Fermented cocktail onions have a wonderful mellow pickled onion flavour that is great with a plate full of vareniki or in a cheese sandwich. They are perfect for parties, sliced up in salads or eaten in tacos.

Fermenting onions is a great option for anyone who finds raw onion to be too strong. The mild flavour is easy to digest, and they will last for at least a month in the fridge. They are a great replacement for any recipe calling for raw onions.

Pickled Cocktail Onions

Fermented cocktail onions - sweet, sour and mild

Fermented cocktail onions are a delicious crisp and crunchy pickled onion, with a mellow and salty flavour. Perfect for a party, with cheese or sliced into salads.

Author: Emillie
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 1 quart jar 1x
Category: Pickles
Method: Fermented

Scale

Ingredients

12 cocktail onions or 2 large onions sliced
Brine solution (3 tbsp non-iodized salt in 1 Lt filtered water)
Culture (optional – see notes)

Instructions

Cut the ends off the onions and peel them.
Place them in a glass fermenting container with a weight to keep them submerged below the brine.
Cover with the brine solution.
Leave somewhere cool to ferment for 1 week.
Store in the fridge and consume within 1-2 months.

Notes

I always recommend being very sanitary for all your ferments, especially if you are fermenting for more that just a few days and if you are not using a starter culture.
I usually use a mason jar with a glass weight but it does have a risk of contamination from free range molds, yeasts and bacteria. If you are making a large amount, then I recommend using an airlock system or a fido.
Onions are one of the vegetable ferments that don’t need a culture. If you want to use 1 tbsp of culture, I recommend either sauerkraut juice or a commercial vegetable culture.