Ode to Pickled Red Onions

Pickled red onions are a condiment outlier when compared with others on the dimensions of cost, convenience, and coverage, the three C's of existence. They cost next to nothing to make, take 5 minutes to prepare, and may hold the Guinness World Record for number of dishes they improve. It is my goal to convince you of this too, if you are not yet a True Onion Believer.

Materials

• 1 32oz jar. I (re-)used a Mezzetta pepperoncini jar.
• 2-3 red onions, depending on size. You'll get to know how many to use for the onions you get.
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 pods star anise (optional)

Process

1. Slice the onions. Think about the shapes you would like to dress your food with when deciding how to cut them. I usually will shoot for strings that are about 3/16" wide and maybe 1-2" long. But you get to pick for you! Try different things!

   

2. Combine the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar and dissolve. I will just put them all in a 2 cup Pyrex and microwave it for a minute so that it's warm enough to dissolve the salt and sugar with a small amount of stirring.

   

3. Pour the liquid in the jar. For me, 2 cups is always perfect, but your results will vary by the quantity of onions you selected. The only important part is to make sure the onions are covered in liquid.

   

4. If you like, add the star anise pods to the jar and poke them down.

   

5. Put the lid on the jar and put it in the fridge.

   

6. It will only take a couple of hours before it starts to turn pink.
7. They're barely ready to eat in 4-6 hours, but best to just do it the night before and enjoy an easy lunch or dinner addition.

   

Serving Ideas

Deens

I have this for lunch literally every day, and I look forward to it every single day. It's the perfect lunch -- delicious, healthy, inexpensive, fast. A can of decent sardines ($3 in bulk from Amazon), some julienned sun dried tomatoes, a half dozen crackers, Baron hot sauce, and a nice pile of pickled red onions. It is so delicious and feels so good.

Burgers

Top burgers with them.

Tuna / Chicken Salad

With pickled red onions chopped up and mixed in, or as a layer atop your favorite tuna or chicken salad.

Salad

Elevate your next green salad with a pickled red onion topper.

Tacos

We love to put a mound of shredded cheese in a hot skillet, top that with a corn tortilla and let the cheese get crispy in the pan and fuse to the tortilla, with a little bit of cheese to melt on top of the tortilla. That crispy cheese is going to be the outside of your taco. Fill with your delicious shredded chicken in adobo, steak sauteed in a gob of garlic, or shrimp in a creamy adobo sauce. Top with cilantro, salsa, and your pickled red onions.