Have you ever tried Sumac Onions? This "Red Onion Salad" features thinly sliced red onions, chopped Italian parsley, and a zesty sumac-based marinade that will delight onion-lovers everywhere! Serve Sumac Onions with Kababos, Falafel, or mix into a salad!
Why This Recipe Works
When my daughter, Nena, was a toddler, she loved onions. Her dad teases her to this day about how she used to eat onions like they were apples. This always annoys her since she hates onions now.
But you don't have to love onions as much as little Nena did to enjoy this recipe. Marinated Sumac Onions are very easy to prepare and add so much flavor to a variety of dishes.
The best part is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand, maybe with the exception of sumac powder.
Sumac powder is a regular in many of my recipes. If you follow my blog, you might as well get some, you'll be needing it often!
What Goes Into This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- Sumac — The ingredient that makes this recipe shine is the tart sumac powder. Sumac gives the onions their amazing flavor.
- Onion — There are recipes out there that call for white or yellow onion, but I recommend using red onion because of its natural sweetness. It just begs to be pickled!
How to Make This Recipe
Start by peeling and slicing the red onion. Add to a bowl, along with the chopped parsley.
Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, sumac, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
Pour the dressing over the onions and parsley, then mix thoroughly to combine.
Allow the flavors to come together for an hour or so before using it as a condiment with kofta kabob, chicken, in sandwiches, or mixed in salads!
Recipe FAQ's and Expert Tips
Sumac imparts a tart, lemony flavor that's sometimes compared to lemon or lime zest. Sumac powder is very popular in the Middle East and is used in all kinds of dishes.
However, this delicious spice is perhaps best known for accompanying grilled kabobs. It is also mixed into salad dressings, for example, Fattoush salad.
Some creative people even use it in desserts like this Blueberry Sumac Sherbert!
I understand that not everyone's spice drawer contains sumac, but I'd like to change that, one kitchen at a time! Although in some recipes, it can be substituted with another tart ingredient like lemon zest, or a pinch of citric acid, I don't recommend it in this recipe.
I mean, c'mon, Sumac is a part of the recipe's name, it wouldn't make sense to substitute another ingredient, would it?
Although I usually offer all sorts of alternatives to ingredients, I'm drawing a line in the sand this time. Get yourself some sumac!
Unlike my stance on the sumac powder, I'm more flexible when it comes to replacing the red onions with white onions. However, I wouldn't recommend using yellow onions, which tend to have a very strong, almost harsh taste.
Some Sumac Onions recipes call for soaking the sliced onion in hot water for 5-10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe. This is to mellow out the onion flavor. This might not be a bad idea if using yellow onions since they taste stronger than red onions.
After soaking the sliced onion in hot water, lightly squeeze, to release some of their juices before proceeding with the recipe.
However, if you use red onions, you can skip soaking them first. Besides, I think the marinade does a nice job of bringing out the sweetness of the onions.
- Sumac loses it's flavor if it's stored for any length of time. It's a good idea to keep sumac frozen until needed to retain its freshness. Especially if you don't use it too often.
- If you want to spice things up a bit, you can add some chili flakes in with the marinated onions.
- Sumac onions are good for up to a week or longer.
- Use leftover Sumac Onions in salads, mix into rice, stirfry, and more!
Related Recipes
Marinated Sumac Onions
Ingredients
- 1 large red onions
- 2 T. Italian Parsley (chopped)
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 2 T. red wine vinegar
- 2 T. olive oil
- 4 tsp. sumac
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- ½ tsp. sugar
Instructions
- Start by peeling and slicing the red onion. Add to a bowl, along with the chopped parsley.
- Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, sumac, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the onions and parsley, then mix thoroughly to combine.
- Allow the flavors to come together for an hour or so before using it as a condiment with kofta kabob, chicken, in sandwiches, or mixed in salads!
Notes
- Sumac loses it's flavor if it's stored for any length of time. It's a good idea to keep sumac frozen until needed to retain its freshness. Especially if you don't use it too often.
- If you want to spice things up a bit, you can add some chili flakes in with the marinated onions.
- Sumac onions are good for up to a week or longer.
- Use leftover Sumac Onions in salads, mix into rice, stirfry, and more!
Suzy says
This is absolutely delicious. I have used red onions and also shallots and can't get enough of it! Thank you!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Suzy! I'm so glad you like them as much as I do!
Emilee says
We absolutely loved this recipe. We used these stop meatloaf sandwiches to bring a little excitement to an ordinary weeknight meal. I can imagine a thousand ways to use this recipe. Thanks!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Emilee,
Thank you so much for the review. I agree, there are so many ways to use marinated sumac onions. I love your idea of including them in a sandwich, yum!
Kelly Methey says
This is an interesting sounding recipe. I love onions so I will be trying it, if I can find sumac powder. The only sumac I ever knew of was poison sumac as a kid growing up! Hahaha
HildaSterner says
I'll give you some if you don't want to buy it.;)