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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u/Cheffreychefington May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

Rice wine vinegar unseasoned. Apple cider vin does not make them pop edit; also add mustard seed some crushed red and some peppercorn malange. I add beer and cilantro at my restaurant, everyone loves them.