10+ of the Best DIY Onion Ring Recipes to Try
Love the onion rings prepared by the best fast food restaurants near you, like the Onion Rings at Freddy’s? Stop by for this savory snack today or include onion rings in your choice of combo meal. Want to find the best onion ring recipes and make your own? Regarding the preparation of onion rings at home, people are often curious about the following:
● How to make onion rings using different cooking methods
● A range of the best onion ring recipes from more classic preparations to unique approaches
● Tips for making delicious onion rings
● Ways to serve or incorporate onion rings
Keep reading for cooking and preparation tips, recipes to try, and more!
Tips for Making and Enjoying the Best Onion Ring Recipes
In exploring the many highly-rated onion ring recipes online, there may seem to be as many commonalities between them, as there are variations. To find the best onion ring recipe for you, one (likely familiar) tip is to try out different recipes. Below, find 5 other tips to consider in making and enjoying onion rings.
Think about your onion selection. Depending on the recipe, the ingredient list may only include the number of onions or size. If you are wondering about the best onions for onion rings, sweet onions like Vidalia onions and yellow onion varieties are often recommended. The best onions for you to use may also be determined by your flavor preferences or what you already have at home.
Soak the onions after cutting. To soften the rings and the flavor of the onion, many recipes call for soaking the onions. The time and soaking liquid may vary with some recipes specifying water or buttermilk for soaking or times of 30 minutes or overnight. At Serious Eats, freezing the onions is used for a similar purpose and as a method for troubleshooting common onion ring problems.
Consider double-battering your onions. Among other onion ring tips, Tasting Table shares that double battering the onion rings helps ensure an extra crispy exterior. Sometimes, the same dry and liquid components are used twice, but some recipes call for two different dry coatings or wet mixtures.
Try different batter formulas to find your favorite texture. As explained at America’s Test Kitchen, some batters contribute to heartier, golden brown onion rings while others result in crispy, airy bites! For example, if you are looking for a lighter onion ring, these experts recommend incorporating ingredients like cornstarch or baking powder.
Explore alternative ways to incorporate onion rings into your meal. Many of the best onion ring recipes are intended as a side dish or an appetizer. However, onion rings can also enhance other dishes. For example, try adding onion rings on top of sandwiches or steakburgers or using them in place of other more traditional crunchy components on dishes like salads. This recipe from Molly Yeh via Food Network illustrates how using onion rings on a sandwich, as she does here, brings extra layers of flavors to the overall dish. In this video, Valerie Bertinelli at Food Network makes onion rings to use as the crispy component in her version of a wedge salad.
A Collection of the Best Onion Ring Recipes to Try
When you are craving onion rings, the best recipes for you might be the ones with your favorite seasonings or that make use of readily available ingredients. Your selections may also be based on the reviews of fellow cooks, the name of a chef or culinary resource, or simply the cooking method. As you explore the following collection of onion ring recipes, you might find one or more that appeal to you!
Ways to Cook Onion Rings
Whether you are looking for a crunchy mouthful or a crispy, airy bite, onion rings can be prepared and cooked in many different ways. Learn more about using your stovetop and oven to try out some of the best onion ring recipes, as well as other cooking equipment possibilities:
Oven-baked: This recipe from Brooklyn Farm Girl explains how to bake onion rings and reinforces the importance of a lighter coating to avoid soggy rings. As they do in many of the best onion ring recipes and other preparations that call for a crunchy coating, breadcrumbs further enhance the textural element of these rings.
Deep-fried on stovetop: In this recipe from Eating on a Dime, find a step-by-step guide and a video tutorial for deep-frying onion rings on a stovetop. You’ll also find tips to help you through the process and recommendations for different seasoning variations to try.
Use of specialty equipment: If you have a deep fryer at home, you can also prepare onion rings using that equipment and will likely find directions for doing so in the product guide. Similarly, air-frying onion rings is another popular choice. In this recipe from Love and Lemons, learn more about the benefits of using an air fryer to make onion rings and recipes for different sauce options to try, such as tartar sauce and creamy chipotle sauce.
Batters for the Best Onion Ring Recipes
The batters for onion rings often include both dry and wet components. In terms of the recipes for this dish, you’ll find a range of batter ingredients, as well as how onions are prepared prior to frying. Find some of the various approaches below:
Flour batter: The dry mixture used in this onion ring recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen is a fairly typical flour blend. However, the liquid component incorporates sour cream to help the coating adhere to the onion rings. One of the provided tips from this cook encourages the use of a thermometer for oil temperature management.
Beer batter: This recipe from Guy Fieri at Food Network employs the double batter approach, the first of which includes flour and seasonings and the second of which is the beer and flour mixture. In this recipe, the buttermilk soak is also recommended after cutting the onion rings.
Pancake batter: This three-step recipe from Allrecipes may appeal to those with extra dry pancake mix on hand or who may be looking for a simple ingredient list. Reviewers recommend adding your favorite seasonings to this batter for even more flavor.
Cornmeal batter: Many onion ring batters incorporate multiple dry ingredient combinations in addition to seasonings. In this recipe shared at Saveur, cornmeal, flour, cornstarch and baking powder aim to achieve extra crunchy rings.
Sauces and Seasonings to Complete the Best Onion Ring Recipes
Ultimately, perfecting your best onion ring recipe may come down to the seasoning or the sauce. If you plan to use pre-made onion rings but add your own seasoning or want to change up your favorite DIY onion ring recipe, discover several seasoning and sauce ideas below:
Enjoy your favorite Freddy’s Fry Sauce®. Even though you are making your own onion rings today, you can still enjoy them with your favorite specialty sauce from Freddy’s. At Freddy’s, we offer three different sauces to enjoy on our steakburgers, sides and more. All of our sauces are creamy, but if you like a little smokiness or spice with your dip, we’ve got those options too! Try our classic Freddy’s Famous Fry Sauce® or one of our other selections!
Try a unique seasoning idea! In Tasting Table’s list of unique onion ring seasonings, one playful approach incorporates a beloved onion pairing through the use of sour cream and onion dip mix. If this flavor combination is already one of your favorites, it may be a great choice for your next batch of onion rings. If not, explore the 14 other seasoning recommendations from Tasting Table.
Add some heat. Looking for a bit of a chili and cayenne kick with your onion rings? This recipe from Taste of Home incorporates these ingredients in addition to the flour mixture. It also employs the buttermilk soaking method, so don’t forget to account for that half hour in the overall recipe time.
Use the grill in your sauce-making: As shared by Bobby Flay at the Food Network, this onion ring dipping sauce employs the grill. Complementing the crunchy buttermilk onion rings in this recipe, the aioli pairing adds a bit of smokiness from the grilled tomatoes and creaminess from the mayonnaise.
Unique Onion Ring Recipes
In recipes for onion rings, there is already a lot of variation given the options for preparation method, not to mention the seasonings and sauces. The four unique ideas included here illustrate alternatives to the most commonly used ingredients. Therefore, they may provide further inspiration for your own creativity in making or customizing onion rings.
No flour batter: Flour and frying often appear in many of the best onion ring recipes. However, this recipe from Over the Fire Cooking throws out these familiar parts of the onion ring process. Instead of a flour-based batter, ground beef and bacon surround the onion and the cooking happens on the grill!
No eggs or dairy: In this vegan-friendly recipe from BBC Good Food, sparkling water is the key to light, crispy onion rings. If you are looking for a fairly straightforward recipe with a small ingredient list, consider trying this one, especially if you are feeding a crew with various food considerations or preferences.
No breadcrumbs: In making onion rings, bread crumbs serve multiple purposes including their contributions to the crunchiness and golden color associated with this dish. The onion rings from Low Carb Yum use crushed pork rinds instead, as well as almond flour in place of all-purpose flour.
Chip form: Sharing a recent social media snack trend, Allrecipes explores how to make onion ring chips. Here, the crispiness is achieved due to the way the onion is cut and the grated cheese. Instead of being separated into rings, the onion is thinly sliced, and each thin slice is placed onto a prepared baking sheet with a light layer of grated cheese. This unique onion ring approach also employs the baking method for cooking.
8 Dos and Don’ts of the Best Onion Ring Recipes
Many of the best onion ring recipes provide helpful tips for onion ring preparation. In reviewing or trying out different recipes at home, you may also run across recipes that seem to disagree with others you may have looked at in terms of the best approach. Don’t let the variations dissuade you from trying a particular recipe. Do embrace trial and error as the way to find the best DIY onion ring recipe for you! Here are a few other Dos and Don’ts to consider in making onion rings:
● Do try a range of ring widths to find one that works well for your preferences, such as the coating-to-onion ratio and overall flavor.
● Do consider drying off your onions to reduce extra moisture. If you choose to soak the rings first, draining and patting them dry is especially encouraged.
● Do monitor your onion rings. From the temperature to the time, keep an eye on them, as the change from crispy to burned can happen quickly.
● Do be willing to make adjustments during your cooking process. A benefit of cooking onion rings in smaller batches or doing a test ring or two is that you can troubleshoot onion rings as needed without impacting the entire batch.
● Don’t forget that placing onion rings on paper towels after frying them helps remove extra oil.
● Don’t put your onion rings too close together. Whether on the baking sheet or in the air fryer basket, make sure that your rings have room!
● Don’t use just any oil for frying. Many of the best onion ring recipes specify an oil to use, if the rings will be deep-fried. For more information about oil and deep-frying, The Spruce Eats breaks down oil selection considerations for this cooking method and highlights canola oil as their choice for the best deep-frying oil.
● Don’t wait too long to enjoy your onion rings! They are best when enjoyed immediately after preparation.
According to the National Day Calendar, National Onion Rings Day is June 22. As with National Steakburger Day on February 24, this date is certainly not the only day on which to enjoy a favorite food. However, it might be the perfect occasion to make the best onion ring recipes that you’ve tried. On this day and throughout the year, you can also find mouth-watering onion rings and other savory sides at the Freddy’s near you. Don’t forget to sign up for Freddy’s Rewards to earn points on your next order of onion rings, frozen custard treats, steakburgers and any of your other favorite menu selections!