How to Make: Pickled Red Onions

Name: How to Make: Pickled Red Onions
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h 10 min
Ingredients: 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced; 3/4 cup apple cinder vinegar; 1 clove garlic, pressed; 1 tablespoon agave nectar (any sweetener works); 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt; optional: 1/2 teaspoon peppercorn or mustard seeds

February 26, 2018 (last updated March 18, 2020) // 9 Comments » //★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews

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I’m so excited to share How to Make Pickled Red Onions with you! Throw them on top of your toast, your salad, your sandwich, or your tacos! They add such a fun flavor and color to any dish!

Here’s the deal. I have a problem with the other half of the onion. And by problem, I mean that I use half of the onion, I store the other half in the fridge and forget about it. Then, when I need another onion, I grab a fresh one, use half and store the other half in the fridge.

See the pattern? I end up with a halved onion excess pushed to the far right corner. An onion accumulation, if you will. Well folks, I have a solution. Any guesses?

Pickling. You guessed that right? You soo smarrrt.

Before we get started I wanted to make a quick distinction. Pickling is fun and easy and tasty. Buuut you don’t get the healthy gut benefits unless foods are fermented. I googled this and fermentation is a type of pickling that uses lactic acid fermentation. Blah blah blah. The starches and sugars in the food are converted to lactic acid by a bacteria. And, that’s what gives you the health benefits.

So, as much as I wanted to tell you that these pickled red onions have tons health benefits, google tells me otherwise sooo we’re in this little endeavor for the tasty tangy flavor and fun and nothing else, ok?

Pickling is something I’ve always been intrigued by. And then this weekend I went to a restaurant today for brunch. I ate a crazy underwhelming avocado toast (I can’t even get into it, I’ve already vented way too much about how disappointing this avocado toast was), but the one redeeming thing about said avocado toast was the pretty pickled red onions on top.

Truth, it was my first time having anything pickled… besides pickles… and I loved them. And, it got me thinking that pickling is kinda cool and maybe I should start doing it. Jalapeños! Jalapeños are next.

But what should I put these pickled onions on, you ask? Well anything really! Avocado toast, a savory version of this sweet potato toast, any and all these vegetarian tacos or these pepper shell tacos! It would even be amazing on top of this Tex Mex breakfast skillet! So now that you know why you need to get in on this party, let’s get in to how simple it is to make!

First, thinly slice your onions and transfer them to container with a lid. Add the pressed garlic to the container.

In a small saucepan, warm the apple cider vinegar, agave nectar (any sweetener works), and sea salt until they are dissolved. Pour the cider mixture into the container and allow it to come to room temperature. Use a spoon to push the onions down and get them coated with the vinegar mixture.

Once the vinegar is room temp, you can put the lid on and store in the fridge for 24 hours or until you’re ready to use it.