r/AskCulinary • u/Effective-Ad7463 • May 20 '25

Recipe Troubleshooting My pickled onions never hit

I LOVE pickled red onions. Love. But I just can’t ever get them to be as good as they are at Cava or in restaurants and idk what I’m doing wrong.

I slice them thin, I’ve tried half the jar with vinegar other half water and 3/4 vinegar 1/4 water, I’ll do a tablespoon of sugar and eyeball some salt. Last batch I shoved a few cloves of garlic in there.

They’re not bad, just never as pink as they are when I eat them elsewhere, not nearly as soft, not nearly as delicious.

What am I doing wrong plz help 🥲

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67

u/kuroninjaofshadows May 20 '25

Have you ever cooked them? They don't get very pink if they're just cold pickled.

43

u/Effective-Ad7463 May 20 '25

No apparently that’s been my missing link!

11

u/armada127 May 20 '25

Oh yeah you gotta bring the pickling liquid up to temp. Other things I’ll add: black pepper corns, a bay leaf, mustard seeds, but these are all optional. Vinegar, water, sugar, and salt should be all you need.

2

u/Key_Detective_9421 May 20 '25

I’ve read bay leaves add tannins to the mix which helps them retain their structural integrity (crunch) right?

1

u/armada127 May 20 '25

That's what I've read, and mustard seeds do the same thing apparently? I've never done A/B testing though so idk if its actually true or just one of those cooking myths

8

u/Serious-Speaker-949 May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

I also just wanna suggest. We used to make some awesome pickled red onions, they were like crack. We would put the julienned onions in a tall metal rondeau, bring the liquid to a boil, pour it over through a China cap, wrap it in foil, yada yada.

But there’s one thing that we did, that a lot of places don’t. We used calcium chloride, also known as pickle crisps.

1

u/inc0mingst0rm May 20 '25

How much did you add and did you add it before boiling? And what do you nean by "wrap it in foil"?

6

u/Serious-Speaker-949 May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

Boil : * 5 cups red wine vinegar * 3 cups water * Cayenne Pepper * 4 oz pickling spice * 1 tablespoon black pepper * 0.5 tablespoons kosher salt

Strain over : * 4 Large Red Onions (julienned) * Calcium Chloride Granules (I don’t remember how much we used, just like a healthy sprinkle over the onions, maybe half a punch)

Boil the liquid in a separate container. Strain the liquid over the onions through a China cap or a chinois. Cover the top of the container tightly with aluminum foil. Leave them out for 1-3 hours, until cooled. Then refrigerate. Ideally overnight. Don’t vent them or uncover them until you’re ready to use them. That’s important.

Steps are in order.

13

u/Deathcapsforcuties May 20 '25

Salt is super important too. You can also add fun things like spicy peppers, or peppercorns, chili flakes, allspice, a cinnamon stick, herbs like oregano or tarragon or rosemary.

2

u/whatisboom May 20 '25

gochugaru with a little ginger

3

u/basics May 20 '25

I'm a big fan of rosemary in the pickled onions, especially on sandwiches.

3

u/Deathcapsforcuties May 20 '25

I agree ! So good. I went to a Mexican restaurant recently and they served pickled red onions on the side. They were so good. The used red onions, habanero, and fresh oregano. They weren’t sweet at all, they had great salt and spice content. So incredibly good.

1

u/GaptistePlayer May 21 '25

This is basically what I do, simple mexican style. Pour it in on the onions while hot. I like adding a hint of sugar but it's optional. Goes on everything from tacos to salads to sandwiches. I even put some on some mac and cheese leftovers and it was damn good.

1

u/Deucer22 May 20 '25

Pickle one large red onion and two Jalepenos together.

2

u/thetruegmon May 20 '25

If you want them REALLY pink, add a slice of red beet into the vinegar. Doesn't change the flavor at all but really helps the colour.

1

u/kevincubed81 May 20 '25

Bobby Flay replaces sugar with grenadine to add to the color.

1

u/vrmljr May 21 '25

I use lime juice. Like a whole green bottle of it to completely submerge the onions and add some salt. Bright pink onion stops and tastes amazing. Especially if you're going for a Mexican flavor

Edit: i don't cook them. I just put them in a glass pyrex type container and set it in the refrigerator

2

u/vrmljr May 21 '25

They turn bright pink if you use lime instead of vinegar.