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I’ve made traditional onion rings before, and it was no joke. Deep frying is a lot of trouble for one little batch of onion rings, so I don’t make them often. I decided to search out an oven cooked onion ring that still had all the flavor of a deep fried onion ring, and this is the combination of several different methods and recipes I came across.

Begin by slicing up on large Vidalia into ⅓ - ½ inch rings. Remove the tiny middle pieces and set aside for a different use. Put them into a large freezer bag and pour 2-3 cups of buttermilk over them as well as ½ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper, and ½ tsp seasoned salt.

Let those soak for several hours, or overnight in the fridge. Strain the onions, reserving the buttermilk mixture.

Next put 10 saltines and 3 large handfuls of kettle cooked potato chips into a food processor or blender. Pulse these until they are finely crushed. You can also use a large ziploc for this and just smash and bash them until they are adequately crushed. Combine this mixture with ½ cup of panko bread crumbs.

Now combine and mix well the reserved buttermilk and one beaten egg. Set aside. Place ¾ cup of flour into another bowl and set that aside also. While you are in the process of breading your onion rings, preheat your oven to 375 and place a large cookie sheet with sides on it along with ½ cup of cooking oil into the oven and let it heat up.

Next place into the buttermilk/egg mixture. Make sure you fully coat all areas of the onion ring or the breading won’t stick.

Now lightly coat in the crumb mixture.

Set on a clean platter and continue breading all of the onion rings.

After they are all coated and the oven is heated, add them into the hot pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes per side, or until they have browned on the bottom side. Flip over and cook an additional 5-7 minutes, or just until the other side has browned.

Onion Rings

soak time: 2 hours
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 10-14 minutes
servings: 3-4

Ingredients

1. 1 large Vidalia Onion, sliced into ⅓ - ½ inch rings
2. 3 cups buttermilk
3. ½ tsp salt
4. ½ tsp seasoned salt
5. ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
6. 1 egg
7. 10 saltines
8. 3 large handfuls kettle cooked potato chips
9. ½ cup panko bread crumbs
10. ¾ cup flour
11. ½ cup oil

Directions

• Soak the sliced onions in buttermilk, salt, cayenne pepper, and seasoned salt for at least 2 hours.
• Drain onions, reserving buttermilk. Mix one beaten egg with the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, place flour and set aside. Crush the saltines and potato chips into a medium crumb. Combine with panko in a separate bowl
• Preheat oven to 375 and add oil into a cookie sheet with sides. Place cookie sheet into oven to let oil heat.
• Bread rings by first placing into flour, then into buttermilk/egg mixture, then into crumb mixture. Set onto a clean platter.
• When all rings are breaded, place into hot cookie sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown. Check frequently as the cooking time will depend on your particular oven.
• Flip over and cook on other side until browned.
• Remove and serve immediately.