Artificial Food Coloring Free Garlic-Herb Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Those vivid magenta ribbons you get from this quick pickle come entirely from the red onion itself — no dyes, no additives, just pure vegetable chemistry doing its thing in a brine of apple cider vinegar, honey, and sea salt. Store-bought pickled onions can be a minefield of artificial colorings and preservatives, so making your own at home puts you completely in control of what goes into the jar. The garlic, fresh thyme, and rosemary tucked in among the onion slices give the brine a savory, herby depth that most commercial versions simply can't match. The whole process is surprisingly hands-off — a quick warm brine, a pour, and the refrigerator does the rest. Within 30 minutes you have something tangy, slightly sweet, and deeply fragrant that will upgrade tacos, grain bowls, sandwiches, and cheese boards without a second thought. They keep mellowing and improving over the next day, so making a jar ahead of time is always a smart move.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced into half-moons
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Instructions
- 1
Pack the sliced red onion into a clean 16 oz glass jar, pressing gently so the slices fit snugly.
- 2
Tuck the smashed garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprig down into the jar among the onion slices.
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