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About This Homemade Onion Ring Recipe
Easy to follow, our recipe leverages a combination of a well calibrated mix of ingredients for the batter and the right technique to deliver cheerful, delicious, homemade onion rings.
With a crispy exterior and a perfectly cooked, soft onion center, they are pure indulgence and you can dish them up in about 30 minutes, start to finish, if you work efficiently.
Ingredients & Tips
Consider the notes on the ingredients below, the exact measurements are summarized in the Recipe Card.
Onion. The best onions to use are a large sweet onion variety such as Vidalia - not too pungent and cooks just perfectly within the batter casing. Other sweet or red onions are suitable too. Any sharper tasting onion variety such as yellow onion is best to be soaked in ice water prior to being used in the recipe - the organosulfur compounds absorbed from the soil that make onions pungent will be pulled into the water.
Flour. The less gluten forming proteins in the flour, the better the batter in terms of crunchy coating produced. See the detailed notes below on how we make onion rings crispy, but we generally use a combination of cake flour and rice flour. Realistically you can make the recipe with all-purpose flour but it would be best to add cornstarch to it to help with crispness.
Seasonings. Technically, you can use your favorite savory spices in the flour mixture to flavor it. We keep it simple with just kosher salt, black pepper and paprika. Add cayenne for heat or dried oregano for extra savory notes.
Beer. The beer contributes carbonation and flavor. Avoid very bitter beers or beers with citrusy, piney or otherwise incongruent flavors - they will not work here, save IPAs for drinking. Your best choice is a German style lager with bready, biscuity notes, lower bitterness and high carbonation (ex. Munich Helles, Czech pilsner, Dunkel, bock (Shiner Bock is so easy to find). From mass produced options something like Modelo or Dos Equis).
Cooking oil. We like to use peanut oil or simply vegetable oil to deep fry onion rings.
How to Make Onion Rings Crispy (& Extra Crispy)
There are numerous ways to make onion rings crispy. Some recipes call for a traditional Southern buttermilk and flour approach that requires the onion rings to set before they are fried; others use a more of a tempura style batter with egg yolk and soft wheat flour.
To create a crispy coating for onion rings we use a wet batter powered by a combination of flours and enlivened by a highly carbonated, sweetish beer.
For those concerned about the beer (even though all the alcohol cooks off) a non-alcoholic beer alternative or a plain soda water will work successfully. The carbonation makes for a lighter, more airy batter and is not to be missed.
Why It Works
The key to creating a crispy coating is to not allow the overdevelopment of gluten in the wet batter. Some gluten is very helpful, but generally not as much as is present in all-purpose flour.
To mix a batter that will produce a crispy coating for onion rings we use a combination of wheat flour and rice flour.
- Cake flour is better than all-purpose flour because it contains less gluten forming proteins. If you have it on hand, use it.
- Rice flour, being gluten free, further helps because it absorbs less moisture and oil and produces a crisp crust which tends to stay that way even as the onion rings cool down.
In the picture below, notice how the delicate, lacelike batter casing visually hints at the crispness of the fried batter. It literally foretells what the palate will experience in terms of texture. This batter was equal parts cake flour and rice flour.
In the video and some of the other pictures we demonstrate the batter with a 2:1 all-purpose flour and rice flour and you can observe the smoother casing around the onion rings - still very crunchy, but the higher gluten content is noticable in the thickness of the casing.
Technique Matters Too
Using a very cold beer and not overmixing the batter or letting it sit before you begin using it are also important. Here is why.
Temperature is key. Cold beer or soda water retain their carbonation much better, making the batter more aerated. Additionally, cold liquids in general discourage gluten formation.
Not overmixing the batter is also directly related to preventing the formation of too much gluten. So is not allowing the batter to sit long enough for water to be fully absorbed by the wheat flour. This is why we encourage that you mix the batter in the last minute before you begin frying the onion rings.
Workflow: How to Make Onion Rings
Detailed steps with pictures are included in the Recipe Card that follows. This is the general overview of the workflow, followed by a demonstrational video.
Prep. Peel the onions and cut them into rings (about ¼ to ½ inches in width). Dust them with flour (a good way to get batter to stick to onion rings is to coat them with flour first and then dip them into the batter). Begin heating the oil and line up the ingredients for the beer batter.
Mix the batter and fry. When the oil reaches 350 F (and up to 375 F), mix the batter. Whisk the dry ingredients and gently stir in the beer, mixing lightly until just combined. A few lumps of flour are OK. Dip one onion ring at a time, drain excess batter, and fry no more than 6 rings at a time. Fry until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, flipping once so both sides get exposure to the hot oil. Drain over wire rack fitted baking sheet or paper towels.
Demonstrational Video
Chef's Tips
- To avoid soaking the onion rings in water in order to remove pungency be sure to use sweet onions - that way the step is not necessary.
- Cut the onion rings about ¼ to ½ inch thick - this helps achieve a balance between tender onion and crispy coating.
- If you use all-purpose flour substitute ¼ cup of the total amount of 1 ½ cups of flour with corn starch and be sure to use a very cold beer and not to overmix the batter.
- Do not allow the oil temperature to drop below 350 F. You may even start it higher, closer to 375 F because it will drop as you add the onion rings dipped in freshly made cold batter. Lower oil temperature will cause the absorption of too much oil by the coating.
How to Make Onion Ring Sauce
Classic onion ring sauce typically involves some sort of combination of mayonnaise and ketchup plus other ingredients to bring about zesty, spicy and acidic notes.
Our version adds Worcestershire sauce and yellow mustard for umami, and pickle juice for acidity. To make it you just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well together.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use a non-alcoholic beer or a plain soda water. In each case, be sure that the liquid is cold before you add it to the batter. Lower temperatures hold carbonation better.
A heavy bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven or a Japanese tempura frying pot (affiliate link) work best. We especially like using a tempura pot because it has a built in thermometer and a partial lid which prevents excessive oil splatter and also serves as a temporary draining rack (often very convenient).
As I already mentioned, beer battered onion rings become extra crispy from the rice flour in the batter. A ratio in favor of rice flour creates an even crispier result (for example 1:1 such as ¾ cup wheat and ¾ cup rice flour). Another trick you can employ is to use cake flour (instead of all-purpose) as it contains less gluten forming proteins. Finally, do not overmix the batter.
Reheating
Onion rings are very filling and it is not uncommon to have leftovers. Store them in an airtight container and refrigerated.
The best way to reheat leftover onion rings is onto a wire rack fitted baking sheet and warm them through in a 400 F pre-heated oven for a couple of minutes.
You Might Enjoy
Beer Battered Fries | Beer Battered Fish Tacos | Beer Battered Fried Cheese Curds
Recipe
Homemade Onion Rings (Extra Crispy)
Equipment
- 1 tempura frying pot OR
- 1 Dutch oven or other deep and heavy bottomed pot
Ingredients
Onion Rings
- 2 large Vidalia sweet onions or similar*
- 4 tablespoon all-purpose or cake flour, to dust over raw onion rings
- 1 cup all-purpose or cake flour**
- ½ cup rice flour
- ½ tablespoon paprika, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup beer such as a golden lager*** or plain soda water must be very cold
- cooking oil for frying, as needed
Onion Ring Sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pickle juice, or to taste
Instructions
Homemade Onion Rings
- Peel the onions and leave them whole. Slice them in rounds, between ¼ and ½ inch thick, then separate the rings from each other. Place them in a bowl, dust them with the ¼ cup of AP or cake flour and toss to coat well.
- In another bowl mix together the 1 cup of AP or cake flour, the ½ cup of rice flour, the paprika, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Add enough cooking oil to your frying vessel of choice to create 3 inches of depth. Heat cooking oil to 350 °F (177 °C) to 375 °F (191 °C)
- When the oil reaches temperature, add the 1 cup of cold beer to the flour mixture and gently work it in, being careful not to overmix. Some flour lumps are OK.
- Dip each flour coated onion ring into the batter and gently drop it in the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pot - 5-6 onions rings maxium.
- Fry to golden brown and flip each onion ring once for more even exposure to the oil. This takes about 2-3 minutes, depending on the size and the actual oil temperature.
- Gently lift the fried onion rings from the oil and allow them to drain from excess oil over a wire fitted baking sheet or paper towel lined plate. Serve hot.
Onion Ring Sauce for Dipping
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix them well. Taste and adjust any ingredient as you deem necessary.
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