Nov 8, 2011

Beer-Battered Onion Rings

A flavorful batter infused with honey, paprika, and lager beer is the secret to these crunchy onion rings. This recipe first appeared in our November 2011 issue along with Dana Bowen's story Roots of Flavor.

Credit: Todd Coleman

SERVES 6–8

INGREDIENTS

1¾ cups flour
½ cup cornstarch
1½ tbsp. hot paprika
1 tbsp. dry mustard
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 tsp. honey
12 oz. lager-style beer

Canola oil, for frying
2 large yellow onions, cut crosswise into ½″-thick slices and separated into rings

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, paprika, mustard, baking powder, and salt. Add honey and beer, and whisk until smooth; let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Pour oil to a depth of 2″ in a 6-qt. Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 375°. Working in batches, dip onion rings into batter, shaking off excess, and lower into oil; fry, flipping once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly and season with more salt; serve immediately.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #142

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Ratings & Reviews (3)

by DEVILDOG on 2011-11-02

Looks like a good recipe. One restaurant at which I worked many moons ago woukd have us soak the onions for 10 minutes or so and remove the filmy 'liner' from the interior of the ring. This helped the batter stick to the onion better.

PS This advice is worth what you paid. But it works.