — Smear spicy mustard on slices of rye bread, layer with sliced turkey (or Tofurkey) and swiss cheese, then toast until cheese is melted.  Top with fresh spinach and pickled onions.