Golden crispy onion rings coated in a light beer batter and fried for just a couple of minutes, until perfectly crunchy. A brilliant appetizer, side dish or party food.
Onion rings are a pub staple in the UK. My family would always squabble over who gets the last onion ring whenever we order them! Crispy and golden with that sweet onion centre, my mouth is watering. 😋
Super tasty as a snack by themselves, or with a juicy burger. And did I mention they only take 20 minutes to whip up?
📋 Ingredients
Onions – We used 1 large sweet onion for this recipe. Sweet onions or yellow onions work great. White onions are good too, but they’re sharper and a less sweet.
Oil – for frying. We use rapeseed (canola) oil or sometimes avocado oil (which is more expensive). You’re looking for a neutral (no-taste), high smoke point oil.
Seasoning – just a little salt and pepper.
For the beer batter
Self-Raising Flour – If you haven’t got self-raising flour, replace it with the same amount of plain (all-purpose) flour PLUS 1 tsp of baking powder (you’ll also still need to add the additional ½ tsp baking powder to the batter).
Beer – We use a light IPA for our batter. It gives a nice light batter with a tasty, savoury flavour. Don’t worry, you can’t taste the flavour of the beer.
If you use a darker beer or bitter, you may taste the maltiness of the beer a little in the batter.
You can swap out the beer for lager (we like Devon Rock, Coors lite and Madri).
The more carbonated the beer/lager, the lighter your batter will be.
Baking powder – helps to create air bubbles for a lighter batter
Cornflour (cornstarch in USA) – produces a lighter crunch (rather than the heavier crunch of flour alone). It also helps the batter adhere to the onion better.
How to make it:
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- First, you make the batter by mixing all the dry ingredients together, then you slowly stir in the chilled pale ale until there are no lumps.
- Mix together the cornflour, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl – this is the dry coating that we use to help the wet coating adhere better to the onion slices.
- Dust the onion slices in the cornflour mixture, then dredge in the batter.
- Carefully fry them in the hot oil for a few minutes.
- Drain and serve.
Pro Tip
Make sure that whatever liquid element you are using for the batter is cold for the crispiest, lightest batter.
Best served fresh to preserve that light crispiness.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
- Serve them by themselves as a snack alongside some sauces to dip in. Go for the classic ketchup or try one of these:
- Sweet Chilli Sauce
- Burger Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
- Or, stacked on top of the Ultimate Cheeseburger, pub-style!
I just love that sweetness you get from the onion, along with that golden crispiness. I could eat these non-stop!
🍲 More fantastic crispy dishes
Yes, you can make the batter ahead. Just cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before use.
If you haven’t got self-raising flour, replace it with the same amount of plain (all-purpose) flour PLUS 1 tsp of baking powder (you’ll also still need to add the additional ½ tsp baking powder to the batter).
If you don’t want to use pale ale, you can use lager, or for a non-alcohol version, replace the pale ale with soda water (remember it needs to be COLD).
You can halve this recipe to serve a few or double it to serve a crowd, as long as you stick to the same ingredient ratios.
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Onion Rings Recipe
Ingredients
Cornflour Coating:
- 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Beer Batter:
- 120 g (1 cup) self-raising flour (see swaps)
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 240 ml (1 cup) refrigerated pale ale (it MUST be cold) (see swaps)
Also:
- Oil for deep frying
- 1 large or two medium onions
Instructions
- Heat the oil in your deep fryer to 180C/350F.Oil for deep frying
- Peel the onion and slice into rings 1cm thick. Separate the rings.1 large or two medium onions
- Mix together the cornflour coating ingredients in a bowl – this is your dry coating that will help the batter adhere to the onion rings for extra crispness.3 tbsp cornflour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Now make the beer batter. Place the flour, cornflour and baking powder in a large bowl and stir together to combine.120 g (1 cup) self-raising flour, 2 tbsp cornflour, ½ tsp baking powder
- Stir in the pale ale until no lumps remain.240 ml (1 cup) refrigerated pale ale
- You're going to work in two batches to ensure you don’t overfill the pan/fryer. Dredge half the onion rings in the seasoned cornflour mixture until lightly dusted.
- Place the seasoned onion rings in the beer batter to coat. Lift them out with a set of tongs, allowing the excess to drip off and carefully place them in the hot oil.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Then remove, using a set of tongs. Drain the onion rings, and repeat with the second batch.
- Serve as soon as they're all cooked. I like to serve them with ketchup or BBQ sauce for dipping.
Notes
Can I make it ahead?
Yes, you can make the batter ahead. Just cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before use.Swaps:
If you haven’t got self-raising flour, replace it with the same amount of plain (all-purpose) flour PLUS 1 tsp of baking powder (you’ll also still need to add the additional ½ tsp baking powder to the batter). If you don’t want to use pale ale, you can use lager, or for a non-alcohol version, replace the pale ale with soda water (remember it needs to be COLD).How to scale up and down this recipe:
You can halve this recipe to serve a few or double it to serve a crowd, as long as you stick to the same ingredient ratios.Nutritional information
Nutritional information is approximate, per serving, based on this recipe serving 4 people as a snack. I’ve estimated that 100ml (approx. 6.5 tbsp) of oil will be absorbed during frying, but this can vary.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Instead of deep frying can I put in oven or air fryer? Thanks.
Could these be done in the airfryer? I’m thinking not, but worth an ask!!