Mexican Pickled Onions is an easy recipe that is quick to prepare and a tasty addition on tacos, burgers, salads and sandwiches. A delicious condiment you'll want to have on hand.
Mexican Pickled Onions
Tender crisp pickled red onions add flavor and texture to your favorite foods. Pink onions also add beautiful color to foods
Especially delicious on tacos and burgers, Mexican Pickled Onions will be a welcome addition to many of your favorite foods.
I also love them added to a salad and sandwiches, and also as a topping on grilled chicken or steak. Oh so good!
Known as cebollas curtidas, these pickled onions are typical in Mexican cooking and can be found on the tables in a Mexican restaurant as a condiment for your favorite mexican dishes.
The ground coriander is optional and will add a delightful flavor.
You can also use black peppercorns in place of the black pepper or add in cumin seeds, however, you don't want to include whole spices when serving the onions. The whole spices would be used just for flavoring and would be unpleasant to bite into.
It is best to use fresh lime juice and this may take a lot of limes, depending on the amount of lime juice in each lime. I had to juice 6 limes to get 1/4 cup of lime juice.
This easy pickled onions recipe only takes a few minutes to prepare. Just bring the liquids and seasonings to a boil and pour the hot liquid over thinly sliced onions.
I find that one of the best containers to use when making pickled onions is a mason jar with a lid. This recipe will fill one pint size mason jar but you can easily double the recipe and fill two jars.
You can also use any pint-sized jar that has a lid or an airtight glass container.
If you store these onions in a plastic storage container they may stain the plastic so I highly recommend using glass.
It’s best if you let the mixture cool to room temperature. Then seal and refrigerate until chilled.
The flavors will marry and the onions will soften as they chill.
Honestly, in about an hour or two you will have yourself a jar of flavorful and pretty pink pickled onions bursting with tangy flavor.
Then go ahead and start adding this great condiment on everything! You’ll be so happy you did!
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How to make quick pickled red onions
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Place the sliced red onions in a pint size mason jar or glass container that has a lid.
- In a saucepot bring the vinegar, lime juice, water, brown sugar, black pepper, kosher salt and coriander, if desired, to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce to medium heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the hot liquid over the onion slices.
- Let cool to room temperature and then seal and refrigerate for at least one hour or until chilled.
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Add thinly sliced garlic
- Stir in chopped cilantro
- Add minced jalapeno
- Dried Mexican oregano would be a delicious addition to this recipe
- For spicy pickled onions add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes
Substitutions
- Substitute yellow onions or white onions for the red onion
- You can use sweet onions in place of the red onion
- Apple cider vinegar can be used in place of the red wine vinegar
- Dark brown sugar can be used in place of the light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar will work well as a brown sugar substitute
Equipment
Storage
- Store pickled onions in a mason jar or another glass airtight container sealed with a lid in the refrigerator.
- Pickled onions will stay fresh for about two weeks.
- As always, I find it helpful to visit the FDA website for food storage guidelines
Related Recipes
Ingredients for quick Mexican onions
- red onion
- red wine vinegar
- fresh lime juice
- water
- brown sugar
- black pepper
- kosher salt
- ground coriander (optional)
Mexican Pickled Onions
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Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced, about 2 cups
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ½ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon packed light brown sugar
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground coriander optional
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Instructions
- Place the sliced onions in a pint size mason jar or glass container.
- In a saucepot bring the vinegar, lime juice, water, brown sugar, black pepper, kosher salt and coriander, if desired, to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce to medium heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the hot liquid over the onion slices.
- Let cool to room temperature and then seal and refrigerate for at least one hour or until chilled.
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