Nothing could be easier than making these amazingly delicious, light, and crispy onion rings! The batter only requires three ingredients: equal amounts of beer and flour, some salt, then stirring or whisking until the batter is smooth.
The Vidalia onion season sort of took me by surprise, but the sweet onions have been officially shipping since April 17 this year! Vidalia onions are what got me excited about making onion rings!
I must thank my friend Cathy for sharing her easy recipe. We LOVE onion rings, especially when they are thin, light, and crisp like these! But until she inspired me, I was dragging my feet!
I did not want to think about getting my deep fryer out of the unhandy, hard-to-get-at cupboard above my refrigerator where seldom-used things go! Do you have one of “those” cupboards? 😏
I get the deep fryer out only a couple of times a year when I make kleinur (Icelandic twisted donuts) in memory of my mom.
Also, the thought of messing with disposing of the oil made me hesitate to try them! Hooray! I was sold on the idea when she told me she makes them in a skillet using only about a half-inch of oil!
And they are amazing! One medium onion made a heaping plate loaded with crispy rings. It was MORE than enough for my husband and me to eat in one sitting! (Not that we weren't tempted to try!)
Vidalia Onions can only be grown in a specific twenty-county area in Georgia. The soil, with its low sulfur content, is ideal for growing the flattish, extra-sweet onions, which have far less acidity than typical sweet yellow onions.
No other onion from any other locale can bear the name Vidalia. “Vidalia onion” has been a name protected by law since 1986. Vidalia onions are only available from April to August every year, and no onion shipped before the official pack date can be labeled “Vidalia.”
Vidalia onions are so sweet, have such a distinctive flavor, and have such low acidity that they are ideal for eating raw on sandwiches, salads, salad dressing, or pickled in a vinaigrette.
As you can see, the folks in Georgia are pretty proud and protective of their onions! About 200 million pounds of Vidalia onions are distributed annually across the US and Canada. If you’re curious to know more, read all about Vidalia onions here.
Okay, maybe you don’t keep beer in the pantry, but most of us have flour and salt on hand. As for the beer, choose one that has a flavor that pleases you; usually, a pilsner or lager will work best. Yes, you can use a non-alcoholic beer if you prefer, although any alcohol in the beer disappears during cooking.
The biggest contribution beer makes to the cause of light and crispy onion rings is carbonization, not flavor. The bubbles in the beer enhance the crispiness as they escape from the batter during frying. The carbonization in beer also makes the batter slightly more acidic, retarding the formation of gluten, and that helps keeps the batter from becoming tough.
I used Vidalia onions because they are crisp, sweet, and very low in the typical acidity you find in other onions. I sliced them thin and separated the rings so they cooked quickly. You can use any onion to make these rings, but if Vidalia onions aren’t available, I highly suggest using a sweet onion variety.
Whisk the beer, flour, and salt in a small bowl. I started with a cup each of flour and beer and had batter left over. However, I needed enough batter to immerse each ring, so I don’t think I could have made much less of it.
One medium-sized onion made a heaping plate of Vidalia onion rings; so depending on the audience, I would estimate it made four servings. We couldn’t finish them all as much as we would have loved to have polished off the entire batch!
Dip each onion ring into the batter, shake off any excess, and then put them into the hot oil.
I used an electric skillet with about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil set at 375 degrees. If you use a pan on the stove, use a medium-high setting and turn it down if the rings are browning too quickly. Here’s a handy guide for temps on an electric stove.
Don’t crowd the rings; turn them when the bottom side looks brown. Give them plenty of room to brown on all sides.
These rings are nearly perfect! Look how the light batter puffs up all crispy and golden brown!
When nicely browned, remove the rings and drain them on paper towels. Eat them while they are hot! If you are like us and make too many, you can easily reheat them in an air fryer or a low oven.
Do you love onion rings as much as we do? What do you dip them in? WE love to dip them in the amazing homemade Ranch dip recipe from my friend Dawn, but I bet this White Barbecue sauce would be pretty great, too!!!
Here's an easy recipe for light, crispy onion rings. They are made with a three-ingredient beer batter and fried in a skillet with a small amount of vegetable oil!
How do you like your onion rings? Thick or thin? Do you like them breaded or beer-battered? We’d love to hear what kinds are your favorite and what you want to eat with them! Please watch for more Vidalia onion recipes, I'm sort of obsessed with them!
If you liked this recipe, you are my people! Please share it on your social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter! It would sure tickle me, and I would be ever so grateful!
If you haven't already, please look for me on Facebook and Pinterest. I share easy, delicious, family-friendly recipes there every week!
If you enjoyed a post, I'd love it if you would leave a review or a comment. It really helps my little business. ❤❤
Love, GB (Betty Streff)
Sign up for my newsletter and receive a free gift! A printable sign that would look great in your kitchen, framed above your sink, or just placed anywhere to remind us how lucky we are to have dirty dishes!
Sign up now!