Mexican Pickled Onions (Yucatan Style)

An opened jar of pickled Mexican onions with a label on a wooden board.

5 from 1 vote

Mexican Pickled Onions (Yucatan Style)

This Mexican Pickled Onions recipe is unique, delicious and addictive. What makes it special (and Yucatan-style) is the addition of sour citrus juice. But not to worry, you don’t need to go searching for sour oranges to make this. Grapefruit and limes sub in beautifully. Best of all, this recipe comes together in under 20 minutes and your pickles will be ready the next day.

Prep Time20

Pickling Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: condiment, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Author: Luay Ghafari

Cost: $8

Ingredients

4 Limes
1 Grapefruit
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Black peppercorns
1 tsp Allspice
1 Garlic cloves
2 Red onions - Sliced into thin wedges about ¼ inch thick
1 tsp Dried oregano - Use Mexican oregano if you have it.
½ cup White vinegar
½ cup Water

Instructions

Juice the citrus. Juice your grapefruit and limes into a measuring cup. You need about 1 cup of citrus juice.
Spices. To your clean mason jar or pickling jar, add the salt, sugar, peppercorns, allspice, and garlic clove.
Pack. Pack the jar with the sliced onions. Make sure to press down and pack the onions in the jar. They will shrink as they pickle.
Add oregano. If using, add the oregano to the jar.
Pour citrus. Pour the citrus juice over the sliced onions.
Pour brine. Combine water and white vinegar in a measuring cup and pour it over the onions. You want to make sure the onions are fully submerged in the citrus and vinegar brine. Note: Depending on the size of the jar, you may need more brine. Just prepare it with the same one-to-one ratio.
Seal and shake. Seal the jar and shake it up to dissolve the salt and sugar.
Pickle. Place the jar in the refrigerator to pickle. The onions will be ready in 24 hours, but I would wait at least 48 hours before enjoying them.

Notes

Refer to the post above for step-by-step recipe photos.

Ingredient notes:

Citrus: Traditionally you would use the juice of sour oranges. Sour oranges are not readily available, so you can substitute by using the juice of grapefruit and lime, which are more common and available year-round. You can also use bottled sour orange juice if you can find it.
Onions: For this recipe, I recommend using red onions for that gorgeous purple hue. You can use white onions in a pinch but do try to use red ones.
Spices: Whole black peppercorns and whole allspice give the recipe an earthy flavor. Allspice is available in Latin, Asian and Caribbean markets.
Sugar: You don’t have to use sugar, but it does help round out the flavor of the sour citrus.
Vinegar: In addition to the citrus juice, I like to use a standard water/vinegar brine to top off the jar. I use plain white distilled vinegar.
Organo: I like adding dried oregano to the pickle. If you can find dried Mexican oregano, use that. But standard dried Greek oregano works too.

Feel free to add sliced habanero peppers if you want the pickles to be spicy!

This is a refrigerator pickle recipe, meaning that the finished product must be refrigerated. The pickled onions should last in the fridge for about 2-3 weeks before you start seeing some discoloration. Always use clean utensils (and not your fingers) when taking the onions out of the jar to help reduce the chance of cross-contamination.

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