These Gluten Free Onion Rings are an easy way to get this classic comfort food at home.
The best part – They can also be made dairy free, just swap the cows milk for a dairy free alternative. Enjoy these fried onion rings plain, dipped in melted butter, marinara or dunked in my absolute favourite – garlic mayo.
I absolutely love a good onion ring. They are savory, salty, crispy, and crunchy, and packed with sweet onion flavour. There might not be anything better.
Finding a restaurant that serves gluten free onion rings is not the easiest task, so I’ve made my own recipe and I think I’ve broken the code. These are the best gluten free onion rings I’ve ever tasted.
Probably what makes these so good is that we are making them the traditional way and frying the onion rings in hot oil. In my opinion baked onion rings could never compare to the fried ones.
It’s important that your oil is hot enough before you drop an onion ring in it, otherwise the onion ring just soaks up the oil and gets super greasy and soggy. You can use a Food Thermometer to test the temperature, or you could use the Wooden Spoon trick. Just dip the end of a wooden spoon handle into the oil. You’ll know it’s ready when the oil bubbles up around the spoon handle. If there are a lot of violent bubbles, though, your oil’s too hot, so lower the temperature and let it cool a little.
Any oil works very well for this recipe but my favourites to use would have to be sunflower oil, canola oil or avocado oil.
If you are not going to eat the onion rings within 2 days, I recommend freezing them. Place completely cooled onion rings in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat in a 200ºC Air Fryer for 4-7 minutes or oven for 5-10 minutes until warm and crispy again.
- 2 cups sunflower oil, canola oil or avocado oil
- 1 white onion, medium-large size
- ½ cup corn flour
- ½ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour I use doves farm freee
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup milk use dairy-free if needed
- Pour the oil into a medium size, heavy bottom pot.
- Turn the heat to medium and allow the oil to heat up while you prep. It should only be about 2 inches deep.
- Peel the onion and slice into thick rings, just over ½" wide. Separate all of the rings.
- In a medium-size bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir with a fork to mix evenly.
- Whisk the egg and milk into the dry ingredients. You should have a slightly thick batter.
- You can use a food thermometer to test the temperature of the oil. the temperature should be 360F/180C, or you could use the wooden spoon trick. Just dip the end of a wooden spoon handle into the oil. You’ll know it’s ready when the oil bubbles up around the spoon handle. If there are a lot of violent bubbles, though, your oil’s too hot, so lower the temperature and let it cool a little.
- One at a time, take an onion ring and dip it into the wet batter, using a fork to flip and ensure all sides are coated. Let any excess drip off before gently placing in the hot oil. Repeat with as many onion rings as will fit in the surface area of your pot. They should brown on the bottom within about 30 seconds. Once brown and bubbled on the bottom, gently flip the onion rings using a fork or tongs. Allow to cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until the entire onion ring is nice and golden. Use a strainer or spider skimmer to remove the onion rings to a plate lined with paper towel.
- Repeat with the rest of the onion rings in as many batches as necessary. If the wet batter starts to thicken too much, add a splash of milk to thin it out as needed.
- Once cooked serve with your favourite sauce.
