English Pickled Onions

This is a home-canning recipe for making good old-fashioned, blow your head off, English pickled onions in malt vinegar.

When an English person talks about having a pickled onion, this is likely the pickled onion that is meant. Outside the UK, jars of these can cost a bomb, so if you have any ex-pat Brits on your Christmas list, a jar of these would be sure to please.

Brits who have tried these onions say the onions transport them right back to their grandmother’s pickled onions.

To be safe for shelf-storage, jars of these must be processed (yes, despite all the vinegar in them.) They really do stay crisp, even though they are properly canned. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone; the store-bought ones are properly canned, too, after all, in factories.

But at the end, there’s an alternative method for refrigerated storage only for those don’t want to do added step of going the shelf-stable, canning route.

The recipe is easily doubled, tripled, etc. In fact, you’ll probably want to.

Note: (1) The initial water is just for brining and is discarded later (see directions). The actual pickling brine is pure vinegar; (2) have extra vinegar to hand, you may need it depending on how the onions fit into the jars.

The recipe

Jar size choices: Half-litre (1 US pint / 500 ml / 16 oz )

Processing method: Either water-bath or steam canning

Yield: 2 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Headspace: 3 cm (1 inch)

Processing time: 10 minutes

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English Pickled Onions

Yield: 2 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Course Pickles

Cuisine English

Keyword Onions

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 x half-litre (US pint) jars

Calories 22kcal

Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

• 750 g onions (very small, unpeeled. 1 ½ lbs. Measurements before prep.)
• 1 litre water (cold or tap temperature. 4 cups / 32 oz)
• 4 tablespoons pickling salt
• 1 litre water (cold or tap temperature. 4 cups / 32 oz)
• 4 tablespoons pickling salt
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (whole)
• ¼ teaspoon allspice (whole berries)
• ¼ teaspoon chile flakes
• bay leaves
• 500 ml malt vinegar (5% acidity or higher. 2 cups / 16 oz)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (light)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Wash the onions, wash, set aside.
• Put 1 litre (1 US quart) of water in a large bowl. Add the salt, whisk or stir well to dissolve.
• Add the onions.
• Put a plate on the bowl, and weigh it down, to hold the onions down into the water.
• Let sit for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature.
• Drain onions, discarding soaking liquid from bowl.
• Make a second batch of brine in the large bowl with the second amount of water and salt.
• Peel onions, adding to the fresh batch of brine in the bowl.
• Put a plate on the bowl, and weigh it down, to hold the onions down into the water.
• Let stand for 2 days at room temperature.
• Drain onions, discarding brine. Rinse the onions, drain well.
• Make a spice mixture from the peppercorns, allspice berries, and hot pepper flakes; set aside.
• Pack onions into jars that are half-litre (US pint) in size. You'll need 2 to 3 jars depending on size of onions and how they fit into the jars.
• In each jar put 1 bay leaf.
• Divide the spice mixture between the jars.
• Put the vinegar into a large, microwave-safe jug. Add the sugar OR liquid stevia. Heat in microwave to boiling.
• Ladle into the jars to cover the onions.
• Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace.
• Debubble, adjust headspace.
• Wipe jar rims.
• Put lids on.
• Process in a water bath or steam canner.
• Process jars for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.
• Best after at least a month of jar time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 22kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.7g | Protein: 0.4g | Sodium: 185mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 2.6g

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

Australia and New Zealand vinegar strength special notes.

Recipe notes

• Instead of very small onions, you can use shallots.
• 750 g / 1.5 lbs of very small onions is about 18 to 19 onions that are about 3 cm (1 inch) in size.
• Instead of the salt, you can use a non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub. We have found Herbamare Sodium-Free performs well in that regard.
• You can reduce the sugar, or use the same volume amount of granulated Splenda®, or use ¼ teaspoon of liquid stevia. For stevia, we’d recommend Better Stevia liquid stevia. We’re not sure why the author specifies light brown sugar, when the onions are going to end up in a very dark solution anyway!
• You might need a third jar, depending on size and shape of onions and how they fit into jars.
• Have extra vinegar ready to heat up in case you go to 3 jars. If you do then stick a dash of sweetener in that extra vinegar as well, and remember to heat it (you can use the microwave to do so quickly.)
• You can use apple cider vinegar (5% or higher) instead if you run out of malt, or a mix of both.
• If you have Pickle Crisp to hand, you may wish to add ¼ teaspoon or so to each jar. You could also try adding a teaspoon or so to each batch of brine (add after water is in or it will stick to bowl.)
• Half-litre (US pint) is the largest size jar that the recipe author tested for safe shelf-storage. If you want to put into larger jars, then refrigerate them.
• Wide-mouth, straight-sided jars are the easiest for packing the onions into, if you have them. On the other hand, shouldered jars can help push and hold the onions down below the surface of the pickling solution.

 Refrigerator pickled onions

1. Prepare everything up to heating up the vinegar and sweetener.
2. Let that cool.
3. Pour over onions and spice mix in jar — you can use whatever size or type of lidded jar you want, as this is not going to be canned.
4. Cover the jar, and refrigerate for at least a month before sampling.
5. Should keep for at least six months in the refrigerator.

Recipe source

• Ziedrich, Linda. The Joy of Pickling. Boston, Massachusetts: The Harvard Common Press. 2016. P. 182.

Modifications made:

• Added sugar sub, salt-sub and Pickle Crisp options.

Nutrition information

Regular version

Per 1 onion / 40 g:

• 22 calories, 185 mg sodium

Sugar and salt-free version

Per 1 onion / 40 g:

• 19 calories, 2 mg sodium
• Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 onion: 0 points; 2 to 3 onions: 1 point; 4 to 6: 3 points

* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com

* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.

* Better Stevia ® is a registered trademark of the NOW Foods Company.

* Herbamare ® is a registered trademark of the A. Vogel Corporation.

Skipping the canning process

If you want to skip the canning process which makes the unopened jars shelf-stable, you can have these for refrigerated storage only.

Just prepare as directed, but don’t heat the vinegar, and skip the processing. As you won’t be processing you may use any size of jar and any type of lid you want.

Put a lid on the jar, and store in fridge.

Best after at least a month of time to pickle.

Taste tests between the canned and refrigerated-only pickled onions revealed no discernible difference in taste, or crunch.

Pickled onions prepared for refrigerated storage only, in litre and 2 litre jars, with plastic caps.