Try my roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, or pickled chard stems next!
Pickled Red Onions
Want to jazz up your next salad or bowl? Add pickled red onions! Tangy & sweet, they’re the best way to give almost any dish a bright pop of flavor!
vegetarian / how-to — Jump to recipe
Pickled red onions have been an indispensable ingredient in my kitchen for years. Not only are they a gorgeous, vibrant pink, but they’re tangy, sweet, and a little crunchy. I like to say that they give sandwiches, salads, bowls, and more a “bright pop of flavor,” and though Jack makes fun of me for how often I use that phrase, I can’t think of a better way to describe them.
Try making a batch of quick pickled red onions, and you’ll see what I mean. Top a few onto an otherwise good sandwich or salad, and it’ll become great. Their vinegary, zippy taste adds an irresistible extra dimension of flavor, brightening and sharpening the other elements of the dish. You only need a few minutes and 5 ingredients to make this pickled onion recipe, so give them a try – you’ll add them to everything!
How to Make Pickled Onions
To make pickled red onions, you’ll need 5 basic ingredients: red onions, white vinegar, water, cane sugar, and sea salt.
First, thinly slice the onions (I recommend using a mandoline for quick, uniform slicing!) and divide them between two jars. Then, heat the vinegar, water, cane sugar, and salt over medium heat, and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. This will only take a minute or so!
Let the brine cool slightly, and pour it over the sliced onions. Allow the jars to cool to room temperature before covering them and transferring them to the fridge. Your onions will be ready to eat when they are bright pink and tender. This could take anywhere from 1 hour to overnight, depending on the thickness of your onions. They will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Sometimes, I’ll add a few peppercorns or garlic cloves to the jar along with the onions to make their flavor a little more complex. I like to change up the vinegar too! I particularly like a mix of white wine and rice vinegar, and apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are a fun tangy combination. These variations are great, but they’re totally optional; your quick pickled onions will be delicious even if you stick to the basic recipe!
What to Do with Pickled Red Onions
- Add them to a salad! This roasted cauliflower salad and this grilled potato salad show them off well.
- Stuff them in a sandwich! Pair them with any bright sandwich filling like egg salad, chickpea shawarma, or onto avocado toast.
- Pile them on a burger! I like them with my favorite veggie burger, these falafel burgers, and my classic black bean burger.
- Top them onto any Mexican dish! They’d be delicious with these sweet potato tacos, these many-veggie tacos, or even breakfast tacos or a breakfast burrito!
- Add them to a bowl! Try them in this grain bowl or this buddha bowl, or top them onto a DIY-burrito bowl with cauliflower rice or cilantro lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, mango or tomatillo salsa, guacamole, and your favorite veggies!
Do you have a favorite way to use pickled onions? Let me know in the comments!
Conditions that may cause blood in stool
Your poop is made up of about 75 percent water, but it also contains an amalgam of undigested bits of food, mucus, dead cells and bacteria.
What shouldn’t be in your poop? Blood.
Many conditions, including cancer, that cause blood to appear in your stool may become serious if not addressed early. Some are related to auto-immune conditions, caused when an overactive immune system attacks healthy cells in the body. Others develop over time, perhaps due to diet or lifestyle, and may cause only minor pain or discomfort.
Conditions, other than cancer, that may cause blood in stool include:
Anal fissures: Small tears in the lining of the anus may be caused by constipation, difficult bowel movements or sexual activity.
Crohn’s disease or colitis: These auto-immune conditions may cause inflammation of the digestive system, leading to diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Diarrhea: Runny stools caused by illness, contaminated food or overindulgences may result in a sore or inflamed anus and blood streaks that appear on toilet paper after multiple bathroom trips.
Food poisoning: Tainted food may lead to infections that cause severe digestive distress.
Diverticulosis: Pouches in the lining of the colon, called diverticula, may become inflamed or infected.
Hemorrhoids: Swollen blood vessels in the rectum or on the anus may develop due to constipation or frequent sitting.
Ulcers: Open sores in the lining of the stomach or bowels are often caused by a bacterial infection.
Some of these conditions may heal or resolve themselves within a few days. But if they produce blood in the stool at any time, you should still tell your doctor, Dr. Kachaamy says.
“Sometimes blood in the stool can be caused by benign conditions such as hemorrhoids, a small fissure after constipation or an infection and can resolve on its own,” he says. “However, bleeding from cancer or inflammatory bowel disease can also be intermittent, and so any bleeding needs to be investigated.”
Assess your risk
Our Risk Management Tool helps you evaluate your risk for the most common cancer types and gives you resources to help manage your risk for developing cancer.
Symptoms that may accompany rectal bleeding
In addition to bleeding, other symptoms may develop from some of these conditions. It’s important to tell your doctor about all the symptoms you’ve been experiencing and any family or personal history that may be related to your condition.
Other symptoms may include:
- Itching or burning in the anus
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Nausea or vomiting
- Cramps
- Bloating
- Pain
- Fever
Rectal bleeding and cancer
Blood in the stool often is a sign of bleeding in some area of the digestive tract, from the esophagus to the anus. And while bleeding may occur for a number of reasons, including the conditions listed above, it’s important to either rule out cancer or catch it when signs appear.
Cancer develops when mutated or damaged cells grow out of control. In many cases, the damage has affected the systems in the cells that regulate their growth and division. Cancers in the digestive system often develop in the soft lining of the esophagus, stomach, bowels or rectum and typically cause inflammation and bleeding.
