This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
When we go out to eat, we always opt for onion rings over French fries. There is something about that sweet onion dipped in batter. When you dip it into fry sauce, oh my! It is heavenly. This recipe is super simple to make. It uses a few ingredients that you probably have in your pantry already.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make restaurant-style onion rings, you will need the following ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- Vidalia onion
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs
- Milk
- Breadcrumbs
- Salt
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
How to Make Restaurant-Style Onion Rings
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or pot to 365℉. Onion slices should be about ¼ inch thick. Separate the onion slices into rings and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Dip the onion slices in the flour mixture until completely coated and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and milk into the flour mixture.
- Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat and place on a wire rack to let excess batter drip off.
- Pour the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Gently toss battered onions into the bread crumbs and and coat evenly.
- Deep fry a few rings at a time for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Place finished onion rings on paper towels to drain.
- Season with seasoning salt and serve.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
- Tone down onion-flavor: Sometimes, the onion odor can be overpowering. Soak onion slices in buttermilk for 5 to 10 minutes before dredging them in batter. Don’t have buttermilk? Make your own. For every one cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Stir together, and it’s ready to go.
- Pancake mix onion ring batter: Substituting pancake mix in place of all-purpose flour is also a possible alternative.
- Homemade fry sauce: When we go to local restaurants, our favorite dipping sauce is fry sauce (Utah thing). You can find our homemade fry sauce recipe here.
Enjoy More Delicious Hot Appetizers
Whether meatballs, chicken wings, nachos, or quesadillas, there’s nothing to start out a party better than an appetizer. Browse our comprehensive list of hot appetizer recipes.
- Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots with Cheese
- Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries with Spicy Aioli
- Baked Red Potato Wedges
- Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
- Baked Tater Wedges and Utah’s Famous Fry Sauce
- Baked Zucchini Bites
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- Crispy Air Fryer Frozen French Fries
- Crispy Zucchini Fries with Creamy BBQ Sauce
- Oven Baked Seasoned Steak Fries
Restaurant Style Onion Rings Recipe
These restaurant-style onion rings require just a handful of common pantry ingredients for a deliciously crunchy appetizer.
Serving servings
Ingredients
- 4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large Vidalia Onion
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup dry bread crumbs
- seasoned salt, to taste
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or pot to 365℉. Onion slices should be about ¼ inch thick. Separate the onion slices into rings and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Dip the onion slices in the flour mixture until completely coated and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and milk into the flour mixture.
- Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat and place on a wire rack to let excess batter drip off.
- Pour the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Gently toss battered onions into the bread crumbs and and coat evenly.
- Deep fry a few rings at a time for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Place finished onion rings on paper towels to drain.
- Season with seasoning salt and serve.
Notes
- Tone down onion-flavor: Sometimes, the onion odor can be overpowering. Soak onion slices in buttermilk for 5 to 10 minutes before dredging them in batter. Don’t have buttermilk? Make your own. For every one cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Stir together, and it’s ready to go.
- Pancake mix onion ring batter: Substituting pancake mix in place of all-purpose flour is also a possible alternative.
- Homemade fry sauce: When we go to local restaurants, our favorite dipping sauce is fry sauce (Utah thing). You can find our homemade fry sauce recipe here.
- Recipe adapted from All Recipes.
Nutrition
Calories: 405 kcal · Carbohydrates: 43 g · Protein: 9 g · Fat: 22 g · Saturated Fat: 16 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 59 mg · Sodium: 633 mg · Potassium: 209 mg · Fiber: 2 g · Sugar: 6 g · Vitamin A: 146 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 142 mg · Iron: 3 mg
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Our secret when I worked in a restaurant that was famous for onion rings 36 years ago was pancake batter mix…but I will definitely have to try these as hubby likes his onion rings.
I too would rather have onion rings over fries. With fries, they can be limp and mealy. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad onion ring. It’s like pizza–even when it’s not great, it’s still good! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I may give this a whirl this summer!
Just made this recipe and it was a total success! Thought I’d give it a try with some leftover onion I was gonna throw out but this was the perfect easy, quick recipe! I made my batter with pancake mix too as suggested by another reader and seasoned with salt and a pinch of chili pepper. YUM!
These onion rings looks absolutely amazing! I love onion rings and I have never had much luck at home, I will try this recipe! They look good enough to eat off the screen 🙂
Just finished eating these and the family loved them. My wife went back for more a couple times; she raved that the batter was light, she could taste the onion, and on and on. The best onion rings I’ve ever served. Thank You.
I was just browing thru different things I could make today for my boys, 18 & 23. I know my youngest one loves onion rings and so I googled onion ring images and saw your onion rings. They caught my eye and so I went to your site. You had stated that you didn’t think it was possible to make restaurant-style onion rings at home, but that this recipe hit the mark. I made the onion rings from scratch (no pancake batter here), added a Tablespoon of sugar to the batter as my boys like things a bit sweet and they were…. as my youngest said in his words….”Addicting!” I will never search for another onion ring recipe ever. Thank you so very much for posting your recipe. It is so nice to be able to make onion rings for my boys because I think onion rings are expensive and you get very little when you do purchase them. Plus, some are even chopped bits of onions…yuck. I’m happy, my boys are delighted and all is great in the world! Your onion rings rock!!!