Quick Pickled Red Onions Recipe

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Quick pickled red onions are a fast refrigerator pickle made with thinly sliced red onions and a simple sweet-and-tangy vinegar brine, no canning required. This pickled red onions recipe is ready to eat in as little as an hour, making it one of the fastest refrigerator pickles you can make.

Unlike many pickle recipes that take days to develop flavor, these are ready almost as fast as you can slice the onions.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Quick Pickled Red Onions
Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 1 hour to overnight chilling)
Servings: about 24 (2 pints jars)
Main Ingredients: Red onions, white vinegar, sugar
Dietary Info: Vegan, gluten-free
Difficulty Level: Easy

Fork lifting a thin slice of pickled red onion from a glass jar.

These pickled red onions are one of the easiest things you can keep stocked in your fridge, and once you start making them, you’ll wonder how you ever went without a jar on hand.

If you’ve tried our refrigerator dill pickles or refrigerator pickled radishes before, this one comes together the same easy way. Simply slice, brine, and chill.

Why You’ll Love These
Quick Pickled Red Onions

Ready fast: Thinly sliced onions are ready to eat in as little as an hour, no waiting days for the flavor to develop.
No canning required: Just slice, brine, and chill, no canning equipment or processing time needed.
Sweet and tangy flavor: The perfect balance of vinegar and sugar gives you that classic pickled onion taste.
So versatile: Pile them on tacos, burgers, salads, or sandwiches for an easy pop of flavor.

Ingredients

4 medium red onions
1½ cups white vinegar
1½ cups water
½ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 teaspoons peppercorns (1 teaspoon per jar)

How To Make Quick Pickled Red Onions

Prep The Jars

Add 1 teaspoon of peppercorns to each of your 2 pint jars.

Slice And Pack The Onions

Glass jar filled with thinly sliced red onions on a wooden board before the pickling brine is added.

Slice the onions thinly and pack them into the jars, right on top of the peppercorns.

Make The Brine

In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring until the sugar and salt have fully dissolved.

Cool And Pour

Glass jar filled with sliced pickled red onions in a vinegar brine on a wooden board.

Let the brine cool, then pour it over the onions, filling each jar.

Chill

Place the lids on the jars and let them cool to room temperature on the counter before transferring to the fridge.

Glass jar filled with sliced pickled red onions in pale brine with peppercorns and seasonings at the bottom.

Recipe Notes & Tips

Slice thickness matters: Thinly sliced onions are ready to eat in about an hour, while thicker slices need to sit overnight for the best flavor.
Storage: These quick-pickled red onions will keep in the fridge for about 4 weeks.
Even color, even flavor: Slicing your onions as evenly as possible helps the brine work its way through every piece at the same rate.

Substitutions

Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar can be used in place of white vinegar for a different flavor profile.
Sugar: Honey can be substituted for sugar, or the amount can be reduced for a less sweet pickle.
Onions: Regular yellow onions can be used in a pinch, though you won’t get that same bright pink color.

Variations

Spicy pickled onions: Add a few slices of jalapeño or a pinch of red pepper flakes to each jar.
Herby: Add a sprig of fresh thyme or oregano to each jar along with the peppercorns.
Citrusy: Add a strip of orange or lime zest to each jar for a bright, fresh twist.

Serve With:

Pulled Pork
Tacos
Burgers
Sandwiches

FAQ’s

They’ll keep in the fridge for about 4 weeks. They can last longer, but may start to get soft.

No, this is a refrigerator pickle recipe, not a canning recipe. There’s no processing required, just chill and store in the fridge.

Thinly sliced onions are ready in as little as an hour, while thicker slices need to sit overnight for the best flavor.

They’re great on tacos, burgers, salads, sandwiches, or anywhere you want a bright, tangy pop of flavor.

Quick Pickled Red Onions (Refrigerator Pickles)

This quick pickled red onion recipe is ready in as little as an hour. A simple, sweet, and tangy brine gives you that classic pickled onion flavor with almost no effort!

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Refrigerate 1

Total Time 1 10

Serving Size servings (2 pint jars)

Ingredients

4 medium red onions
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 teaspoons peppercorns 1 per jar

Instructions

Place 1 teaspoon of peppercorns into each pint jar.
Slice the onions thinly and pack into 2 pint-sized jars.
Add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a medium-sized saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Let the brine cool, and then pour it over the onions.
Place the lids on and let the jars cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

Notes

Thinly sliced onions will be ready to eat in an hour, thicker onions will need to sit overnight. They will keep in the fridge for about 4 weeks.

Nutrition

These values are from a nutritional database and automatically calculated, and should only be used as an approximation.

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Kim

Kim Mills is a homeschooling mom of 6 and lives on an urban homestead in Ontario, Canada. Blogging at Homestead Acres she enjoys sharing tips to help you save money, grow and preserve your own food.