Ready with just 5 minutes of prep, these quick pickled red onions can be made with vingear or lime juice and are ready for eating after just 30 minutes. Perfect for meal prep and made without any cooking, these pickled onions are a great fridge staple that adds a vibrant and tangy pop of flavor to a multitude of meals.
Quick Pickled Red Onions are My Favorite Homemade Fridge Staple!
Please do me a favor and stop buying pickled onions at the store. They’re usually WAY overpriced and just not as good as what you can make at home. I’m making it really easy for you and sharing two simple ways I like to make quick pickled red onions at home: with vinegar and with lime juice. With just a few minutes of effort, you’ll have a tangy and delicious fridge staple that perks up your breakfast tacos or pretty much anything else you want to pile them on!
JUMP STRAIGHT TO:
- Ingredients for Vinegar Pickled Red Onions
- How to Make Classic Vinegar Pickled Red Onions
- Ingredients for Lime Juice Pickled Red Onions
- How to Make Lime Juice Pickled Red Onions
- Variations
Why I Love Making Pickled Red Onions
I initially starting making pickled onions to avoid food waste when I had random onion halves lying around from recipes. So, when a recipe calls for a small amount of chopped onion (like my smashed edamame salad sandwiches), I just pickle the rest! They have quickly become my favorite way to add a pop of tangy flavor (and vibrant color!) to so many dishes from salads to sandwiches to grain bowls. They’re homemade so they feel special even though they are ridiculously easy to make. And, since I don’t like sweet pickles, I can control the amount of sweetener added and ensure they are nice and tangy!
Key Ingredients for Vinegar Pickled Red Onions
Over the years I’ve used many different types of vinegar for pickles and honestly, my taste preference is plain ole white vinegar. I prefer a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and hot or just-boiled water. You can use cold or room temp water but it will make it harder to dissolve the sea salt and honey and will slow down the pickling process. I love throwing one or two smashed garlic cloves in for a little extra flavor but you can absolutely leave those out if you prefer. If you’re vegan, feel free to use maple syrup or sugar in place of the honey.
Key Ingredients for Lime Juice Pickled Red Onions
If you prefer a tangier pickle and love the taste of limes, you’ll love the lime juice method for pickling. Fresh lime juice is used as the brine without any water added. This makes the pickles tangier while also pickling them a little faster since you aren’t diluting the brine with water. Look for limes that are a lighter yellow green color and have a bit of give when pressed as they will be the juiciest and most flavorful! Aside from lime juice, you’ll need some sea salt and honey (or maple syrup/sugar).
How to Make Quick Pickled Red Onions in Minutes
No matter which method you use, both start with thinly sliced red onions. There’s no need to pull out a mandoline unless you absolutely want to. A sharp knife works just fine! I prefer to slice the onion in half, remove the skin, then trim off the root end. From there, I thinly slice each onion half. The thinner you slice the onion, the quicker it will pickle!
CLASSIC VINEGAR PICKLED ONIONS
I like to work with a large spouted measuring jug to keep things easy and reduce any messes when I go to pour the brine over the onions. Add the vinegar, honey, salt, and smashed garlic to the jug, then pour in the hot water. Stir until both the honey and salt have fully dissolved. This should only take about a minute or so.
Add all of the onions to a pint jar (or larger) then cover with the brine. You will most likely have brine left over but I prefer having extra rather than not enough! Gently press the onions down so that they are fully submerged in the brine. Now comes the hard part – waiting 30 minutes for them to pickle! After 30 minutes, you can see that they start to become much more vibrant! You can eat them now but I actually prefer to wait 24 hours. The flavor is so much better in my opinion!
LIME JUICE PICKLED ONIONS
I prefer making lime pickled onions in a wide, shallow bowl before moving them to a jar. This makes it easier to toss them and gives the onions more contact with the lime juice. Add the honey and salt on top of the sliced red onions then pour over the lime juice.
Toss the onions well, then set them aside for 30 minutes. You’ll want to toss them every 5-10 minutes during that time to help the pickling process along. After 30 minutes, move the pickles and all of the juices to a jar. They’re ready to eat! You can see that the lime juice pickled onions have a darker color than the vinegar ones.
Playing Around with Variations and Flavors
- Change up the vinegar — while I prefer plain white vinegar, you can honestly use any vinegar you like! I’ve used apple cider, white wine, rice, balsamic, and red wine vinegars over the years. It just depends on the flavor that you like!
- Add spice — I will frequently add a couple of pinches of red chili flakes to my pickled onions for a touch of spice. Measure with your heart!
- Add flavor — whole spices like mustard seed and peppercorns are great in pickles. I prefer whole spices rather than powdered ones because they infuse into the brine easier. You can also play around with adding herbs like rosemary or thyme!
- Make them sweeter — if you like sweet pickles, you can double or even triple the amount of sweetener used in these. I mostly use the honey to temper the tanginess and help balance the flavor because I absolutely DO NOT like sweet-tasting pickles.
Meals to Help You Enjoy Your Pickled Red Onions
There’s honestly an infinite number of ways you can eat pickled red onions, but I tend to prefer them on tacos, grain bowls, salads, and sandwiches. They’re also the perfect topping for avocado toast or ricotta toast! Here are some vegetarian meals that really benefit from the tanginess of quick pickled red onions:
Quick Pickled Red Onions Two Ways
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Description
Ready with just 5 minutes of prep, these quick pickled red onions can be made with vingear or lime juice and are ready for eating after just 30 minutes. Perfect for meal prep and made without any cooking, these pickled onions are a great fridge staple that adds a vibrant and tangy pop of flavor to a multitude of meals.
Ingredients
for the vinegar pickled red onions
- 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon honey, or maple syrup
- 1–2 cloves smashed garlic, optional
- 3/4 cup water, hot or just boiled
for the lime juice pickled red onions
- 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons honey, or maple syrup
- 1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
FOR THE VINEGAR PICKLED ONIONS
Pack the sliced onions into a pint jar (or larger). If you’re using a medium sized onion, you should be able to get all of it into a pint jar. If your onion is on the larger size, you can divide it into two smaller jars or just use one larger jar.
Add the vinegar, salt, honey, and garlic cloves to a large spouted measuring cup. Pour over the hot water then stir to completely dissolve the salt and honey. Once they have dissolved, pour the brine over the onions. You will most likely have brine left over. You can use it for other veggies or keep it in the fridge and use it within a week.
Gently pack down the onions to ensure that they are fully submerged in the brine. Allow the onions to pickle at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating or moving to the fridge. In my opinion, the flavor is best if you wait for them to pickle for at least 24 hours. Keep these in the fridge and enjoy within 2-3 weeks.
FOR THE LIME JUICE PICKLED ONIONS
Add the thinly sliced onions to a wide, shallow bowl.
Add the honey and salt on top then pour over the lime juice. Toss to combine and coat the onions in the lime juice. Set the bowl aside and toss the onions every 5-10 minutes over the course of 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, transfer the onions and all accumulated juices into a jar. Enjoy now, or refrigerate. Enjoy these within a week.
Notes
- Maple syrup or sugar can be used in place of the honey to make the recipe vegan as needed.
- Four ripe limes yielded 1/2 cup juice for me but this will vary depending on how juicy your limes are.
- You can use a white or yellow onion in place of the red onion if you prefer but keep in mind the pickled onions wont have their vibrant pink color. You can also use 3-4 shallots.
- You’ll end up with about 1 1/2 cups of pickled onions since they will soften and lose some volume while pickling.
- Please note that neither of these recipes are formulated to be safe for water bath canning. They are meant to be stored in the fridge and consumed within 1-3 weeks.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Pickling Time: 30 minutes
I love that you included both recipes, and I can’t wait to try both of them! Here in AZ, we make lots of Mexican food, but I don’t know why I rarely take the time to do pickled onions. I love that these are both easy with a few ingredients. I’m looking forward to trying both recipes!