If you've never pickled a thing in your life, let this Pink Pickled Onions recipe be your first! Pink onions pickled in beet juice are not only delicious, but they are also very easy to prepare! You can add these delicious pickled onions to these Blackstone smash burgers, smoked hamburgers, or your favorite salad!
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I love onions, and I assume you do too, or you wouldn't be reading this, am I right? Although my go-to onions recipe is my marinated sumac onions, I created this recipe a while back when I had some onions and beets left over after making pickled turnips.
I didn't know what to do with the leftover ingredients, so I decided to toss the sliced onions and a few slices of beets in the last of the pickling juice. I was delighted by how delicious the pink pickled onions were and decided they deserved their own blog post.
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Onions: I used yellow onions, but you can use white or red onions too!
- Vinegar Mixture: The vinegar mixture is made up of water, apple cider vinegar, and white vinegar. You can substitute the apple cider vinegar with red wine vinegar.
- Beet: The gorgeous color of the pink onions is achieved by adding beets to the jar with the sliced onions. The beet juice takes no time to dye the onions.
- Spice: To add some spice, you can either add a jalapeño, Serrano, or red pepper flakes.
- Optional Ingredients: Fresh herbs, dried oregano, and peppercorns.
🧅 How to Make Pink Pickled Onions
This recipe makes two ½ quart jars of pickled pink onions and maybe a little extra, depending on the size of the onion. I recommend having another 8-oz jar to be safe.
Step 1: Peel and slice the onions into thick rings using a sharp knife or a mandoline. Next, peel the garlic cloves and slice them in half. Next, peel and slice the beet.
Step 2: To make the pickling solution, add vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a small saucepan. Stir until the salt dissolves. Bring the solution to a boil, then remove from heat.
Step 3: In another pot (or a water bath canner), sterilize two ½ quart-sized canning jars in boiling water for ten minutes.
Step 4: Once the jars have been sterilized, layer the onions, beets, and garlic in the jars.
Step 5: Pour the pickling solution over the onions and beets, making sure they are fully submerged. Leave a ¼" headspace from the top of the jar.
Step 6: Screw on the lids and store in the refrigerator for a few days before serving them.
Step 7: To store in the pantry, fully submerge the filled jars in water and boil/process for 10 minutes to seal before storing them.
Pro Tip: Any extra onions or beets can be added to an 8-ounce canning jar and pickled in the remaining pickling solution. I would open this bottle first to determine when the pink onions are ready to eat.
Spices Used in Pink Pickled Onions Brine
I love the flavor of Pickled Pink Onions without adding a bunch of extra spices to the pickling solution. However, don't let me stop you from getting creative.😉 Here are some spices that you might want to consider. Add the ones that appeal to you!
- Fresh ginger
- Cinnamon
- Whole cloves
- Bay leaves
- Cardamom pods
- Mustard seeds
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQS
Pink onions are not only delicious but also have a variety of uses. As mentioned already, I like to add them to sandwiches, burgers, and salads. However, there are so many other ways you can use them!
Pink onions can be added to this easy charcuterie board, or to embellish a plate of Lebanese hummus. Or add them to this fig pizza, a shawarma, in adobada tacos, cheesy scrambled eggs, or serve over a platter of this easy chicken biryani recipe!
This recipe starts with yellow onions that are pickled with sliced beets. The sliced beets naturally bleed, but release their beautiful color even more as soon as the pickling solution is poured over them.
The sliced yellow onions quickly soak up the pink beet dye and, as a result, go from white to pink and eventually red.
🍴More Onion Recipes
Love onions? We do too! Here are some of our favorite onion recipes!
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Pickled pink onions should be stored in the fridge and consumed within three months or less.
- For longer storage, the sealed pink pickled onion jars should be processed in boiling water for 15 minutes, and then stored in a dark, cool pantry.
- Serve pink onions with kofta kebabs, in sandwiches, or on the side as a condiment.
- You may also enjoy this red onion chutney!
🌶 More Pickle Recipes
If you enjoy this pink pickled onions recipe, check out these other pickle recipes.
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Peel and slice the onions into thick rings using a sharp knife or a mandoline. Next, peel the garlic cloves and slice them in half. Next, peel and slice the beet.
- To make the pickling solution, add vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a saucepan. Stir until the salt dissolves. Bringing the solution to a boil, then remove from heat.
- In another pot (or a water bath canner) sterilize two ½ quart-sized canning jars in boiling water for ten minutes.
- Once the jars have been sterilized, layer the onions, beets, and garlic into the jars.
- Pour the pickling solution over the onions and beets, making sure they are fully submerged. Leave a ¼" headspace from the top of the jar.
- Screw the lids onto the jars and store in the refrigerator for a few days before serving.
- To store in the pantry, fully submerge the filled jars in water and boil/process for 15 minutes to seal before storing them.
Nutrition
Notes
- Pickled pink onions should be stored in the refrigerator and consumed within three months or less.
- For longer storage, the sealed pink onion jars should be processed in boiling water for 10 minutes, then stored in a dark, cool pantry.
- Serve pink onions with kabobs, in sandwiches, or on the side as a condiment.
- Any extra onions or beets can be added to an 8-ounce canning jar and pickled in the remaining pickling solution. I would open this bottle first to determine when the pink onions are ready to eat.
Lynn Sanborn says
Just made this. Can you eat the beets or are they too hard?
Wonder if you cooked them a bit first?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Lynn, yes, you can totally eat the beets! Enjoy and thanks for your comment!
LYNN SANBORN says
Do you cook the beats at all?
Hilda Sterner says
No, that's not necessary!
slim says
The recipe came our great, delish!
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, I appreciate the review!
Cynthia Donahey says
You can use canned beet juice. Less work, less mess.
a nice punch is beet juice and cream soda. proportions vary. This was used by southern plantation owners who had access to a northerly vegetable, that came from Europe. They valued beet sugar over cane.
Cynthia Donahey says
I knew this woman in my youth whose husband, one Wilbur Siebert wrote about The Underground Railroad. His last book showed maps of the routes, which are present day state routes. He got a lot of material after the war including material about trade and transport of temperate zone vegetables. Beets were shredded and dried. Those who settled north of the Ohio River did not believe in slavery and their only market was their rich southern relatives. I have some dried blueberries. I am going to add them to vinegar and maple syrup and add to sliced onions. You can do the same to raw or cooked violets. You can just shred raw beets.
Stephanie Grooms says
I just tried a small batch with Vidalia onions. I substituted a little beet juice for some of the water. They are so good! Now I need to prepare a much larger batch and process for shelf storage.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you, Stephanie, so happy you like them and appreciate you coming back to review the recipe!