These quick pickled red onions are no cook! Made with 5 simple ingredients and come together in less than 5 minutes of active time!

I originally started making pickled onions to go on salads instead of raw red onions. Because pickled red onions leave less of an after taste in your mouth. But now I put them on everything! Tacos, burgers, sandwiches, pasta salads, chicken salad, nachos, etc.

There are lots of ways to pickle onions. But this recipe is no cook and no boil. Which makes it the easiest pickled onion recipe ever!

You don’t have to boil water or cook anything to pickle onions. The vinegar will do all the breaking down you need.

These quick no cook pickled red onions are made with 5 ingredients (including water!)

The ingredients are red onions, apple cider vinegar, water, salt, and sugar.

Red onions: I prefer red onions for the color when I make pickled onions. But this recipe would also work with a white onion or yellow onion.

I like to use a mandolin to my onions very thinly sliced. But you could also thinly slice onions with a knife.

Which is the best vinegar for pickling?

I prefer apple cider vinegar because it’s a little bit sweeter than the other vinegars. But if you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can substitute another kind of vinegar. I have also used rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, and white vinegar in this recipe before.

You don’t need the liquid to completely cover the onions

You’ll notice I only have 3/4 cup of liquid in this recipe. It’s a waste of liquid/vinegar to use more. The liquid won’t fully cover the onions at the start. But the onions will break down and all submerge eventually.

These measurements are forgiving!

I provide measurements below. But this is definitely a recipe you can eyeball. I aim for equal parts of vinegar to water. But this recipe is super forgiving.

Tip: You can do 1/2 cup of water or even 3/4 cup of water in this recipe if you like more mild flavored pickled onions.

How long do pickled onions last?

You can keep these in the fridge for 2-3 weeks!

Watch the recipe video here: