Last winter, I had friends coming over to my place for brunch. I served them some avocado toasts with soft-boiled eggs and cilantro. When I grabbed my pickled onions jar to put some over, they were funnily impressed ! They though it was fancy and gourmet.

This is funny to me, because pickled onions are the simplest condiment to make. And you only need 3 ingredients besides water and salt ! You can customize their basic version if you want and add things like mustard seeds or bay leaves, but the plain ones are great too.

You don’t want to throw em everywhere just because they’re pretty ! I add some to a dish when it seems relevant, to offset a sweet flavour or a quite high fat content. They also give a nice kick to raw vegetables, say in salads or sandwiches.

Get ready to have your guests impressed though. It never hurts !

Print Recipe

Basic Pickled Onions

Author: Multicarbs Cooking Method: Simmering Cuisine: American cuisine, European cuisine Courses: Condiment Recipe Keys: Sans Gluten Sans maïs Sans œufs Sans soja Végan V Vegetarian

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 5 min Total Time 15 mins

Servings: 30

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

Sweet, sour and crunchy onions that you will have on hand for months ! Invest 15 minutes of your time and get this elegant condiment to elevate your dishes. 

Ingredients

Servings

• 2 onions (medium-large)
• 300 milliliters apple cider vinegar
• 300 milliliters water
• 3 tablespoons sugar (around 50g)
• 1 tablespoon salt (coarse)

Optional additions (to choose from)

• 2 cloves garlic (whole)
• 1-2 bird's eye peppers (chopped)
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns (szechuan if you have it)

Instructions

1. Prepare your onion

   Cut your onion in half.

   Slice in thinly. I try to keep mine around 3mm thick. 

   Add to a heat-proof glass jar.

   I found that slices which are not paper-thin, but slightly thicker, will keep their crunchy texture longer once in the fridge.

2. Heat your brine

   To a small pot, add your apple cider vinegar, the same amount of water, your sugar and your salt.

   Heat up over medium-high heat. Once hot, stir for a minute or two to make sure the sugar fully dissolves.

   Bring the brine to a boil, then remove from heat.

3. Pour and store !

   Immediately pour your brine onto your onions.

   Make sure the onions are entirely submerged in brine.

   Store in your fridge once cooled.

   Et voilà ! You’re done !

Note

• My pickled onions keep for 3 to 4 months in the fridge. After that, they will still be good to eat, but the texture will be altered. 

Keywords: home made, condiment, pickle, sour, gourmet