Pickled Red Onions-Curtido

As simple as pickled red onions may look, it one of the most requested recipes when posted in one of my food photos. Many refer to these as curtido, in Spanish. I have lost count how many times I have featured the onions on several of my posted recipes. It was time for this delicious and simple recipe to have it’s own blog post!

Don’t Complicate Things!

You will come across a few variations on how to prepare this recipe. Stick with what you feel works best for you. Some people like to cook the onions slightly before. Some add only lime juice. Many prefer using different hot peppers, more mild and that’s perfectly fine. Heck, if you prefer to take it out all together, that’s fine too! I do prefer combining the lime juice with the vinegar in my recipe. In the past I have only used lime juice and feel that the onions spoil faster when I don’t use the vinegar. It’s up to you!

Glass, Glass, Baby! LOl!

Invest in some glass jars. Try to get out of the habit of storing salsas, chile sauces or pickled foods in plastic storage containers.

Cochinita Pibil!

That’s the first recipe that comes to mind when I think of curtido de cebolla (pickled onions). That bright orange color of the pibil and that intense fiushia purple/pink color of the onions. The pibil onions are typically prepared with habanero peppers and sour orange juice, Delicous!

Intimidated by habanero?

I used to be! Not anymore. I love, love, love the flavor of habanero in my salsa recipes and in this easy onion recipe. Hot sauce or chiltomate salsa, I enjoy them very much when prepared with habanero.

Mix it up!!

As you will discover, my recipes for the pickled red onions will vary from one post to another. I like to add crushed red chiles sometimes. A little drizzle of oil to finish taste good to me. Make the recipe your own.

Delicious on many dishes!

Try some on Pollo Adobado(Beer Can Chicken) or how about on some Blackened Fish Tacos? I’ll take some of each!

Rings or strips?

It depends on what day it is! Lol! I never really think about how I will slice the chile peppers. Only when I use habaneros do I minced of slice extra thin!

On this day of curtido, I charred some chile guero!

I wish I could say this was all my idea, but it wasn’t. I was watching Patti Jinich a few weeks back and saw her adding the charred yellow banana peppers to her onions! I love it! My family loved it too! Make sure you get an extra large jar so you can fit everything!

Dry roast the chile guero on a hot comal(griddle) until blackened in some spots. You want them to soften slightly as well. Once the onions are mixed, just layer the onions with the peppers in the jar. Seal tight and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before enjoying. It’s that easy!