Oven-Fried Onion Rings

I never thought you could make really good onion rings without frying them, but these look fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

I got a bag of Kettle-brand Krinkle chips, no preservatives, no trans. fat, no cholesterol, no fried neither. it's delicious. my hunsband and I like very much. we enjoy it with no high cholesterol concern. Thanks for brought up this hand cooked and oven baked potato chips.

We love orion rings or any crispy snacks, but we are afraid of eating of any oil deep fried food. Thank for the recipe and the demonstration of home oven baked onion rings.

I made these Sunday night. We liked them a lot....the onion itself was just nicely and perfectly cooked...good onion flavor. We too have been trying to eat better foods and fewer things fried. I'm not sure that using potato chips as part of the crust on these will actually qualify these as a better alternative....but, they still are likely to be better than fried ones in that regard.

I think I should have pulsed the crackers and chips a little finer. There were too many big chunks that stuck on the rings. It wasn't bad, but I'm thinking smaller would still be better. They had a nice crunch and were nicely browned where they were resting on the cookie sheet in the oil that was spread there.

Also, I only used one onion and did not have enough batter. Next time, I'll double the buttermilk, flour and egg for the batter....better to have too much than not enough. If you were actually trying to cook two onions, don't think it could have been done as written.

Anyway, thanks for posting this. I also made your pizza last week and it turned out great too! Keep up the good work.....you are becoming one of my favorite sites.

Tried this on Monday and it was bloody good. Onions still had a little crunch, none of that "Onion slipping out of the batter when you bite in" problem.

I agree with the above poster - The batter-to-onion ratio works only for medium/small onions. If you're in doubt at all, make more in advance.

Never thought that you could 'fry' stuff in the oven, maybe I'd attempt to bake other deep fried items and see how it works. Thanks for the idea.

Wish you had also put the pictures of the oiled pan and/or the onions on it, just wondered how 'deep' the oil was. Since I only have small pans, I was thinking of doing a system of putting in the second pan 4 minutes after the first so that I don't have to wait too long to turn the onions.

Sorry about that. I was a little surprised when I went through my pictures and realized I had forgotten to take a picture of the onions on the pan. Guess I got a little too eager.

The 3 Tbs. of oil on a half sheet pan (approx 18-in. x 13-in.) just coats it easily. There's not much depth to the oil level.

I'm really looking forward to trying this - my girlfriend is a big onion ring fan ;)

Great recipe! I made these today to go with our dinner, and we were all surprised and impressed with how good they were. The coating has just the right amount of crunch, and there's no guilt about eating deep fried onion rings. The buttermilk batter really holds the coating well and has a pleasing cayenne and black pepper bite that isn't over powering. The onions were perfectly cooked and their sweetness worked well with the slight saltiness of the coating.
One note that others may be interested in--the coating is substantial, so you may not want to apply it too thickly. (I tried different variations and found a light coating tasted best in the end--although others may disagree.)
We'll never buy those those frozen "flaked and formed" rings again. Thanks for bringing this our way.

Oh, these were good. The cooking time was spot on.
I used jumbo sweet white onions, and the results were gone before I could get myself to the table. :lol: I had to wait for the second batch!

This is definitly going into my staple file.

These are really great: flavorful, good texture, and cooked just the right amount. I also appreciate the way that they avoid the classic tunnel-of-onion problem (where the onion pulls out of the coating like a handkerchief from the sleeve of a magician), though I suppose this may have something to do with the fact that I can now eat them instantly as soon as they're done. Thanks for testing and posting this recipe.

i lacked buttermilk and avoid eggs, so made it with fat-free half-n-half curdled with a couple tablespoons of vinegar. i also lacked potato chips so i used some oven-baked rosemary hors d'oeuvres crackers instead, haha. the rosemary is an interesting variation, but they're low-fat and have no trans fat either. not sure if i'd do the rosemary variation again but the plate of 'em sure disappeared rapidly anyway ;) for oil, i used olive oil, which worked great and is a healthy alternative. i second the vote to make a bit more batter than is called for. the floured onion soaked it up pretty rapidly and left some areas unbattered.

Try this tip from Cooks Illustrated on their oven baked fries to get a crunchiness similar to deep frying- if you have an oil pump-aresol bottle, spray the rings after they are on the pan (or ideally both sides right after you pull the rings out of the batter) with a thin spray of oil- i prefer olive oil). Because spraying the sides evenly coats the rings with oil, you'll get crunchier rings than if you had just laid them down on a thin layer of oil.

Nonstick spray also does the trick in case there are people that prefer not to use any oil at all. (though not as well)

I'm cooking for my family tonight, and using this recipe. I couldn't find kettle chips, so I'm hoping it'll turn out okay. I'll post the results.

Why do people take the time to post comments? Does anybody care what you have to say?

Actually, I care -- I read the comments to see if anyone else has tried the recipe, and their results.

Greater sample, more opinions. If you notice other sites like Allrecipes . com have similar comments for useful suggestions, such as adding/removing portions of ingredients or changing temperature times.

:)

I'm surprised that the onion itself wasn't discussed in more detail.
What kind of onion makes the best rings?
White, yellow, red?
Vidalia??

Aren't Vidalia onions sweeter and less 'sharp' than other kinds?
I would think they would make for better rings.

Don't use vidalia onions anywhere heat is applied. They get even sweeter (in a nasty sorta way). Of course, if you really need super sweet flavors, you could always use regular onions and dump 1/4 cup of sugar on them. UGH.

(a) Thanks! Can't wait to try them.

(b) Wow, what a cool format for recipes, merging Ingredients and Method in, essentially, a Gantt chart--have never seen that before, though intuitively I thought there must be something like--and here 'tis!

(Go easy, please; this from an auld, auld mech. engr.)

I used this recipe today...cut it in 1/2 for one person and omitted the potato chips (didn't have any and it was a spur of the moment thing) I used vidalia onions and it turned out fabulous! The onions were so juicy and the breading was nice and buttery crisp yum! Wanna see a picture? No? Too bad, here is one:
Edited: The image was no longer working (Michael)

sitting on a plate with my vegetarian sloppy joe ready to be wolfed down. Thanks for the recipe! ;)

After reading your report, I was inspired. I left work and went directly to Safeway. Picked up all the nessicary items, and headed home. They complimented supper that very night. Simple, cheap, great tasting, and the most expensive part happens to be the kettle chips. And who does not want a reason to buy some kettle chips?

I have reccomended this recepie to others, and will be sure to use it again. Thanks for the post.

Zero.

As for onions to use, I think walla wallas are the best for rings, if you can get them. They are huge, and pretty sweet. The size (in both diameter and ring thickness) makes them particularly easy to work with for rings... make 'em an inch thick I say. (Better onion to batter ratio for the end product.)

A local semi-fast-food join in these parts (Burgerville... they specialize in "high quality" fast food using local ingredients... really much closer to restaurant fare than most fast food) makes gigantic onion rings when the walla wallas are in season, and they are some of the best rings I've had. Most of my other favorites have also been walla wallas.

They do just fine with heat too, and don't get icky (like someone said for vidalias). At least not in my opinion.

Michael

Did you give your recipe to America's Test Kitchen, or did they come up with almost the exact same recipe? I just saw this recipe on PBS this past Saturday here in St Louis. If your interested in their recipe, go here:
http://americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3379&iSeason=8
You may need to register to actually see this. I can also PM if you're interested. Still sounds like a great recipe and I always like your and America's Test Kitchen's recipes since they almost always work as advertised -- I can't say that of many other recipes.

Mike

The recipe is credited to Cook's Country magazine. Cook's Country (as well as Cook's Illustrated) is owned by the same parent company and publisher as America's Test Kitchen.

Just a note to say that I tried doing slices of zucchini and whole crimini mushrooms along with the onion rings and they all worked very well!

I made these FANTASTIC onion rings yesterday for supper with Curry Chicken Kebabs from Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling and Entertaining 2008. My husband looked at me strangely when I suggested that we have them. Now he thinks they are the best thing since beer. We are planning on having them on the weekend again with hamburgers. The only thing I would suggest is to process the crackers and chips separately and mix or alternately in half and half as my food process was full with 30 crackers and 4 cups of chips and had a difficult time processing to the correct consistency.
I am planning on trying more of your suggestions, Mike.

What's the mass of the potato chips?

It's not really important - your using them to coat, so the exact amount is not as relevant as having enough to coat the rings...

I stumbled across this site looking for another recipe. I have been visiting every since! I made these onion rings last weekend. They were heavenly! So crisp and flavorful! Thanks for making an awesome site!

These took a bit more work than I hoped but for not fried they are pretty darn good. Would have been better if I had remembered to add salt to the past mixture! I just added it later though. I had to make due without the chips as I don't keep them on hand. I crush up some home made classic chex mix though and it added a bit more crunch and flavor. I will definitely make these again and play with my seasonings.

Thanks!

This recipe is phenomenal. I am a big fan of "oven-fried" foods, so I am forever trying out new recipes. I made a few modifications to this, but it turned out great -- in particular, I didn't have chips, so I just used some seasoned bread crumbs and cornmeal to make up the difference in the crumb coating. Also, I didn't have buttermilk, so I used skim milk with enough vinegar to sour it...a great substitute for buttermilk in any recipe. And finally, I used only nonstick spray, spritzed directly onto the pan, then on top of the rings, then on top of the rings again after I flipped them. One other trick: I employed my secret weapon, a nonstick silicone pan liner (the only brand name I've found is Silpat). Sadly, no leftovers! :o)

We've used typical yellow onions or Spanish onions for most cooking, but recently changed over to red onions. They're much more flavorful, they're large and they provide a more robust onion flavor across the board. In onion rings of any kind, or even onion "petals," they hold together well and you can easily take two rings together and coat, then fry. Having switched, we don't expect ever to go back.

(a bit later...)

We finally tested these, and they're not as good as oil-fried. Several reasons: First, the oven temp and time are 16 minutes, which means the onion bakes inside the breading. As such, the onion gradually dissolves, leaving far too much breading-to-onion ratio.

Secondly, because of oven frying the steam from the onion escapes through the breading, taking with it the flavor of the onion. Additionally, the buttermilk has a fairly evident flavor, which interferes with the more delicate onion flavor.

A thinner batter would help, and we use one made with club soda, cornstarch and instant mashed potatoes. About 2 inches of oil in a pan heated over medium high flame on the stove gives a nice frying heat, close enough for rock-n-roll to 375-degrees (F).

Coat with flour, dredge in batter, coat with Panko or the above breading. When it hits the hot oil, the outer coating seals immediately, trapping steam and flavor. Cooking time is only around 3 minutes, therefore the onion is closer to raw and retains some crunch.

All in all, the breading in this recipe is terrific! But the final product was too "bready" and much too alike to supermarket frozen rings, which aren't very good in our estimation. Here's a link to the deep-fried recipe we're using:
Crispy Panko Onion Rings

Funny how this exact recipe was shown on Americas Test Kitchen.

Cook's Country is published by the same folks that produce America's Test Kitchen.

simply amazing! I see people comparing those to their fried counterpart, there's no comparison, these are baked, the other is fried so you just can't compare, they are two different things, if you don't want onions coated in oil this recipe will must be your way to go

dayum... just cut your rings, drop them in buttermilk, then into a zip-lock filled with WHITE LILY PLAIN FLOUR, shake, then fry in hot peanut oil. these are like you plucked the wings off the onion ring fairy, tender and mouth watering. 'course, i pretty much fry everything like this. works great with zucchini, green tomatoes, eggplant, pork chops, chicken, whatever.

Methinks you missed the point of this recipe... it's supposed to be for people who want good onion rings WITHOUT frying. Obviously, anything deep fried will taste good, but what if you don't want to deal with all that frying oil?

Wow, that have to be tasty ^^

How about ritz crackers and saltines ?

This website literally has not been used since 2006 brrr :shock: