These crispy Onion Rings are delicious as an appetizer or in Burgers. They’re made restaurant-style, which means they’re crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and seasoned to perfection. Watch the video tutorial and learn how to make the best onion rings.
If you love easy appetizer recipes like Crispy Baked Potato Wedges or Fried Zucchini, this homemade Onion Ring recipe is sure to become a new favorite.
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The Best Onion Ring Recipe
These are a big hit with my family. My son usually won’t eat onions, but he devours onion rings without any protest.
The secret to these is double-dipping. This creates a beautifully crispy crust. Once cooked, the onions inside are tender and sweet. That strong raw onion flavor fades to the background, replaced with the crispy outer coating and seasoning. Here’s why you will love this recipe:
- Simple – Yes, making homemade onion rings is easier than you think.
- Restaurant-Style Results – These turn out irresistibly crispy every time.
- Kids Can Help – While using a fork or tongs will help with the dredging process, you can also enlist your kids and have them coat the onion rings for you.
- Versatile – Onion rings work as an appetizer, side dish, or even as a garnish.
Onion Rings Video Tutorial
Watch Natasha make these easy onion rings, then grab the ingredients below and give them a try for yourself.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the print-friendly recipe card for quantities and instructions.
- Sweet or yellow onion – The larger the onion, the better when it comes to onion rings
- Milk – use any kind of milk (1%, 2% or whole milk)
- White vinegar – creates homemade buttermilk when added to milk
- Sour cream – helps thicken the liquid so it clings to the onion rings
- All-purpose flour – creates a light batter similar to a restaurant-style tempura batter
- Salt – we use fine sea salt for most of our cooking
- Black pepper – freshly ground black pepper will give the best flavor
- Garlic powder – adds so much flavor to the batter
- Oil for frying – use grapeseed oil, peanut oil, canola, or oil with a high smoke point
How to Make Onion Rings
Now that you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to start cooking:
- Heat the Oil – Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat with about an inch of oil
- Make the Liquid Mixture – In a medium bowl, whisk the milk with the vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream.
- Make the Dry Mixture – In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Dredge the Onions – Slice and separate the onion rings and dip each ring in the sour cream mixture, followed by the flour (using a fork will keep your hands clean). Repeat by dipping the rings a second time in the milk mixture and flour. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining onion rings.
- Cook the Onion Rings – Once the oil is hot enough for the onion rings to sizzle (375˚F on a thermometer), add them in a single layer (3-4 at a time) and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, flipping halfway, or until the outside is crispy and light golden brown. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
Pro Tip: The frying steps move fast, so have all of your onion rings breaded and ready to fry before you start adding them to the hot oil.
Pro Tip: Whenever you’re deep-frying, you can expect the oil temperature to fluctuate. It will drop when you add the food to the oil, then slowly increase as the food cooks. Don’t overcrowd the pot or the temperature will drop too quickly. We use a clip-on thermometer to monitor the temperature and adjust the temperature as needed.
Onion Rings Dipping Sauce
My husband used to work in Chilis restaurant where they served an ‘awesome blossom sauce’ and this is our version which is a delicious onion ring dipping sauce. It’s also really easy and you just stir the ingredients together.
- Mayonnaise and Sour cream – creates a creamy base
- Ketchup – adds a sweet and tangy flavor
- Worcestershire sauce – adds wonderful umami flavor
- Creamy horseradish – or substitute hot sauce to taste
- Paprika and salt – you can add these to taste
Common Questions
Onion rings are a crispy appetizer or side dish made by slicing onions into rings, dredging them with some kind of coating (batter or breadcrumbs), and cooking. When you are working with a batter, it’s best to fry onion rings instead of baking or air frying.
Yes, if you’re on a gluten-free diet, you can make gluten-free onion rings by swapping the all-purpose flour for your favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
If you have a deep fryer at home, definitely use it. I love that our Deep Fryer monitors and adjusts the oil temperature automatically.
Yes, but keep in mind that it will take longer to fry double the batches.
Look for onions that are large and firm, with no soft spots. While yellow onions work just fine, a sweet onion like Vidalia or Walla-Walla is especially delicious. Be sure to slice them into generous 1/2-inch thick rings.
How to Serve Onion Rings
We love serving these onion rings freshly cooked with a dipping sauce, but they are so versatile and not just an appetizer.
- Appetizer – It’s fun to stack these in a tower and serve alongside a dipping sauce like awesome Blossom Dipping Sauce (in recipe notes below), ketchup, barbecue sauce, any of our burger sauces, garlic aioli, or avocado ranch.
- Side Dish – alongside burgers or hotdogs instead of french fries.
- Topping – for burgers and other sandwiches, or go all out for Thanksgiving and layer them onto your Green Bean Casserole instead of using canned onions.
Make-Ahead
Onion rings are definitely one of those foods that are best eaten fresh, while still warm and crispy. If you do have leftovers, here are some tips:
- To Refrigerate: Store onion rings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- To Reheat: To restore some of their original crispiness, onion rings should be reheated in a 350ºF oven or in an air fryer.
If you love making restaurant-style appetizers at home like Coconut Shrimp and Easy Popcorn Chicken, these crisp onion rings are a must-try recipe. Because they’re double-battered, they get extra crispy and stand up well to all of your favorite dipping sauces. Best of all, they’re easy to make with simple everyday ingredients.
More Appetizer Recipes
If you love these onion rings, then you won’t want to miss these appetizer recipes:
- Crispy Buffalo Wings
- Pico De Gallo
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Cheeseburger Sliders
- Sausage Queso Dip (with Real Cheese!)
Crispy Onion Rings Recipe with Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Onion Rings Ingredients:
- 1 large sweet or yellow onion, thickly sliced into 1/2-inch thick rings
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Oil for frying, I used canola oil – use something with a high smoke point
Instructions
How to Make the best onion rings:
- Heat a dutch oven over medium heat with 1" of oil (or enough to cover the onion rings). You can use a deep fryer if you have one.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup milk with 1 Tbsp vinegar and let sit 5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together: 1 cup flour, 1/2 Tbsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp garlic powder.
- Separate the onion rings and dip each ring in the milk mixture, then dredge with flour. (I used a fork to transfer from the wet bowl to the dry bowl so my hands didn't get as gunky). Repeat by dipping in milk mixture a second time and dredging again in flour. Place the finished onion rings on a plate until ready to fry.
- Once the oil is at 375˚F on a thermometer, or hot enough for the onion rings to sizzle, place 3-4 double battered onion rings in a single layer in the hot oil and cook for about 3 minutes, flipping halfway and fry until exterior is crisp and light golden brown. Let onion rings cool on paper towels so soak up any excess oil.
Notes
- 1/2 cup real mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp creamy horseradish, or hot sauce
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
My husband says this recipe is a keeper. Best home made onion rings we have ever made! We did slice them a bit thinner but they were terrific!!!
Wow, that’s quite the compliment! I’m happy to hear how much you both love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review Vicki!
I made these onion rings once already and me and my husband absolutely loved them! 😀
do you think i can use same recipe for frying pickles? Let me know
thank you
I haven’t tried frying pickles, but it should work. Let me know how you like it with pickles 🙂
i tried it with different recipe i found online and it worked well xept with less breading than i expected. I will try it with this recipe later though 🙂 You should try fried pickles, they are delicious!
I SHOULD try them! I’m definitely a fan of pickles 🙂
Me too.. fried pickles are now my favorite! 🙂
This is the recipe i tried 🙂
Fried Dill Pickles
Ingredients
• 1 jar dill pickle spears
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup plain yellow corn meal
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
• 1 cup milk
• Vegetable Oil to cook in
• Ranch Dressing for dipping
Instructions
1. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of at least ½ inch in medium sized skillet and place over medium high heat. Drain pickles and place spears on paper towel lined plate to absorb moisture while you prepare breading.
2. Place corn meal in small bowl. Add ½ cup flour and seasoned salt. Stir until well combined. In separate bowl, pour remaining flour and place milk in third bowl.
3. Using your hands, dip a pickle into milk, then flour, then milk, then cornmeal breading. Repeat until all pickles are breaded.
4. Carefully place pickles into hot oil and cook until browned, stirring once if needed, about ten minutes.
5. Remove from skillet and place on paper towel lined plate. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with ranch dressing.
These are extremely hot inside for several minutes after cooking.
Makes about 8
http://www.southernplate.com/2012/06/fried-dill-pickles.html
Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! 🙂 I think my husband and son would be interested in this too!
I made these last night for dinner and they were FABULOUS!!! It gave me a reason to pull out my deep fryer! 🙂 The only downside is now I have to tack on 15 minutes to my workout. It was well worth it.
Thanks for the yummy recipe!
It’s crazy to think about that it’s still better than what’s served in restaurants; deep fried in lard that is re-used over and over. Do you feel better about it now? 😉 Ha ha. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Natasha thank you these were so so good love the recipe super easy…Thanks
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for the great review! 🙂
There’s the reason to fire up my counter-top deep fryer I have! Who doesn’t love really good onion rings? And your pictures are amazing. I’m bookmarking this for sure. Interesting that the milk bath has vinegar in it…what does the vinegar do? Is it just for flavor or does it aid in a fluffy/crunchy texture? My inquiring mind wants to know 🙂
The vinegar turns it into a buttermilk 🙂 It enhances the flavor and thickens the milk up slightly.
hi can i use vegetable oil instead?
Yes 🙂
They really are good, I had them with a portobello mushroom cup burger to make them less “naughty ” 😉 Natasha is it a 1 cup of milk or 1/2 ?
Thanks so much for catching that! It is 1 cup of milk. It’s easier to dip with 1 cup of milk. I fixed it in the instructions and print-friendly.
Those look absolutely delicious!
Thank you 🙂 they sure were!
Thanks a lot for giving such a great idea. I like to eat onion but cant each much bare onion. this is a great appetizer for me and even tasty. I will try to make it soon at my home with help of my mom and sis.
Thanks a lot again 🙂
You’re so welcome! I hope you love these 🙂
My husband is the biggest onion ring fan I know but I never make them because I don’t own a deep fryer and since they are not very common in England he has to go without. I am so glad to see you are using your dutch oven here. Heating oil in a regular pot scares me a bit but I will definitely try doing it in a dutch oven. Thank you for a gorgeous recipe, Natasha! Triple yum as usual. 🙂
We don’t own a deep fryer either. Anytime I fry, I just use my dutch oven. It works perfectly 🙂
Those onion rings look so good! I always have trouble with coating the onion, but your batter looks perfect! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Maggie! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 The double dipping ensured a beautiful even coating. Have a happy 4th of July!
Wow, Natasha these look amazing! Love love.
Thanks Norma! 🙂 have a happy 4th of July!
Love onion rings!!! You mentioned grapeseed oil and I’ve always thought that it was ok for raw eating not cooking with. If you get a chance, please check out this link and let me know what you think. http://healyeatsreal.com/5-cooking-oils-think-healthybut-arent/
Its an interesting read. Thanks for sharing! 🙂 Do you have any healthier suggestions for oil that has a higher smoke point? I know avocado oil is good but it’s way too expensive for frying use.
I use refined coconut oil, try it out if you’re interested. It’s good for medium high heat frying.
My sister shipped a jar to me recently but I haven’t cracked the seal. I’ll have to try it, but it seams kind of wasteful to try to deep fry with it though. Have you tried it for deep frying?
I don’t usually like to deep fry, but these look too good to ignore! . . . Can’t wait to try them! Thanks for sharing.
They are a nice treat. Put it on a burger and let me know what you think 🙂
We love onion rings!!!These look so delicious and so tempting to make ASAP!
We do to! Although, admittedly I don’t make them often since they are a little naughty, but they are a nice treat on a burger! 🙂
These are so great, love that they are crisp and crunchy!
All while being tender on the inside. So yum! Thanks Matt 🙂
Natasha I appreciate the time you spend to upload these yummy recipes! Your awesome, and sweet. Thank you! !
Karolina, thank you! Your appreciation is much appreciated ;). For reals!
Do you need a Dutch oven for this?
No. You can use any deep pot or even a deep skillet. I like using a Dutch oven for even, consistent heating and because there’s less splatter on my stove with the tall walls of a pot 🙂
Ok! Thank you!
I was so excited about this recipe that I didn’t notice that the question above mine was the same! Opps! 🙂
No problem. I think I answered both at the same time. 🙂 My fault 😉
I just fell in love with this recipe, just by looking at it!!! Thank you for sharing:)You are such an amazing person and may God Bless you:):):) Also, i was wondering what a dutch oven was and can i use a regular oven as opposed to a Dutch oven? Again, thanks for the recipe Natashenka:):):)
Thank you so much 🙂 you’re so sweet. Yes you can use a regular pot or any pot or even deep pan that you want to fry foods in. 🙂
Thank you:)
This recipe looks delicious!!!! I am making it as soon as I can mmmmm!!!!
Thanks Bobbi! I hope you love it!