Black Pepper Free Pickled Red Onions
Tangy, jewel-bright, and endlessly versatile, these pickled red onions are the kind of condiment that quietly elevates everything they touch — tacos, grain bowls, sandwiches, you name it. Store-bought pickled onions often sneak in spice blends that can include black pepper, making them a frustrating off-limits item for anyone who needs to avoid it. This brine keeps things clean and deliberate: apple cider vinegar, honey, fine sea salt, fresh ginger, and optional garlic give you plenty of complexity without a single peppercorn in sight. The honey rounds out the vinegar's sharpness beautifully, while the ginger adds a gentle warmth that feels satisfying without any heat you'd need to worry about. Watching the onions turn that gorgeous fuchsia pink as they soak is genuinely one of the most satisfying things to happen in a kitchen with almost zero effort. Pack them into a jar, let the brine do its work, and you'll have a punchy, restaurant-worthy topping ready to go straight from your fridge.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 small garlic clove, thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Pack the sliced red onion tightly into a clean 16 oz glass jar.
- 2
Combine the apple cider vinegar, water, honey, and fine sea salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the honey and salt are fully dissolved, about 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat.
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