It's easier than you might think to make homemade onion rings in the air fryer! Our Air Fryer Onion Rings recipe is simple to follow, and results in beautiful golden brown onion rings that are crispy on the outside and tender inside. Ready in under 30 minutes!
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Homemade Onion Rings in the Air Fryer
Okay, to tell you the truth, we were a little worried about this one at first. Homemade onion rings have a reputation for being a little difficult and messy to make. But, air frying onion rings was much easier than even we had anticipated! (And we air fry everything, so that should tell you something!)
Air fried onion rings are seriously delicious. You might have been told you shouldn't air fry anything with a wet batter (see our guide to air frying), but don't worry—these homemade onion rings are totally doable. They turn out crispy, tender, and super flavorful. We're big fans!
Make onion rings in the air fryer as a side dish to juicy beef burgers for a fun dinner any night of the week, or serve them up as a game day snack with your favorite dipping sauce (we like Big Mac Sauce). You can't go wrong!
Want to air fry onion rings from frozen instead? See our recipe for frozen onion rings in the air fryer.
Ingredients in Air Fried Onion Rings
- Self-Rising Flour: Part of the batter mixture. If you don't have self-rising flour, or if it isn't available in your country, you can use 1 cup of all-purpose flour mixed with 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- Cornstarch: Part of the batter mixture; ensures extra crispiness.
- Eggs: Part of the batter mixture; necessary for coating the onions and creating the right texture.
- Beer: We use Wernesgrüner Pils from ALDI and find it has a great flavor for beer battered onion rings.
- Seasoning: Garlic powder, kosher salt, black pepper, and curry powder make up the onion ring seasoning to allow the onion flavor to shine without overpowering it. That being said, feel free to use your favorite seasoning in the egg batter mixture. You might want to try our homemade chili seasoning.
- Stone-Ground Yellow Cornmeal: Part of the batter mixture. Perfect for adding extra crispiness and a great choice for getting the right consistency when making food with a wet batter in the air fryer.
- Vidalia Onion: Be sure to chill the onion before slicing. Using cold onions helps the breading stick to the onions. If your onion is at room temperature, just place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing. Sweet onions, like Vidalia onions, work best for this recipe, but you can also use yellow onions if it's what you have on hand. Avoid using red onion.
- Oil Spray: We're using avocado oil in a sprayer bottle. See Our Favorite Oils that we love to use for air frying. Make sure to use a natural oil spray in a sprayer bottle and not a pressurized cooking spray, as those contain additives that can damage the non-stick coating of your air fryer.
How to Air Fry Onion Rings with Beer Batter
Whisk dry batter
To prepare beer battered onion rings, you will want to set up a work station using 3 containers or bowls. In the first container, whisk together ½ cup flour with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.
Whisk wet batter
In the second dish, whisk together 2 eggs, ½ cup beer, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and ¼ teaspoon curry powder. Add remaining ½ cup flour and whisk until smooth. This mixture will have a thin batter consistency.
Add cornmeal to container
Pour ½ cup cornmeal into the third dish. NOTE: We work with ½ cup cornmeal at a time to help prevent clumping. Add more cornmeal as needed and discard cornmeal that gets clumpy.
Cut onion into rings
Slice off the stem end of the onion. Remove the first layer of onion, then slice the onion into ½ inch thick rounds. Carefully separate the rounds into individual onion rings. Reserve small onion pieces for use in other recipes.
Dredge onion in dry mixture
Using a fork, coat an onion ring in the flour and cornstarch mixture, and gently shake off any excess flour. Place in beer batter. Don't let your flour fork touch the batter.
Coat onion in wet batter
Using a separate fork, coat the onion ring in beer batter, making sure to fully coat all sides. Gently lift the onion ring out of the beer batter and allow excess to drip off. Carefully place the onion ring in the cornmeal mixture. Don't let your beer batter fork touch the cornmeal.
Chill for 30 minutes
Finally, using a different fork, fully coat the onion ring with cornmeal. Gently shake off excess and place onion ring on a rack while you continue to coat the remaining onions until all are coated. NOTE: Use a rack placed inside a baking tray. We line the tray with foil for easy clean up. Set rack with onion rings in fridge for at least 30 minutes before air frying.
Air fry onion rings
When ready to air fry, preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Once the air fryer is preheated, remove the air fryer basket and spray the basket with oil spray. Place onion rings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. The onion rings should not touch. Spray with oil spray to coat each of the onion rings well. You want to make sure you coat the top side of the onions rings with the oil spray.
Cook in batches
Air fry at 400°F for 8 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Use tongs to carefully remove air fried onion rings to a serving plate. Continue cooking until all onion rings are air fried. You will need to air fry in batches.
Fry one last time!
Once all onion ring batches are cooked, add them all back to the air fryer at the same time to heat through for about 2 minutes at 400°F. They don't need to be in a single layer this time. Once done, serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to chill your onion(s) before slicing. Using cold onions helps the breading to stick to the onions. If you onion is at room temperature just place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing.
- Use a different fork for each container when breading the onion rings. That will help keep each fork clean so you don’t get clumps in the cornmeal.
- We work with ½ cup cornmeal at a time to help prevent clumping. Add more cornmeal as needed and discard cornmeal that gets too many clumps.
- No need to flip the onion rings. They will get crispy on both sides as long as they are in a single layer and not touching.
- Discard remaining flour mixture, beer batter, and cornmeal. It cannot be reused.
What to Serve with Air Fried Onion Rings
Storage Instructions
- Store leftover onion rings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To retain crispiness, air fry for about 3 minutes when reheating.
FAQ
Yes! To make these air fried onion rings gluten-free, simply replace the self-rising flour with homemade self-rising flour following our instructions in the ingredients list above, using gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Onion rings can be messy to make in the air fryer, although our batter makes minimal mess compared to other wet batters, especially by chilling the onion rings before air frying. Properly cleaning your air fryer after air frying onion rings is important, though! We have a guide to cleaning your air fryer you can use.
Air Fryer Side Dishes
- Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
- Homemade Air Fryer French Fries
- Air Fryer Baked Potato
- Air Fryer Roasted Cauliflower
- See all of our air fryer side dishes!
Leave a comment and review for us below if you enjoyed this recipe, or if you have questions about any of our air fryer recipes!
Air Fryer Onion Rings (Beer-Battered)
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-rising flour divided
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup beer we use Wernesgrüner Pils from Aldi
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- 1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal divided
- 1 large Vidalia onion cold and sliced into ½” rounds
- oil spray such as avocado oil spray
Instructions
Creating your workstation
- To prepare beer battered onion rings, you will want to set up a work station using 3 containers or bowls. In the first container, whisk together ½ cup self-rising flour with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.
- In the second dish, whisk together 2 large eggs, ½ cup beer, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon curry powder. Add remaining ½ cup self-rising flour and whisk until smooth. This mixture will have a thin batter consistency.
- Pour ½ cup cornmeal into the third dish. NOTE: We work with ½ cup cornmeal at a time to help prevent clumping. Add more cornmeal as needed and discard cornmeal that gets clumpy.
Prepping the onions
- Slice off the stem end of 1 large Vidalia onion. Remove the first layer of onion, then slice the onion into ½ inch thick rounds. Carefully separate the rounds into individual onion rings. Reserve small onion pieces for use in other recipes.
- Using a fork, coat an onion ring in the flour and cornstarch mixture, and gently shake off any excess flour. Place in beer batter. Don't let your flour fork touch the batter.
- Using a separate fork, coat the onion ring in beer batter, making sure to fully coat all sides. Gently lift the onion ring out of the beer batter and allow excess to drip off. Carefully place the onion ring in the cornmeal mixture. Don't let your beer batter fork touch the cornmeal.
- Finally, using a different fork, fully coat the onion ring with cornmeal. Gently shake off excess and place onion ring on a rack while you continue to coat the remaining onions until all are coated. NOTE: Use a rack placed inside a baking tray. We line the tray with foil for easy clean up. Set rack with onion rings in fridge for at least 30 minutes before air frying.
Air frying onion rings
- When ready to air fry, preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Once the air fryer is preheated, remove the air fryer basket and spray the basket with oil spray. Place onion rings in a single layer in the air fryer basket. The onion rings should not touch. Spray with oil spray to coat each of the onion rings well. You want to make sure you coat the top side of the onions rings with the oil spray.
- Air fry at 400°F for 8 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Use tongs to carefully remove air fried onion rings to a serving plate. Continue cooking until all onion rings are air fried. You will need to air fry in batches.
- Once all onion ring batches are cooked, add them all back to the air fryer at the same time to heat through for about 2 minutes at 400°F. They don't need to be in a single layer this time. Once done, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure to chill your onion(s) before slicing. Using cold onions helps the breading to stick to the onions. If you onion is at room temperature just place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before slicing.
- Use a different fork for each container when breading the onion rings. That will help keep each fork clean so you don’t get clumps in the cornmeal.
- We work with ½ cup cornmeal at a time to help prevent clumping. Add more cornmeal as needed and discard cornmeal that gets too many clumps.
- No need to flip the onion rings. They will get crispy on both sides as long as they are in a single layer and not touching.
- Discard remaining flour mixture, beer batter, and cornmeal. It cannot be reused.
- The amount of onion rings this recipe yields varies depending on the size of your onion, but we found that there is generally enough for four servings.
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