How to Make Homemade Fried Onion Rings

Fried onion rings are a restaurant favorite but they can be easily made from home. This recipe offers a light batter that puffs up wonderfully, offering delightfully crispy and perfect onion rings.

How Do You Make Homemade Onion Rings?

First of all, you need a good recipe for batter. And no worries, onion ring batter can be easily made from everyday ingredients. It's not hard to make and can be mixed in seconds.

While you are making your batter, preheat your oil in a large pot or deep fat fryer. Use a medium heat setting. (Make sure the pot is deep to prevent boiling over of oil when you add your onion rings. Pot contents will bubble up and it is important for safety reasons to allow enough room for this.)

Onions rings do not need a high heat. They are not dense so they cook up quickly. If your oil is too hot, the onion rings will turn brown and bitter, instead of puffing up into the delicious golden treats they can be.

Follow the cooking and safety tips in this Hub to make your own delicious homemade onion rings.

If you are using a large, deep pot instead of a deep fryer, follow the safety tips below

• Make sure that you do not overfill your pot with oil. When oil becomes heated and when it is deep-frying, it will bubble up and could boil over onto the stove and cause a fire. A pot that is half full of oil contains too much oil for safe deep-frying.
• If using a pot, place pot at back of stove
• Watch fat closely to avoid overheating & risk of fire. You do not need high temperatures.
• Keep a lid close by, in case of fire, for quick and safe extinguishing
• Always keep hot fat in a safe spot, never at front of stove
• When you are finished cooking homemade onion rings, remove pot from element and when it has cooled, place it on a board on the counter, out of the way of small children
• ALWAYS take safety precautions when deep-frying, adopting habits that will protect you and others

Why Use a Deep Fryer to Cook Onion Rings?

While you can use a deep pot to fry your onion rings in, a deep fryer is a safe tool, which allows for easy temperature control and, best of all, a handy basket for lifting out onion rings. If using a deep fat fryer, place well back from the counter edge and make sure cord can't be snagged or pulled.

Onion Ring Batter

Into a small bowl:

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Shake of paprika

Shake of seasoning salt

1/2 cup water

Combine dry ingredients and whisk together to mix.

Add water and whisk until onion batter is smooth. Set Aside.

Slice onions 1/8-1/4" inch thick and separate into rings.

Drop onions into batter in bowl and stir gently with a spoon. This saves time, over dipping each ring separately into batter. Make sure all onion rings are coated with batter.

Using a fork, drop one onion ring into fat to test temperature. Your onion ring should not cook too quickly or turn dark. If necessary, reduce temperature.

You want your fried onion rings to puff up and turn golden brown, not overcook. If they over cook they will taste bitter.

When fat is ready, gently drop onion rings into pot or place in fryer basket and lower into fryer.

When onions rings are golden, using a slotted spoon lift into a metal strainer to drain. If using a fryer, simply lift the basket and allow your onion rings to drain.

• Test your oil by dropping in one onion ring to check that it doesn't over-brown
• Make sure your onion rings are separated as they cook in the oil so they don't stick together
• Lightly turn onion rings, so they cook evenly on both sides
• Use a slotted spoon to life onion rings from hot fat (if cooking them in a pot)
• If using a deep fryer with a basket, allow onion rings to drain of oil, so they aren't greasy

Further Reading About Deep Frying

• The Best Fryer Cookbook Ever
• The Fearless Frying Cookbook
• Over 100 Delicious Deep Fryer Recipes: How to Use Your Deep Fryer to Prepare an Endless Number of Mouth Watering Fried Foods for the Whole Family
• The Ultimate Fryer Cookbook
• Fried and True: Crispy and Delicious Dishes From Appetizers to Desserts
• Delicious Deep Fried Food: the Ultimate Collection of the World's Finest Deep Fried Recipes
• 101 Delicious Deep Fryer Recipes
• Breaded Fried Foods

Onion rings are a treat that can be prepared and enjoyed at home--and, best of all, you aren't limited to a standard restaurant serving of around 8-10 onion rings. When you have a hankering for a crispy and delicious snack, you can make your own homemade onions rings in just minutes.