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 Kebabs, Falafel, or mix into salads.
Why This Recipe Works
Sometimes referred to as Sumac Onion Salad or Turkish onion Salad this recipe allows you to quick pickle raw onions and to use them in Shawarma wraps, Adobada Tacos, in salads, and as a side dish to other Mediterranean recipes.
The best part is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand, maybe with the exception of sumac powder. Sumac has a tart, lemony flavour and also releases a beautiful red tint when added to a dressing or other liquids.
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 and Substitutions
- 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 Sumac Onions
STEP 1: Peel and slice the red onion into thin slices. Add onion slices to a bowl, along with the chopped parsley.
STEP 2: Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, sumac, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.
STEP 3: Pour the sumac dressing over the onions and parsley, then whisk thoroughly to blend the ingredients.
STEP 4: 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 FAQs 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 its 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
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Marinated Sumac Onions
Ingredients
- 1 large red onions
- 2 tablespoon Italian Parsley (chopped)
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 teaspoon sumac
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon 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 its 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!
Megan says
So I love sumac onions and was jazzed to find this recipe! I didn't get everything out of the cabinets first and to my surprise I poured out and poured in 1tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (I buy the same bottle brand red wine vinegar and considering changing that now). I finished with the rest of the red wine vinegar and omitted the sugar in the place of balsamic and by golly it was good! Only (unintentional) change and loved it. Probably good for those easing I to the taste the more I think of it. I've made a proper batch too and over the moon with the recipe - thank you so much !!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Megan,
Thank you so much for your review and your great suggestion. I will have to give that a try when I make my next batch. Thanks for sharing the information with my readers too!
Richard says
I just bought a jar of sumac, how can I tell if it's still good? It's not as tart as I thought it would be, with a kind of earthy taste. Does that sound right?
Hilda Sterner says
It does have an earthy flavor, so that sounds right. If it's no longer good it will have an unpleasant aroma.
Faythe says
I will try this recipe with grilled lamb chops! I love sumac, red onions and fresh parsley so this recipe will definitely fit into my autoimmune/leaky gut diet cookbook. I will also try adding cucumbers.
Thank you
Hilda Sterner says
Hi, Faythe, I bet it will be amazing with lamb chops!
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.;)