The foods we love can sometimes seem daunting to make. I always assumed that making killer homemade onion rings to restaurant quality would be a big task. It’s not. It’s just 6 steps and 6 ingredients. They will remain fairly crispy at room temperature for a couple hours!

I personally prefer a sweet onion for this purpose, but brown, white, red or yellow onions will certainly work fine.

Corn oil: I know canola oil is the popular oil to use right now, but I don’t like to use it. When deep frying, I like to use corn oil. Corn oil has a higher smoke point than canola oil (corn oil – 450°, canola oil – 400°). Food should be deep fried between 350°-375°, leaving little room for error when using canola oil. A hot pot of deep fry oil on your stove top can quickly rise to 400°, hitting the smoke point and ruining the flavor of the oil and your food.

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbs sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
Oil for frying

Step 1:
Cut an onion into rings, about 1/4 inch wide. Use only the medium or large rings, save the rest for a different use.

Step 2:
Place onions in a bowl. Cover onions with buttermilk. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for 2 hours. Stop and toss them once or twice during the wait time, recoating them with buttermilk.

Step 3:
Heat 1 inch of frying oil to about 375°.

Step 4:
Mix flour, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Step 5:
Dredge each ring into the flour mixture, flipping to coat each side twice. I batter the whole onion ahead of time and set them on a plate.

Step 6:
Fry a few rings at a time, careful not to crowd the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes per side, flipping once, until golden brown.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce! Try some homemade ranch, honey mustard (equal parts honey and mustard), or my new favorite –topped with a drizzle of local honey!

Enjoy!

-Amelia