I haven't made these for ages. Now I want a fishwich and onion rings for dinner. lol

Chefshells Rockin Beer Batter for Onion Rings

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp. salt
1-1 1/2 tsp each cayenne (if desired), seasoned salt, paprika and lemon pepper
1 12oz. lite beer
Couple dashes each Tabasco, fresh lemon juice, Worcestshire Sauce & soy sauce
2 - 3 medium large white onions cut into rings

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients for the batter. Slowly, whisk in beer and other wet ingredients until well combined.

Put onions in batter and let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Get vegetable oil (about 3 cups) more for a deep fryer to 365 degrees and shake onions gently to remove any excess batter and deep fry for 2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown. Do this in small batches so oil stays hot.

Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with additional salt & cayenne if desired.

Drop them in slowly. The one time I made onion rings the batter got all caught up in the strainer because they sank before the coating cooked a bit. I think I will try again as we haven't had them in awhile either. Sorry, no recipe as the ones I made were no big deal.

I've made them using this recipe before, and they're really good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneer Woman's onion rings

I second the Pioneer Woman recipe but I add a tablespoon of Tony Chachere's cajun salt and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper instead of the Morton's.

The best onion rings I ever had were made by my friend, Pat....and she did it outside with her electric deep fryer.
Everyone present at the burger and onion ring bash was instructed to save all their bread ends for months ahead. she dried the bread and smashed it into crumbs, she used the blender and the crumbs were pretty much like powder.
Then sliced the onions and soaked them in milk, then dredged them in flour...then in beaten egg and beer, seasoned with tobasco, but not a lot and then in the crumbs....and then they were laid on a rack for about 20 minutes to dry before frying....then into the hot oil.
She said the secret was all the different kinds of breads used....I don't know but that was a wonderful feast.
Linda C

We love onion rings although I don't make them often. I should though because they are so easy.

I made some this week to have with buttermilk fried chicken.

These are the best onion rings, with a very light crispy coating. I don't like onion rings with a thick doughy batter.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Onion Rings
===========
Adapted from a recipe
Posted by Diana (Dlundin)

Onion rings
3 cups buttermilk
2 cloves of garlic
2 sweet onions (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla), thinly sliced into rounds, then separated into rings
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper

Canola Oil

For onion rings:
Pour buttermilk into large bowl. Puree the garlic cloves on a microplane and add to the buttermilk. Add onion rings; toss to coat. Let stand 1 hour, tossing occasionally. Mix flour with salt, pepper and cayenne.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour enough oil into heavy large skillet to reach depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium-high heat to 350°F. Working with a few onion rings at a time, shake off excess buttermilk, then turn onion rings in flour mixture to coat. Fry onion rings until deep golden brown, adjusting heat as necessary for each batch to maintain temperature at 350°F, about 2 minutes. Transfer onion rings to paper towels to drain, then place on baking sheet and keep warm in oven while frying remaining onion rings.

I agree; Pioneer Woman's onion rings are by far the best and so easy.

I love onion rings too but I do them in the oven now for healthier eating. Daughter can't eat deep fried foods.

Angelaid - Do yours turn out a thick batter? Ann T's look really good, but right now in my mind I'm wanting nice solid rings that you can pick up individually like fries and dip into ketchup.

Onion strings (like the PW recipe) seem to be popular in recent years, often piled on top of a steak of something. I've never been a fan. Each to his own, as they say!

Foodonastump, althought the batter isn't thick the rings are light but crispy so you can pick them up with your fingers and dip them in "heaven-forbid" ketchup. They are individual rings.

Here's the recipe from ATK, which I've been meaning to try but haven't gotten around to yet. It's for oven-fried onion rings:

Oven-Fried Onion Rings

We had the best results with kettle-cooked potato chips.

Makes 24 rings, serving 4 to 6

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temp
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
S&P
30 Saltine crackers
4 cups kettle-cooked potato chips, crumbled into small pieces
2 large yellow onions, cut evenly into 1/2" thick rounds
6 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place 1/4 cup flour in shallow baking dish. Beat egg and buttermilk together in medium bowl. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup flour, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into buttermilk mixture. Pulse saltines and chips together in food processor until finely ground and place in separate shallow baking dish.

2. Pull apart the rings in each round, discarding any that are less than 2 inches in diameter. Working one at a time, dredge each onion ring in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl, then drop into crumb coating, turning ring to coat evenly. Transfer to large plate and repeat with remaining onion rings.

3. Pour 3 tablespoons oil onto each of two rimmed baking sheets. Place in oven and heat until just smoking, about 8 minutes. Carefully tilt heated sheets to coat evenly with oil, then arrange onion rings on sheets. Bake, flipping onion rings over and switching and rotating position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer onion rings to plates lined with paper towels to drain briefly. Serve immediately.

MAKE AHEAD
Oven-Fried Onion Rings can be breaded in advance and refrigerated for up to an hour. Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking; if baked straight from the fridge, the onions will not soften properly and will remain crunchy.

It looked good when I saw them make them on TV. I've always deep fried them myself, usually in a beer tempura batter.

Lars

By the time you coat them in potato chips, are you really saving anything in oil as opposed to deep frying them? :D

I made PW's onion rings last night just for a personal self-indulgence! I've got that new All-Clad pan with the fryer basket & having only fried wings decided to try something else. Wow, they came out great! I only made one onion & used my electric slicer to get them really thin. As soon as they hit the oil I swooshed them around with a spider & they didn't stick together into a blob. A couple were a bit attached but not bad. Gosh, I never eat onion rings but those were GOOD! I'll do it again sometime for DH.

/tricia

I love onion rings and when I do indulge I make Diana's recipe, the one posted by Ann T.

I don't like much batter, I like to taste the onion, so Diana's are the best I've ever tried. Ashley dips them in rance dressing, I like just salt.

I've done some baked onion rings and I liked them, but they just are not the same.

Annie

"By the time you coat them in potato chips, are you really saving anything in oil as opposed to deep frying them?"

Probably not much from a health perspective but you're definitely saving a quart or so of frying oil, no?

I really wish there was only ONE recipe here I feel like trying!

Thanks guys, they are so good!

I followed Pioneer Woman's recipe, very similar to the one Ann T posted, but used Ann's recommended temp. of 350 instead of 375. I also sliced the onions on my inexpensive (plastic) mandolin after cutting the onions in half (they were huge onions), so we ended up with onion straws. We were eating them as fast as we were making them! DD doesn't like onions, so she made zucchini strips and we were all happy campers.

This looks like a pretty skimpy serving, but this was just the first batch. DD also made a dipping sauce using mayo, horseradish, cayene and other secret spices, it was very good. Hope she remembers everything she put in it.

This was so easy and so good I will be making them again soon!

Di

Di, looks good. I've done the zucchini sticks in the buttermilk and flour too. Try mushrooms. Those are a favourite done the same way.

Ann

Secret spices? LOL Good for your DD, I hope she remembers them too.

It all looks delicious and somehow my cup of soup for lunch isn't making me happy. I want onion rings.

Annie