
Remember that delicious cucumber mint salad I posted about on Facebook earlier in the week from GNOWFGLINS that I added those beautiful fermented red onions to? These are those onions. Fermented onions are quickly becoming one of my favorite ferments. They add an amazing depth of flavor to so many dishes. I add them on top of green salads, chopped up and mixed into cold salads, even in hot dishes. If you use them in a hot dish, mix them in after the dish is cooked to keep the probiotic benefits. The brine from these onions is delicious as well. It works beautifully in place of vinegar in salad dressings or potato salad. You can also use the fermented onions in place of fresh onions in my Lemon Poppyseed Dressing.
And the best part… they are purple! Purple is my favorite color so any food that I can make purple is a super bonus. These onions came from the organic farm up the road from us that the boys and I are working at. We helped plant these beauties and I’ve been waiting ever so patiently for them to be big enough to pick so I could ferment them.
Fermented Red Onions
- 4 red onions (or as many as you want to make)
- 2% salt brine (19 gms of salt per 1 quart of filtered water)
Trim off root end. Peel of outer layer of skin and save the skin. Slice onions thinly. Place skins in the bottom of your Pickl-it and pack sliced onions on top. I filled a 1.5L jar with my 4 med sized onions. Adding the skins helps make the color deeper so putting them in is optional. Weigh onions down with a Dunk’R and let set for about a week. Once bubble activity dies down, remove to cold storage. In an airtight vessel, these will last a good year or so.














Hi Melanie-
Great website… and… great kombucha I bought at the farmer’s market last week! Quick question… are you able to let me know which organic farm you are writing about? Do they have a booth at the market? Thanks so much!
-Rachel
Hi Rachel! I help out at North Star Farms (in Carpio). They manage the North Prairie Farmers Market. They are a CSA so they don’t bring produce to the market but they do have garlic (which is amazing BTW).
[...] you love onions as much as I do? If so, you’ll probably love this recipe for fermented red onions from Melanie at Pickle Me Too. Yum! I can’t wait to make a batch of these. I love onions and I really love red onions. [...]
[...] pods at a time and it takes a long time to get enough for a side dish for four hungry eaters. Her red onions are awesome, [...]
I’m about to try this! It looks wonderful!
Do you think the onion skins have any amount of phytic acid or lectins or tannins? The red effect looks great but I am trying to avoid high phytic acid, as well as lectins and tannins. All bind with minerals to some extent and interfere with mineral absorbtion.
Will appreciate your answer to this so much!
[...] So far (the smaller bottle is a week out in that picture) it has been good. No mold or spoilage. I will update as the weeks go by. The onions I did have to make a brine but it was super easy: water and 19 grams of salt per quart of water. That recipe was from Pickle Me Too (here: http://www.picklemetoo.com/2012/08/03/fermented-red-onions/) [...]