Pickling foods have been around for as long as records begin – dating back from the 1700s. It was a common way of preserving food. The highly acidic pickling fluid (vinegar) would preserve food almost indefinitely. You can find out a history of pickling onions from here – it worth read and even gives you a recipe. Nowadays, we tend to pickle for the flavor as opposed to preserving them.

These are extremely versatile and can be used in so many ways. My top 5 ways of using them are below:

1) Cheese Board – Serve them with your favorite hard cheeses, they complement the cheese so well – my favorite is a good old very mature English Cheddar

2) Serve them as a relish on top of a burger. Try these instead of the traditional pickle, goes really well with a turkey burger.

3) On top of your favorite Salad. Add a little kick to your salad by adding these Pickled Red Onions to the top.

4) Tacos, Tacos, Tacos. Serve them on top of your taco – mmm mmm – delicious.

5) Serve them with a Ploughmans Lunch

How to make a jar of Pickled Red Onions

First of all, it’s really important that you sterilize the jar that you will be using to avoid any contamination, to do this you can simply boil some water and fill the jar all the way to the top and leave it for a while. Don’t forget your lid, that needs to be sterile too.

Ingredients you will need

  • 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
  • 1 cup of hot water
  • 1 large red onion

Directions

In a saucepan, add the vinegar, sugar, salt and water and heat until everything is dissolved.

Now thinly slice your onion, the thinner the better. You can use a very sharp knife or better still a mandoline to achieve this. Add your onions to your sterilized jar and then pour in your pickling juice. I like to use Apple Cider Vinegar because its slightly sweeter, but white wine vinegar would be a good alternative. Leave the jar uncovered until cool then seal with your lid and store in the refrigerator for at least two weeks before tempting to try. The longer you leave them, the better they will be.