Pink pickled onions

Name: Pink pickled onions
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: Makes enough to fill a 250ml sterilised jar
Cuisine: Mexican recipes
Ingredients: 1 red onion, very finely sliced into half moons; Juice 5 limes; ½ tsp cumin seeds; ½ tsp caster sugar; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Portion size: Makes enough to fill a 250ml sterilised jar
Hands-on time 5 min, plus pickling
Difficulty: easy

Dairy-free

Gluten-free

Vegan

Tom Shingler

Head of food, delicious.

Save

Learn how to make pink pickled onions with this easy recipe. Use the bright pink, tangy onions to adorn burgers, salads and tacos.

Add a few pickled onions to this epic Kiwi beef burger with pickled beetroot and a fried egg.

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Ingredients

1 red onion, very finely sliced into half moons
Juice 5 limes
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp caster sugar
1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode

Method

Put the sliced onions in a heatproof bowl and boil a kettle. Pour boiling water over the onions, leave them to sit for 20 seconds, then drain.
Return the drained onions to the bowl and add the lime juice, cumin seeds, sugar, garlic and a big pinch of salt. Stir to combine, ensuring the onions are fully submerged in lime juice, then cover and leave to pickle for at least 20 minutes. Store in the fridge and eat within 1 week.

Nutrition

16kcals Calories
0.1g (0g saturated) Fat
0.4g Protein
2.9g (2.4g sugars) Carbs
0.7g Fibre
0.1g Salt

Quick wins & tips

This recipe is easily scaled up – fill a jar with them and use them to adorn all sorts of tacos, sandwiches and salads.

Make Ahead

These onions are ready to eat after 20 minutes but make them up to 3 days in advance for a more pronounced, almost fluorescent pink colour.

Cook smarter

Pouring boiling water on raw sliced onions removes some of their astringency and breaks them down a little, making it easier for the lime juice to do its pickling magic. Try this method whenever you’re serving raw onions in salads or burgers to mellow out their raw flavour.