Pickled Red Onions

I absolutely love pickled red onions! They're an extremely tasty and versatile condiment. They add an acidic and slightly sweet element to any dish, while also bringing the fresh vegetable crunch you want texturally. You can use them with virtually any cuisine from New American, to South East Asian, to Middle-Eastern, to Mexican or Tex-Mex. They're just as at home on a Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich as they are on a juicy all-beef Hamburger. I use them frequently as a topping for either fish or meat, often in sandwiches, and all the time with salads of every type.

I take credit for this recipe, as I've been making them for years and tweaked the recipe a bit. The key difference in my recipe and most you'll see online is the substitution of Apple Juice for some of the Vinegar. The pickled onions I had been making often were a touch too acidic, so I found the apple juice mellows out the flavor by adding more sweetness and leveling out the vinegar a bit. Most recipes call for cinnamon or cloves and allspice, but I think pickled red onions taste better without those spices.

It's a very simple recipe and they last for months in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small to medium red onion, julienned
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice (100% juice)
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns

DIRECTIONS:

Place all the ingredients except for the red onion into a small to medium pot over high heat.
Julienne the red onion and place in a standard size mason jar (or any cleaned glass jar of appropriate size).
Allow the seasoned vinegar to boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar and salt, then remove the pot from from heat.
Place or hold a strainer over the jar of julienne red onion and then pour the pickling liquid into the jar to strain out the peppercorns (or take a spoon and remove them that way). There should be enough liquid to cover the onions entirely, but you'll want to leave at least 1/2" of space at the top of the jar.
Close the lid of the jar and place your pickled red onions in the fridge.
The flavor of the pickled red onions will improve over the next day or two, but they require at least a couple hours before they're ready to use.


Also worth mentioning - you can pickle many types of vegetables with this same liquid. Among my favorites are carrots, daikon radish, and peppers such as jalapenos or serranos.


QUICK PICKLED RED ONIONS:

If you're in a hurry to make pickled red onions, follow all of the steps above, except that you put the julienned red onions in the pot with the boiling pickling liquids for 4-5 minutes. This works if you're in a hurry, but I prefer the slower method for best results.