These delicious gluten-free onion rings, dipped in batter and fried in hot lard or beef tallow, turn out crispy and golden, no club soda or beer required!
How many times have you sat in a restaurant and watched others eat onion rings that you couldn't have because they are made and fried with wheat flour? If that happens to me, I just smile and think about the delicious ones that I can make at home!
The most popular recipe on this website is currently my gluten-free fish batter recipe. If you like that one, you're sure to like this gluten-free onion rings recipe, too!
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend - This is the flour that gave me fantastic onion rings. If you choose to use another blend, make sure that it has xanthan gum in it, or add your own.
- Onions - I prefer sweet onions such as Vidalia for onion rings. Yellow onions would have more of a bite.
- Avocado Oil - This is the oil that is liquid at room temperature and also stands up to heat.
- Lard or Tallow - Lard is rendered pork fat, while tallow is rendered beef fat. Lard is more neutral in flavor, so I use non-hydrogenated lard in my pie crust. Since this is a savory dish, either will work here. You'll need enough that when it melts, it will be at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep in your large, deep pan.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Slice sweet onions.
Toss them in GF flour.
Beat egg, oil, and milk together.
Beat in flour, baking powder, and salt.
Dip each onion ring into batter and place it into hot oil.
Meanwhile, bring the oil temperature up to 375°F (190°C).
Place battered onion rings into hot oil. Turn them over as soon as they have browned on one side.
When the onion rings have browned on the second side, carefully remove them to a paper-towel-lined plate.
Caution: Use long-handled tongs and be careful not to burn yourself with hot oil.
Meal Prep
Onion rings are best served fresh and hot.
The only thing that you might do ahead of time to simplify preparation is to assemble your equipment and make sure that you have a batch of Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend mixed up.
Equipment
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Since this is a deep-fried recipe, you'll need a large, deep pot for hot oil. The oil doesn't need to be more than an inch (2.5 cm) deep, but high sides will help to prevent spatters.
Use long-handled tongs, so your hands don't get too close to the hot oil.
Storage
This recipe makes a nice, big batch of gluten-free onion rings. If I have any left over, I store them in an airtight, paper-towel-lined container in the refrigerator for a day or two.
They reheat quite nicely in an air fryer.
Top tip
The temperature of the oil is important. If it's too hot, the onion rings will burn on the outside before they get cooked through on the inside. If it's not hot enough, the onion rings will absorb too much and be oily and soggy by the time they are cooked through.
FAQ's
Unfortunately, celiacs cannot eat regular onion rings. They are battered in wheat flour, which contains gluten. Even if a gluten-free batter were used, they are not gluten-free unless they are fried in a dedicated fryer, used only for gluten-free food.
Coating raw onion rings in flour keeps the batter from falling off. This needs to be gluten-free flour for gluten-free onion rings.
Reheat leftover onion rings in an air fryer, and they become nice and crispy again.
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Recipe
Gluten-Free Onion Rings
Equipment
- 1 Large deep pan or deep fryer
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet onions such as Vidalia
- ½ cup Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1¼ cups whole milk
- 1¼ cup Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- lard or tallow for frying
Instructions
- Slice the onions into rings about ⅜-inch (0.5 cm) thick.2 large sweet onions
- Separate the rings and toss them with the ½ cup flour.½ cup Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
- Heat at least an inch (2.5 cm) of oil to 375℉ (190℃).lard or tallow
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat the egg with avocado oil and milk.1 large egg¼ cup avocado oil1¼ cups whole milk
- Add the remaining 1¼ cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the batter until it's smooth.1¼ cup Cathy's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Dip each floured onion ring into the batter and then carefully place it into the hot oil. Fry it until it's golden on one side. Turn each one over and fry on the other side until it's golden, too. Watch them closely; this won't take long.As they finish, remove each battered onion ring to a paper towel-lined plate. Don't fry too many at once. If the oil becomes crowded, the onion rings will stick together, and the temperature of the oil will drop.
Cathy Brak says
My family is loving these onion rings, even though they don't eat gluten-free!