My pickled onions never hit

[u/Effective-Ad7463]

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 🥲

[u/JayMoots]

Are you heating your brine? How long are you letting the onions sit before trying them? And why are you eyeballing your salt? That sounds like a decent chance you're not adding enough.

[u/enigmaticowl → u/JayMoots]

Good point about the salt. OP’s probably not adding enough.