Enjoy these healthy baked onion rings with a few simple ingredients. Make them spicy or mild. This vegan baked onion rings recipe is crunchy on the outside and soft and delicate on the inside. A new air-fry option is included. Crunch away!
I have tried many vegan baked onion ring recipes without oil to find the right combination of spices and crunch for the perfect texture and taste. Finally, after many attempts, I found the secret ingredients for the best-baked onion ring recipe.
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We love spicy food at our house, so I've included a mild option for those who aren't.
Remember, you can always add spicy slowly but can't remove it once you have put it in a recipe. So add lightly.
Another quick trick to the best-baked onion rings is to salt and microwave them before baking.
Vegan Baked Onion Rings Recipe Ingredients
The onion ring batter and breading are an easy two-step process. Blend the batter using a high-speed blender and a few ingredients.
Mix the breading in a separate bowl. Make the breading gluten-free by using gluten-free bread crumbs.
- Yellow Onions: Yellow onions are commonly used for onion rings because they are milder than white or red onions.
- Unsweetened, Unflavored Plant Milk: I used oat milk because it's naturally creamy.
- Flour: I used oat flour.
- Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast is a thickener and provides Vitamin B12 and a vegan cheesy flavor.
- Bread Crumbs: I make my own bread crumbs by toasting bread and pulsing the toasted bread in a food processor.
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal is an excellent source of fiber and selenium. Also, it contains all the essential nutrients required by the human body.
- Garlic Salt: Garlic salt is a mixture of garlic powder and table salt, which makes it a seasoning salt. While garlic powder, as explained above, is just dried and ground garlic cloves. Because garlic salt is a mixture of garlic powder and salt, the garlic flavor is more diluted.
- Cayenne Pepper (Optional): Ground cayenne pepper is made only with cayenne peppers that have been dried and finely ground into a powder.
Vegan Baked Onions Rings Recipe Substitutions
- White onions are often used in place of yellow onions.
- Any plant milk works, but make sure it is unsweetened and unflavored.
- Any flour works well for this recipe.
- Soy sauce or miso is often used to replace nutritional yeast; however, because soy sauce and miso are both liquids, add either to the milk or the dry ingredients in the breading.
- If you're wondering can garlic powder be substituted for garlic salt, the answer is yes, but not in a 1:1 ratio. Make a homemade garlic salt substitute with 3 parts salt and 1 part garlic powder.
- Purchase bread crumbs at the store instead of making the bread crumbs. Use gluten-free bread crumbs for a gluten-free option.
- Use corn flour instead of cornmeal if not available.
- If you are sensitive to spice or prefer a mild version of this baked onion rings recipe, skip the cayenne pepper.
How to Make Baked Onion Rings
To make baked onion rings, first, prepare the onions. While experimenting in my kitchen, which occurs daily, I discovered the secret to the best onion ring recipe. Although some of my ideas fail miserably, others create incredible opportunities. With that being said, this step is a game-changer in preparing the onions for baked onion rings.
The goal of a perfect onion ring is to attain a soft center with a crispy outside. Unfortunately, that process occurs during frying. But, to make oil-free onion rings, you only need a microwave, a large glass measuring cup, and a lot of salt.
Even though the salt may deter you, don't worry! The salt, while only used in preparing the onions, is removed before cooking.
- Cut onions and separate each onion slice's inner circles; place in a microwave-safe container.
- Generously salt and toss with your hands.
- Cook in the microwave for 5 minutes, covered with a paper towel to prevent splatter.
- Rinse onions in water several times, and drain well.
- Place on paper towels and pat dry; leave on the paper towels.
As a result, the onions are soft and ready for the batter and breading.
Cooking Options
Oven Baked Onion Rings
Place the onion ring batter and the breading mixture in two different bowls. I use a silicone baking mat on my baking sheet to keep it oil-free to avoid sticking.
- Take two separate deep bowls.
- Combine plant milk, nutritional yeast, and flour using a single-cup blender. Blend until smooth. It will resemble pancake batter.
- Then, using a second bowl, combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, garlic salt, and cayenne (if you like it spicy). Mix the contents of this bowl with a fork.
- Begin dipping onions, first in the almond milk batter, then in the bread crumb mixture, making sure the bread crumbs adhere to the onions, and place on a silicone-lined or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place onions on the cookie sheet, making sure not to put them on top of each other for even cooking.
- Cook for 30 minutes or until brown.
- I serve the baked onion rings with organic ketchup, but you may dip in any dip you like, such as vegan southwest dressing or vegan ranch dressing.
New Air-Fryer Vegan Onion Rings
- Once the onion rings are breaded, place them on a sheet pan and cook in the air-fryer in batches.
- Then, place onion rings in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
- You can place smaller rings inside bigger rings if necessary; make sure there is space between them.
- Cook at 400°F until golden brown and crispy, about 11-15 minutes.
- Carefully lift the onion rings with a cookie spatula or fork and serve.
Recipe FAQs
First, dip the onions in the plant-milk mixture, then the bread crumb mixture.
To get rid of the strong taste of onion rings, soak them in ice-cold water for at least 20 minutes or sprinkle them with vinegar.
Instead of staying light and crisp, an onion ring with too much batter will retain too much internal moisture, and as soon as it comes out of the oil, the batter starts getting soggy.
Tips
- Slice the onions to the same thickness so the onion rings cook evenly.
- If using soy sauce or miso instead of nutritional yeast, blend it with the plant milk instead of adding it to the dry ingredient bowl.
- If you don't have a microwave or choose not to use one, steam the onions in the salt.
- If air frying, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat an oven to 325 to keep cooked onion rings warm during batch cooking.
- Instead of cayenne, choose any type of seasoning to enhance the flavor of the baked onion rings.
- To reheat baked onion rings, reheat an oven to 350 and reheat on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. If air-fried, preheat the air fryer to 325 and cook reheat for 5 minutes.
If you love onion rings but want a healthier option, try vegan baked onion rings. These crispy onion rings are delicious.
Try these Tasty Vegan Side Dishes!
If you love this vegan baked onion rings recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Baked Onion Rings
Ingredients
- 3 large yellow onions sliced and inner circles separated (⅛ inch slices)
- 1 cup unsweetened unflavored almond milk
- ½ cup flour I used almond flour, but you can use any flour you choose]
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs Gluten-free or regular
- ½ cup corn meal
- 3 teaspoons garlic salt
- 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper skip this if you don't want the spice
Instructions
- Cut onions and separate each onion slice's inner circles; place in a microwave-safe container.
- Generously salt and toss with your hands.
- Cook in the microwave for 5 minutes, covered with a paper towel to prevent splatter.
- Rinse onions in water several times, and drain well.
- Place on paper towels and pat dry; leave on the paper towels.
- Take out two separate deep bowls and place them on a flat surface.
- Combine almond milk, nutritional yeast, and flour using a single-cup blender. Blend until smooth. It will resemble pancake batter.
- Then, using a second bowl, combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, garlic salt, and cayenne (if you like it spicy). Mix the contents of this bowl with a fork.
- Begin dipping onions, first in the almond milk batter, then in the bread crumb mixture, ensuring the bread crumbs adhere to the onions.
- Place on a silicone-lined or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place onions on the cookie sheet, making sure not to put them on top of each other for even cooking.
- Cook for 30 minutes or until brown.
- I served the baked onion rings with organic ketchup, but you may dip it in any dip.
Air-fryer Cooking Option
- Prepare the onions the same way as the baked option.
- Then, place the batter and breaded onion rings in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
- You can place smaller rings inside bigger rings if necessary; make sure there is space between them.
- Cook at 400°F until golden brown and crispy, about 11-15 minutes.
- Carefully lift out the onion rings with a cookie spatula or fork and serve.
Notes
- Slice the onions to the same thickness so the onion rings cook evenly.
- If using soy sauce or miso instead of nutritional yeast, blend it with the plant milk instead of adding it to the dry ingredient bowl.
- If you don't have a microwave or choose not to use one, steam the onions in the salt.
- If air frying, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat an oven to 325 to keep cooked onion rings warm during batch cooking.
- Instead of cayenne, choose any seasoning to enhance the flavor of the baked onion rings.
- To reheat baked onion rings, reheat an oven to 350 and reheat on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. If air-fried, preheat the air fryer to 325 and cook reheat for 5 minutes
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Kim B
To make sure the dip sticks to the onions....What should be ice cold?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Kim, sorry for the confusion. Ignore the ice-cold comment. I edited the section. Ice cold water is often used to remove the strong onion taste from the onions before microwaving. You can also place the plant-milk mixture into the refrigerator for a thicker consistency, but it isn't necessary.
Usha
Made this today and although I did not follow instructions to the T, the end result was very satisfying. Thank you!
Kathy Carmichael
Usha, I'm so glad you liked the onions rings. Thank you so much for the feedback. I appreciate it.
Jennifer
Just curious. I don't have a microwave. How else would you prep the onions?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Jennifer, if you have a steamer, use that. If not, steam the onions in a pot by adding a little water, the salt, and cook for 5 minutes covered. Remove from the pan, rinse the onions, and continue with the rest of the steps. I hope this helps.