Pickled Red Onion Recipe: Quick and Easy Condiment

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This pickled red onion recipe makes a crisp, tangy, bright, and endlessly versatile condiment. They come together quickly, adding instant flavor to a variety of family dinners, including tacos, bowls, salads, and sandwiches.

Jump to Recipe

Pickled Onions in a glass mason jar with a fork scooping some out.

Why This Recipe Is a Favorite

Having a jar of pickled red onion in the fridge gives everyday meals an easy boost of flavor and texture without an awful lot of effort! They add crunch, acidity, and color, even to simple dishes like sandwiches and salads. They’re especially good on Mexican meals like a taco or ground beef burrito bowl.

This recipe is especially handy because it uses basic ingredients and doesn’t require any special prep. You can make them ahead, keep them in the fridge, and pull them out whenever a meal needs a little something extra!

What Readers Are Saying

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
These are a new favorite of ours – so good! Thank you for the recipe!
–Katie

Happy Kitchen Secrets

Here are my important mom-tested cooking tips for making this recipe! I’ve made this countless times to save you from a failed attempt.

Make sure the onions are fully submerged. The brine is what pickles them, and keeping them submerged prevents dry or unevenly flavored pieces.
Use a wide-mouth jar if you have one. It’s much easier to pack the onions in without breaking up the slices or making a mess.
Use a sharp knife or mandoline slicer. A sharp blade will slice through the onions easily, minimizing tears while you work!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Overhead view of labeled ingredients on a cutting board: apple cider vinegar, a red onion, sea salt, lemon, and peppercorns.

Red onions are the star here, but of course, you can make pickled onions with white, yellow, Vidalia, or any type you like.

Apple cider vinegar gives the onions their tangy base, while freshly squeezed lemon juice softens the sharpness and rounds out the flavor.

You can substitute with another mild vinegar, like distilled white or white wine vinegar.

How to Make Pickled Red Onion

This is just a summary of the steps. See the recipe card for full instructions! ⬇️

A person slices a red onion on a wooden cutting board with a chef's knife.

A hand pours brine from a measuring cup into a small mason jar sitting on a cutting board.

Slice the onions. Thinly and evenly slice the onions to get them ready to pickle.

Add the brine ingredients to a jar. Start by combining the apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice.

A hand pours salt from a small bowl into a small glass jar of liquid,

A hand holding a glass jar filled with thin slices of onion, viewed from above.

Add the salt, peppercorns, and garlic. Mix the ingredients well. Stir everything together or pop on the lid and shake until the salt dissolves.

Add the onions. Press the onions down into the liquid so they’re fully submerged. If needed, add a little extra vinegar to cover everything.

Quick pickled onions in a covered glass jar, sitting on a refrigerator shelf.

A hand holds a jar of pickled red onion while another hand uses a spoon to lift some of the onions from the jar.

Move to the fridge. Put the lid on, give the jar a good shake, and place it in the fridge overnight.

Serve! By the next day, the onions will be tangy, lightly softened, and ready to use.

Make it kid friendly: If your kids are sensitive to strong onion flavor, quickly rinse the sliced onions before adding them to the jar. This takes off just a little bit of the bite while still keeping the pickled taste.

Pickled Red Onion Recipe FAQs

How do I make quick pickled onions?

If you need the pickled onions faster, gently heat the apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and peppercorns until just starting to simmer. Carefully pour the hot mixture over the sliced onions, cover, and let them sit on the counter for about an hour.

How long do pickled onions last?

Stored in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator, they’ll keep for up to two weeks.

Serving Ideas

Pickled red onion goes well with all kinds of family meals. Try them with:

Tacos: Add them to chicken, beef, or fish tacos for crunch and tang.
Weeknight dinners: Spoon them over rice bowls, like this tasty salsa chicken burrito bowl.
Sandwiches and salads: Use onions to add bright, acidic flavor to sandwiches, wraps, or salads.

A person holds a glass jar of sliced pickled red onions and uses a spoon to scoop some out.

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please give it a star rating and leave a comment below to let me know how it went!