Baked Onion Rings

Enjoy these healthy baked onion rings with a few simple ingredients. Make them spicy, or keep them mild. This baked onion rings recipe is crunchy on the outside and soft and delicate on the inside. New air-fry option included. Crunch away!

I have played with many baked onion ring recipes without oil to find the right combination of spices and crunch needed for the perfect texture and taste. Finally, after many attempts, I found the secret ingredients for the best-baked onion rings recipe. 

Jump to:

• Baked Onion Rings Recipe Ingredients
• Baked Onions Rings Recipe Substitutions
• Preparing Onions for the Baked Onion Rings Recipe
• Cooking Options
• Recipe FAQs
• Tips
• Try these Tasty Vegan Recipes!
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

We love spicy food at our house, so if you aren't a spice lover, I provide a mild option.

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.

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.

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.
• Skip the cayenne pepper is you are sensitive to spice or prefer a mild version of this baked onion rings recipe.

Preparing Onions for the Baked Onion Rings Recipe

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

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 Option

• 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

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.

Try baked ones if you love onion rings but want a healthier option. You will love these crispy onion rings.

Try these Tasty Vegan Recipes!

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