Close-up of pickled red onions submerged in a clear, slightly pink pickling liquid inside a glass jar. The onions appear fresh and vibrant, showcasing their crisp texture and tangy flavor.
Basics – LAST UPDATED Jan 26, 2026

Pickled Red Onions

5 from 1 Review
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes

Pickled red onions add bite, color, and balance to food you already love. They take minutes to prepare and improve meals all week. You get crunch, acidity, and gentle heat in one jar.

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Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions add bite, color, and balance to food you already love. They take minutes to prepare and improve meals all week. You get crunch, acidity, and gentle heat in one jar.

HeatherBy Heather Published on: Updated:
2 Comments
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Prep Time15 minutes

Total Time20 minutes

Servings6 Servings

Pickled Red Onions should be in your fridge for all of your summer grilling adventures. They take minutes to prepare and are great to have on hand to top burgers, or use them chopped up in potato salad or as a crunchy side dish for tacos or almost anything.

Close-up of pickled red onions submerged in a clear, slightly pink pickling liquid inside a glass jar. The onions appear fresh and vibrant, showcasing their crisp texture and tangy flavor.

You will reach for these onions often. Spoon them onto tacos, burgers, grain bowls, salads, or grilled meats. They sharpen rich food and wake up simple dishes.

Heather’s Notes

  • You prep this recipe in under 10 minutes.
  • The onions soften while staying crisp.
  • The brine balances sweet, salty, and acidic flavors with a hint of spice from the arbol chile pods.
  • The color turns vivid pink fast and looks great on the plate.
  • You use pantry staples you likely keep on hand.
A glass bowl of clear, light brown soup with whole black peppercorns, pickled red onions, and a dried red chili, with a spoon inside. Another dried red chili lies on the wooden surface beside the bowl.

Pickled Red Onions Ingredient List

Start out with the quick pickling mixture. Here are some options to choose from, pick one or many:

  • Black Peppercorns
  • Arbol Chile Pods
  • Smashed Fresh Garlic
  • Juniper Berries
  • Chili Flakes
  • Fresh Rosemary
  • Fennel Seed

Like other aromatics like thyme, sage, jalapeño? Flavor them as you see fit, just keep the first 4 ingredients the same and you will have delicious pickled red onions no matter what you do.

A glass jar filled with pickled red onions soaking in a tangy pickling liquid, with a few whole peppercorns visible at the bottom. The jar sits on a wooden surface.

Now that it’s loaded with flavors, add in one peeled and sliced red onion and let the spices, cider and onions get to know each other. The acid in the vinegar will mellow the heat of the onion and give them a sweet and spiced flavor that’s amazing on top of a burger or pulled pork sammie.

Close-up of pickled red onions submerged in a clear, slightly pink pickling liquid inside a glass jar. The onions appear fresh and vibrant, showcasing their crisp texture and tangy flavor.

Pickled Red Onions

5 from 1 Review
A quick pickled red onion recipe that’s a perfect topping for your favorite burger or hot dog. Add aromatics of choice to kick it up.
prep time15 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
number of servings6 Servings
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Ingredients
  

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Instructions
 

  • Bring water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, kosher salt, peppercorns, chile de arbol, and garlic to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve.
  • Place sliced red onions in a heat safe jar. Pour brine over onions until submerged. Press onions down.
  • Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then use or cover and refrigerate.
  • Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week if not using right away.

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Notes

Tips for storing
  • Store onions fully submerged in brine.
  • Use a clean fork to remove onions.
  • Keep refrigerated at all times.
  • Best flavor within 7 to 10 days.
  • Discard if brine turns cloudy or smells off.

Nutrition

Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 3512mg | Potassium: 297mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 146IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

*Nutritional information is not guaranteed to be accurate.

course of this recipeappetizer, condiment, Condiments, side, Side Dish
cuisine typeAll Cuisines, American, Mediterranean, Mexican
keywords used in this recipeburger recipes, healthy, pickled, quick, sandwich recipes, spicy, vegetarian recipes

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heather scholten farmgirl gourmet
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Hi! I’m Heather

I’m Heather, a recipe developer and content creator based in Vancouver, Washington. I started Farmgirl Gourmet in 2006 because I believed weeknight dinners shouldn’t be boring and gourmet shouldn’t mean complicated. I’m also the co-founder of Spiceology, so safe to say I think about food for a living. Stick around for recipes that actually make it into your regular rotation.

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2 Comments

  2. Mercy! You know I don’t generally love chomping on big slices of onion however those photos are tempting me, stunning! I will be trying this recipe and putting a jar in my dads stocking this year, he adores anything onion 😀 xoxo

    Reply
5 from 1 vote

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