Onion rings are my favorite hamburger side dish. I take my onion rings seriously, too. They’d better have a nice clean ‘bite’ to them. That means when I take a bite, I’d better not end up pulling the entire onion out with it. Then I’m left with a ‘batter tube’. Although tasty, that’s not what I want. I want crunchy, delicious onion rings. Like these extra-crunchy panko onion rings!
Batter. All Around.
If you’re not careful making extra-crunchy panko onion rings, you’ll end up with spots on your rings with no batter. This happens for two reasons: either you didn’t get enough batter on them, or you did but your fingers wiped it off.
When you dunk the onions into the egg mixture and then the breadcrumbs, make sure you get both all over. Inside and outside. Completely. And make sure you handle the rings as gently as possible. Instead of grabbing them on edge, I stick two fingers inside, then spread my fingers outward. That way I only touch the insides of the rings and only with my finger nails. That way the coating stays on the outside. Might sound odd, but you want that crunchy exterior as even as you can get it with no bald spots.
The Presto Fry Daddy is perfect for making smaller batches of food. It only uses a few cups of oil and comes to temperature quickly. Clean-up is easy too!
For a kicked-up onion ring try my spicy Texan version!
Extra-Crunchy Panko Onion Rings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet onions
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- kosher salt to taste
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Peel the onions.
- Cut into ½" rings and separate into individual rings.
- Set out 3 shallow bowls.
- In the first bowl combine the flour, seasoned salt and pepper.
- In the second bowl, whisk together the eggs with the milk.
- In the third bowl, place the panko breadcrumbs.
- Place the onion rings into the flour mixture.
- Turn to get the flour on all areas.
- Place on a wire rack and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Return the rings to the flour and again turn to coat.
- Shake off any excess and (working in batches as needed), place the rings into the egg mixture.
- Dunk the rings, making sure they get coated evenly. I like to handle the rings from the inside so that my fingers do not knock any of the coating off the outsides.
- Shake off any excess coating and transfer to the panko breadcrumbs.
- Turn the rings to coat well in the breadcrumbs then transfer to a wire rack to let rest for 5 minutes.
- While the rings are resting heat 2-3" of oil to 350 F in a Dutch oven or deep fryer.
- Working in batches if needed, fry the rings for 2 minutes, then flip and continue cooking until golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to drain.
- Season rings with salt and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
