Old-Fashioned Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar
All summer long there was a bowl of these in grandma's fridge, topped up as fast as it emptied. Cool, crisp, sweet and sharp — cucumbers and onions in vinegar were the side that turned up next to everything from Sunday ham to a Tuesday burger, and there was always a fork missing because someone was standing at the open fridge eating them straight from the dish.
There's barely anything to it, but one small step makes all the difference: salt the cucumber slices first. Fifteen minutes with a little salt draws out the water that would otherwise turn them limp and water down your brine — so they stay properly crisp and the vinegar stays punchy. Pat them dry, tumble everything together, and let the fridge do the rest.
The sweetness is entirely to taste — some grandmas barely sweetened them, others made them nearly like a pickle. Start light and find your family's version.
Old-Fashioned Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar
The crisp, sweet-sour summer salad grandma kept in the fridge all season.
Ingredients
- 3 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 small white or red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp salt (to draw out water)
- 120 ml white or cider vinegar
- 80 ml water
- 50 g sugar (to taste)
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped dill (optional)
Method
- Salt the cucumbers. Toss the slices with the 1 tsp salt in a colander and leave 15 minutes to draw out water — the crisp-keeping trick. Pat dry.
- Brine. Whisk the vinegar, water, sugar and pepper until the sugar dissolves. Taste: more sugar for sweeter, more vinegar for sharper.
- Combine. Add the cucumbers, onion and dill; toss to coat and press down to submerge.
- Chill. Cover and chill at least 1 hour (better over a day or two). Keeps a week in the fridge.
Soak the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes first if you find raw onion too fierce — it takes the bite off without losing the crunch.
Tips for crisp, punchy cucumbers
Salt first
Fifteen minutes of salting draws out the water that turns cucumbers limp and dilutes the brine.
Slice them thin
Thin, even slices soak up the brine fast and stay pleasant to eat. A mandoline earns its keep here.
Taste the brine
Sweet-to-sharp is a family preference. Balance it in the bowl before the cucumbers go in.
Questions, answered
How do I keep the cucumbers crisp?
Salt them first — 15 minutes draws out the excess water that would dilute the brine and turn them limp. Pat dry before they go in.
How long do they last?
Up to a week, covered, in the fridge — crispest on days one and two, softening gradually after. It's a quick fridge salad, not a shelf-stable pickle.
What vinegar is best?
Plain white for a sharp, clean tang; cider for something mellower and fruitier. Both are traditional — use whatever's in the cupboard.
Can I make it less sweet?
Yes — the sugar's to taste. Start with half and adjust. Barely-sweet or quite sugary are both "old-fashioned," depending on whose grandma you ask.