Homemade Onion Rings
Updated Apr 17, 2025
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Perfectly crispy, sweet, and utterly addictive—these Homemade Onion Rings will become your new favorite snack or side dish! Get the secrets to making restaurant-quality homemade onion rings with my foolproof recipe.
🏈 Homemade onion rings make a fun appetizer to serve at a gathering or they make a great snack to munch on while watching football with friends!
My 2 Best Tips For How To Make Homemade Onion Rings
- Keep Oil Hot: Keeping the oil consistently between 350-375°F is crucial. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature closely. If the oil is too cool, the onion rings will absorb too much oil and become soggy. If it’s too hot, the batter may burn before the onion is cooked.
- Don’t Overcrowd: Avoid overcrowding the pan to maintain oil temperature. Fry in small batches for the best results.
🩷 Melissa
Learning how to make onion rings at home is quick, easy, and delicious. You slice the onions, prepare the batter, dip, and then fry. Anyone can whip these up in no time flat.
Onion rings make a great side dish for hamburgers, slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches, or any type of BBQ. They would also be so good as a salad topper or eaten like French fries with ketchup.
Easy onion rings made in the air fryer are also really simple to whip up, too!
Homemade Onion Rings
Ingredients
- 2 large white or yellow onions
- 2 quarts light oil for frying, such as canola, vegetable, or corn oil
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
Instructions
- Prepare your onions by slicing off the root and stem end. Remove the outer few layers of the onion skin. Slice the onion into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices, it’ll normally be 4-5 slices per onion. Use your hands to separate the onion slices from each other, without breaking them and keeping them in rings.
- Add your oil to a large Dutch oven or high walled cast iron skillet and place it over medium-high heat to start heating your oil. If you have a paddle thermometer, you can clip it to the side to see the temperature (I recommend using a thermometer for best results).
- In a medium mixing bowl add the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine.
- Add the eggs and milk and stir to combine well.
- When your oil has reached 350° to 375°F, drop one onion ring into the batter. Press it into the batter with a fork and use the fork to remove it from the batter. Hold it over the bowl and allow the extra batter to run off a bit. Add the battered onion ring carefully to the hot oil.
- Repeat with a few more pieces of onion so that you have 4-6 in your pan, depending on the size (don’t crowd the pan or add too many).
- Let the onion rings cook for 3-5 minute or until they are a deep golden brown. Use a spider strainer or a wire skimmer to remove the onion rings from the oil and place them on a paper towel lined baking sheet.
- Repeat with remaining onion rings until they are all cooked, adjusting your burner temperature as needed to help maintain a steady oil temperature.
- Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauces.
Notes
- Keeping the oil consistently between 350-375°F is crucial. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature closely. If the oil is too cool, the onion rings will absorb too much oil and become soggy. If it’s too hot, the batter may burn before the onion is cooked.
- Avoid overcrowding the pan to maintain oil temperature. Fry in small batches for the best results.
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
Sweet onions like Vidalia or Walla Walla are preferred for their mild flavor, making them perfect for onion rings. Yellow onions can be used for a more pronounced onion flavor. The recipe works well with any large onion, but the sweeter varieties tend to caramelize beautifully when fried.
Onion rings are best enjoyed fresh and hot right after frying for maximum crispiness. However, you can prepare the batter and slice the onions a few hours ahead of time (keep the sliced onions in cold water in the refrigerator to maintain crispness). When you’re ready to serve, simply pat the onions dry, dip in batter, and fry.
While this recipe is designed for frying to achieve that perfect crispiness, you can attempt a baked version. Preheat your oven to 425°F, spray a baking sheet with oil, dip the onions in the batter, place on the baking sheet, and spray the tops with more oil. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through. Note that the texture won’t be identical to fried, but they can still be delicious.
More Appetizer Recipes to Consider
Cornbread Recipes
Crispy Cornbread Fritters: A Simple Southern Delight
Appetizer Recipes
Fresh Cranberry Salsa Recipe | Sweet & Spicy Holiday Dish
Vegetable Sides
Zucchini Fritters
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Mmmmm Perfect batter. The sugar in the recipe works great if you don’t have sweet onions. Don’t skimp! I added a little extra milk to make dipping easier. Still tastes amazing!!!! Home run on this one! Sending to all friends now….🥳🙏🏻😍
Is it baking soda or powder? Ingredients say one and directions say another.
It’s baking powder, thank you for asking, I have corrected that mistake.
Made these tonight and used walla walla sweets and they were fantastic. Family really enjoyed them.
I just divided the recipe in half and made a small batch. They were absolutely delicious! Thanks such a great and simple recipe.
Great recipe, but it came out thick, had to increase milk by at least double. I swapped out the regular AP flour for Gluten Free, swapped sat out with my Mix up Salt, it still worked out my rings are light.