Recipe: Oven-Baked Onion Rings

Do you want that deep fried, crunchy taste of onion rings without having to actually deep fry them? I have just the recipe for you, thanks to America's Test Kitchen. I picked up a copy of their Best-Ever Recipes and when I found this one, I knew I had to try it out. With their helpful tips, I was able to whip up some really good and crunchy onion rings in the oven with using only a little bit of vegetable oil. And the process is really not that difficult; slicing, dipping, breading, and baking is pretty much it. 

The trick to getting the crunch is in the secret coating you put on the onion rings: a fine blend of saltine crackers and kettle chips! The texture of both combined really creates a crunchy coating on the onion rings, and the flavour is great! For mine, I experimented a bit and bought Aged White Cheddar chips instead of the standard salted ones, and I think it added a really nice extra taste to them. Next time I might even opt for Sea Salt and Vinegar to give that extra little sourness to them. But with the flavoured chips out there, the possibilities are really left to your own imagination. 

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup flour

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

30 saltines

1 bag kettle-cooked potato chips

2 large onions, cut in 1/2 inch thick rings

6 tbsp vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 450 degrees. Place 1/4 cup of flour in a shallow baking dish. Beat the egg and buttermilk together in a medium bowl. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup flour, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper into the buttermilk mixture. Pulse the saltines and potato chips together in a food processor or blender until finely ground, then transfer to a separate shallow baking dish. 

WORKING one at a time, dredge each onion ring in the flour, shaking of excess. Dip in the buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl, then drop into the crumb coating, turning to coat evenly. Transfer to a large plate and repeat with remaining onion rings. 

POUR 3 tablespoons of oil onto each baking sheet (2 or 3 sheets, depending on number rings). Place in oven and heat until just smoking, about 8 minutes. Carefully tilt the heated sheets to coat evenly with oil, then arrange the rings in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping the onion rings over halfway through. Transfer ring to paper towel-lined plates to drain briefly and serve immediately. 

NOTE: the onion rings can be breaded in advance and refrigerated up to 1 hour before baking. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.

I bet trying these with BBQ chips would be very tasty....