Extra Crispy Baked Onion Rings

Extra Crispy Baked Onion rings

These onion rings are fabulous. They have all the crunch of traditionally fried onion rings, without frying!!!  The secret is panko bread crumbs and a very hot oven.

I’ve tried baking onion rings before. They were good, but not great. The panko adds more texture than other bread crumbs add. This gives you pretty crunchy onion rings.

The 450 degree oven is a must, too. You need really high temps for this to work.

I used a Vidalia onion and it worked great, but you can use any large onion. Sweet onions are my first choice, but even a big yellow onion will mellow out when cooked.

The drizzle of oil is a must, too. You can just give them a spritz of your favorite non-stick baking spray. Or use a spoon to drizzle them lightly with oil before baking. Because of the high heat- I used avocado oil.

I used the same recipe to make baked zucchini slices, too. They came out great as well.

Here is the recipe. I hope you try it.

Extra Crispy Baked Onion Rings

1 large onion- sweet preferred

½ c. flour

1 t. salt

½ t. pepper

¼ t. smoked paprika

2 eggs

2 T. water

About 2 cups panko bread crumbs

Oil or non-stick cooking spray

Extra salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. You might need a second one. Peel onion and slice into ½-inch thick pieces. Separate into rings. In a bag, combine the flour with the salt, pepper and paprika. In a bowl, beat together the eggs and water. In a second bowl, place the panko crumbs. Place a few of the onion rings in the bag of flour and shake to coat evenly. Remove from the bag, tapping off excess flour. Place rings in the egg mixture next, turning to coat them completely. Last step is placing the egg-dipped onion rings in the bread crumbs and turning to make sure they get coated evenly. Place onion rings on the prepared baking sheet and continue the procedure until all the onion rings are breaded. To save space, you can place smaller onion rings inside of the larger ones. Drizzle with a little oil, or spray with non- stick coating. I have this pump-bottle thing that lets me spritz oil on stuff. If you are drizzling oil, put a tablespoon or two in a bowl, and use a spoon to drizzle the oil all over the onion rings. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. You can turn them over after 10 minutes, for a more even bake. Remove from oven and sprinkle with a little more salt before serving. Serves 3-4 depending on the size of the onion.

Right out of the oven