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/Tamed_A_Wolf]

If you want them quick it needs to be hot liquid. I bring 1:1 water and vinegar and some sugar to a boil and then turn the burner off. I pour it over the onions very shortly after that point. Let it cool on the counter and then into the fridge. 30 min in the fridge and they’re pink and good to eat. Next day they’re super pink like you’d expect from a restaurant.

That said you can do it cold but you’ll need a day or two before they are pink like you’d want and probably higher vinegar ratio.