Mexican Pickled Onions with Lime Juice are how I get my onion fix without the raw bite. I love the snappy flavor of onions, especially in Mexican food, but I don’t like them raw. A few seconds in boiling water and half an hour in lime juice and salt turn a red onion into bright pink, crunchy slivers that keep the flavor and lose the harshness.
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They take five minutes of hands-on work and three ingredients: red onion, lime juice, and salt. The quick blanch softens the slices so the lime can pickle them in thirty minutes instead of overnight, and fresh lime gives them a brighter, fruitier tang than any vinegar pickle. I keep a jar in my fridge at all times, and a few slivers make a plain taco or sandwich taste finished.
Ingredient Notes
Like I said, there are only three simple ingredients.
Red onion: One large red onion fills a pint jar. Slice it as thin as you can, with a sharp knife or a mandoline. White or yellow onions work too. They won’t turn pink and they’re a little less sweet, but they pickle the same way.
Lime juice: Squeeze it fresh. You need half a cup, which takes about six limes. In the Yucatán, where these onions go on nearly everything, including cochinita pibil and pollo pibil, cooks pickle them in naranja agria, or sour orange. It’s hard to find in the US, so I use lime, which gets close. The result is sharper and missing some of the bittersweet orange flavor of the original, but it’s still the right pickle for tacos and tostadas.
Regular orange juice or Meyer lemon juice might seem like good substitutes for sour orange, but they don’t have enough acid to pickle the onions.
Salt: Salt does more than season here. It draws water out of the onion and softens it, which helps the lime juice work its way in. I use kosher salt for the clean flavor.
How To Make Mexican Pickled Onions
Put a kettle on first. While the water heats, slice the onion and put it in a glass or ceramic bowl, since you want something heatproof that won’t react with the lime juice. Pour the boiling water over the onions, stir, and drain them after about ten seconds. You’re not cooking them, just taking the raw edge off.
Put the drained onions back in the bowl with the lime juice and salt, stir well, and leave them on the counter for thirty minutes. The color deepens to bright pink as they sit. They’re ready to eat at that point, and they keep getting better after a day in the fridge.
Pack them into a jar, brine and all, and refrigerate for up to three weeks. When the onions are gone, save the brine. I whisk it with olive oil and a spoonful of Dijon mustard for an oniony lime salad dressing, then scatter a few slivers of onion over the salad.
Why Blanch the Onions?
Blanching is optional, and plenty of cooks skip it. I do it for two reasons. It takes away the harsh raw bite, which is exactly the part of raw onion I don’t like, and it softens the slices enough to pickle in thirty minutes instead of hours. If you like your pickled onions sharper, leave this step out.
Pickled Onions Without Vinegar: Why Lime
Most pickled onion recipes use vinegar, usually apple cider, white, or rice vinegar. I skip it. Lime juice gives these a brighter, fruitier tang that tastes fresher and suits Mexican food, where vinegar pickles taste flat and harsh by comparison. If you’re out of limes, lemon juice or any vinegar will still pickle the onions, and rice vinegar is the mildest of the bunch. The flavor will be different, but you’ll still have pickled onions.
Adding Chiles and Other Extras
I usually slice a jalapeño into the bowl along with the onion, since I almost always have one around. A habanero adds a lot more heat, and one is plenty for a whole jar. Thinly sliced radishes or carrots, a smashed garlic clove, a bay leaf, or a pinch of Mexican oregano all work too. Add the carrots before the hot water and everything else after you drain it.
What To Serve With It
With Mexican food, these are close to mandatory. I pile them on Spicy Shrimp Tostadas, Chicken Tacos, Mexican Shredded Beef Tacos, Air Fryer Carnitas Tacos, and Blackened Fish Tacos, and they cut the richness of Beef Birria, Quesabirria Tacos, enchiladas, and Tamales. A spoonful on Chilaquiles Rojos makes breakfast.
They travel well beyond Mexican food, too. Try them with Korean Gochujang Chicken, on The Best Vegan Chickpea Burgers, Falafel sandwiches, an Elk Burger, or next to a plate of fried chicken. I also put them on scrambled eggs, and bagels with cream cheese and lox.
Mexican Pickled Onions with Lime Juice
Robin Donovan
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion halved and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup lime juice from about 6 limes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
- Place the sliced onion in a heatproof, non-reactive bowl (glass or ceramic). Pour the boiling water over the onion to cover, stir, and let sit for about 10 seconds. Drain in a colander.
- Return the onion to the bowl, add the lime juice and salt, and stir to mix well.
- Let sit for 30 minutes before serving. Store in a covered glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
2. If you don’t have limes, lemon juice or vinegar will work, though the flavor will be different. Regular orange juice and Meyer lemon juice aren’t acidic enough to pickle the onions.
Nutrition
I don’t blanch and I don’t add any salt, so if you’re on a low salt diet just skip salt! I use red onions and habanero chilli, I wouldn’t have it any other way. No idea how long they last without salt as we eat them within 3 days (I pickle one large onion at a time) so had no chance to test it. They are too addictive!
I really like how this recipe shows simple steps with big flavor. Clear presentation like this makes it easy for anyone to try new ideas in their own kitchen.
I love these and usually keep a jar (or 2) in my fridge. But I don’t blanch or add any water to my jars. They keep for weeks (sometimes) in the fridge. I use in sandwiches, salads, rice, beans, greens, and just straight out the jar.
I boil small jars and lids , fill jars with
Onion mixture and store in fridge for up to 6-months only because they get eaten by then, they get very good after 3-4 months the juice turns onion purple or red onion color. Bon appétit. Thanks, Ray