These pickled onion recipes are a speedy way to perk up any meal

From a Mexican pickle to top your taco to bitey red onions for a burger, these are all easy to make but full of punchy flavour.

Source: Hardie Grant Books

Love the bitiness of pickled onion? We do too - along with how easy it is to make. Prep these and leave them to stand while you make the rest of your meal, and you've got an almost instant flavour boost. Or have a jar in the fridge to perk up meals all week.

Quick pickled onion

This simple four-ingredient (just red onion, salt, sugar and red wine vinegar) recipe from O Tama Carey will add crunch and tang to anything from a burger to a charceuterie board. This one needs two hours of standing time, but once it's done, you can keep this in the fridge for a week.

Pickled red onion Source: Benito Martin

Sumac pickled onions

Sumac, a reddish-purple spice with lovely tart-fruity notes that's popular in Middle Eastern and African cooking, joins the pickle party here. Made straight in the jar, this pickle can be eaten straight away, or kept in the fridge for up to two weeks. You can also use the same basic recipe for other vegetables, such as radish or broccoli.

Sumac pickled onions Source: Tammi Kwok

Yucatán pickles

This vibrant Mexican red onion pickle, make with red wine vinegar, garlic, dried oregano and peppercorns, is right at home on a taco, but also great for sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs. Best chilled for at least 3 hours before using, to allow the flavour to develop.

Yucatan pickles Source: Hardie Grant Books

Lime-pickled red onions

This Persian-inspired pickle uses lime juice rather than vinegar to give that sharp bite that's so refreshing in the mouth. It's the perfect condiment for flatbreads with marinated chicken and saffron butter.

Flatbreads with lime-pickled red onion Source: Quadrille / Mowie Key

Sweet-and-sour pickled onions

Let's not leave the whole picked onion out of the fun. If you've got a bit more time - these need to steep for two weeks - then try this recipe. It's a classic British lunch addition or snack, and you can change the spices to suit your tastes.

Sweet and sour pickled onions Source: SBs / Stockfood

Charred pickled onions

In this recipe, shared by Andrew Ballard in the new season of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, the onions get quite a different treatment: a thorough charring, before being placed in the pickling liquid and then compressed in a vacuum-sealed bag (you can also place in a zip log back, excluding the air). Ballard then uses some of the pickling liquid in a sauce for pan-fried venison, which is served up with the pickled onions.

Charred venison and pickled onions Source: Kitti Gould

Discover the big wide world of pickles, from kimchi to sauerkraut, in our pickle recipe collection.