My youngest sister came over for a visit on Saturday and as always we had a blast. We started off our day chatting while we sipped our favorite iced coffee beverage, a Cafe Frappe. Then we got down to business, snack time. 😉 She was in the mood for comfort food and I was in the mood for something healthy. There just had to be a way we could both win on this one, so
I thought “how about we combine both and make baked onion rings?!”
These onion rings are the tastiest and crispiest baked onion rings that I’ve ever had and they go perfect with a chipotle ranch dip.
Crispy Baked Onion Rings Recipe
(About 4 servings)
Ingredients:
- cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- salt and pepper
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon mustard (I used Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a wire rack (i.e. metal cooling rack) on top.
- Spray the wire rack with cooking spray and set it aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil on Medium heat. Add the panko bread crumbs. Season them with salt and pepper. Toast the crumbs until they are golden brown, stirring constantly.
- In bowl #1, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper.
- In bowl #2, whisk together the eggs, water, mustard, and thyme.
- Once the panko bread crumbs have been toasted, transfer them to bowl #3 (You are building an assembly line here in case that wasn’t obvious.)
- Cover each onion ring in the flour mixture (in bowl #1).
- Then dip each onion ring in the egg mixture (in bowl #2).
- Finally coat each onion ring in the panko crumbs (in bowl #3).
- Transfer the onion rings to the prepared wire rack.
- Spray the onion rings with cooking spray and cook them for about 12 minutes or until they are browned.
Chipotle Ranch Dip Recipe
(Makes 1/2 cup of dip)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of your favorite ranch dressing
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
Directions:
- Mix together the ranch dressing and chipotle pepper sauce.
The onion rings are best served the day they are made, and in fact they are the best immediately out of the oven.
My sister did quite a lot of the steps while I was offering guidance and supervising. Wahoo free labor! I like to think of it as delegation. She volunteered and I wasn’t about to say no. She’s not in the kitchen nearly as much as I am, which is a nice way of saying that she doesn’t really cook (yet?). That means if she can make these then anyone can. 😉 I cut the onions and recommend that they be at least a half inch thick. If you cut them thinner than that they end up a bit flimsy.
The wire wrack is super important for this recipe. Not only are onions fragile (so peeling them off the pan would likely destroy them) but the gap under them allows them to be cooked by the hot air in the oven instead of the direct heat of the hot pan below. This helps to dry them out and leaves you with a crispy-licious onion ring instead of a mush of soggy onion.
These aren’t fried! The good news is that these onion rings are healthier than the kind you might get at a fast food restaurant. The bad news is that they don’t taste like fried onion rings. Well, I suppose it’s only “bad news” if you like greasy food. Don’t get me wrong, I love the occasional greasy fair food once a year, but I needed a real alternative for the rest of the 364 days a year. That’s where these bad boys come into play.
If you are familiar with my blog then you might recognize most of the ingredients and directions from my Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers. They were a huge hit and the tasty coating from that recipe gave me lots of ideas. What else could I bake using the same process instead of frying? One of the first thoughts I had was onion rings. My sister’s comfort food craving cinched it and these were the result.
I chose wisely. These taste sooooo delicious and were the ideal snack for two chatty sisters! 🙂
Panko bread crumbs are bigger than regular bread crumbs and that’s why they are key to the crunch factor here. These look different and even taste different than factory produced beer battered onion rings, but they are fantastic eats. They are super crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
This chipotle ranch dip was my husband’s creation. Somewhere along the way he mixed the two ingredients together and it’s become more popular than BBQ sauce or ketchup in our house. As you can probably tell from the two ingredients, it is really just a delicious spicy ranch dip. Feel free to add more chipotle sauce if you like it extra spicy.
Since this dip is something that we quickly whip when we want it, we use pre-made ranch dressing from the store. If you’re feeling ambitious and you can find an awesome homemade ranch dressing recipe then by all means go to town!
What’s your favorite healthy comfort food?
Source: Tina’s Chic Corner
Here are some other tasty snacks or side dishes.
I love baked onion rings and with that Chipotle ranch dip? Perfection!
Awesome! Thanks so much. 🙂 I appreciate you stopping by!
I’ll take baked over fried any day! Love comfort food without the guilt. And this chipotle ranch dip sounds amazing
I totally agree! Have a great Monday, Natalie! 🙂
These look so crispy and delicious! I love this, Tina — what a great snack! Pinning. 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for pinning. 🙂
Man, those crispy onion rings are killing me! And that sauce is genius. I can’t believe how easy it is! You nailed the flavors and textures in this recipe! Pinned!
Awesome! So glad you like. 🙂 Thanks for pinning!
These look incredible! I’m a huge fan of oven-fried (faux fried?) onion rings and will have to try putting them on a rack like that next time! Mine usually end up pretty mangled (but still delicious)
Faux fried…love it!
Now that’s my kind of snack! These look so crispy and crunchy!
Thanks Chris! 🙂
I keep meaning to try baked onion rings – I really love that they are baked and not fried! Frying at home kinda grosses and freaks me out! lol And these look perfectly crunchy! Plus that dip … I love a good dipping sauce for snacks like this : )
Oh my gosh, I completely agree! As long as I get them crunchy from the oven like I did here, then I never see a need for a fryer.
Yum! These look so tasty–I love that they are not fried too. Great idea to add a little zip to the ranch with Tabasco..
Pinning it:)
Do you ever use stumble upon?
It’s super fun. I would add some of your content there. One of the linky parties I connect to suggested it. There is a great tutorial on youtube from crystalandcomp and 3boysandadog
Thanks so much for pinning! I’ve never heard of stumble upon…I’ll have to check that out. 🙂
Oooh these look so crunchy and satisfying! Guiltless comfort food for the win. And geez – that dip! I’m already thinking of all the things I can slather it on! 🙂
Awesome!
I am ready for the non-fried challenge! These look amazing and love that zippy chipotle sauce on the side. Panko bread crumbs are my favorite for keeping things crisp also thanks for the hint on baking them on a rack.
I love passing on tips that work for me. 🙂
Onion rings are my favorite guilty pleasure food! I love that you baked them! And the dipping sauce you made for them sounds fabulous. Spicy delicious.
Thanks so much!
Holy cow, Tina, these look amazing! Onion rings are one of my favorite snacks…but I try to avoid them b/c they’re fried. Pinning so I can come back and try these out!!
Awesome! I hope you love them just as much as I do. 🙂
Oh, yum! My tummy is seriously grumbling … I want these NOW!!! 😀 You know I’m all about healthifying foods, and this is a stellar example of taking something naughty and pretty much nutritionally defunct and turning it into a wonderfully delicious yet much healthier treat! Love it!!!
Totally agree! Thanks. 🙂
I love how crispy these look!! The dipping sauce sounds delicious! My husband is big on onion rings – he’ll love these….
If your husband is anything like mine then he’ll polish them off in short order. 😉
These look so good Tina! My kids would love these! 🙂
I bet they would! My mom is going to make these with my 2 young nephews this weekend. I love kids can even help make these. 🙂
Tina, sounds like you and your sis had a great time! Funny thing is, I used to peep out the onion and just eat the crispy parts. But, now I’m addicted to the whole onion adventure. I’m all about this recipe with the panko crumbs… and the sauce!
Lol…you’re so funny. The crispy part is (and has always been) my favorite part. 🙂
I have never made onion rings before. These looks delicious! Chipotle ranch dip…yum! I can’t wait to give these a try 😀
Thanks! I hope you love these as much as I do. 🙂
So I LOVE french fries. Like a deep dying love for them, but interestingly I am not an onion ring fan…Not sure why? I feel like they just make me crave french fries lol. But the bf loves em so maybe I’ll give this a try since they aren’t fried 😉
You’re not alone. Some of my family and friends don’t like onion rings either. More for me. 😉 And if I had to choose, I’d definitely pick fries as the better snack. 🙂
I love onion rings! It is awesome that you made them healthy so they don’t have to be a once in awhile treat!
Absolutely! 🙂
What a delicious snack, it sounds so addicting!!!! Especially with the dip!!!
Thanks so much! I appreciate you stopping by. 🙂
I adore this healthier twist on onion rings. They look just as delish (if not more) than the real deal! And the ranch dip souns heavenly too!
Glad to know you had a lovely time with your sister xxx
Thanks Consuelo!
I haven’t tried baked onion rings, but now I can’t wait to make them! These look perfect, Tina. Glad you had a nice visit with your sister 🙂
Thanks Andi!