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These 6-Ingredient Healthy Vegan Onion Rings are Crispy, Golden Brown, and Absolutely Delicious…but you don’t need ANY Oil to cook them!
Ahhh, the Onion Ring. To be honest, I can’t really remember the last time I’ve had one. Mostly because as I became a more health-conscious person, my cravings for greasy, salty, and deep fried foods slowly faded away.
However, these Vegan Onion Rings are (1) not deep fried (2) not unhealthy (3) magically crispy, WITHOUT Oil. Say what?!
Crispy and Fat-Free Onion Rings sounds like an oxymoron, but believe me, it is possible. And delicious! I brought these to a potluck and they were gone in less than 10 minutes. Which is a pretty damn good seal of approval, if I do say so myself.
I have provided instructions to cook these Vegan Onion Rings in both a conventional oven and an air fryer. An Air Fryer is a super cool device that allows you to “fry” foods without the use of oil! I recently acquired one a month or two ago, and have been pretty obsessed. (Side Note: it makes the BEST crispy tofu in only 10 minutes. Future recipe, perhaps?)
I would recommend the Air Fryer method, as the Onion Rings were more crispy and cooked in less than half the time! This is the one I use.
This recipe is surprisingly simple, too. You only need 6 ingredients, and they’re all very affordable. Heck, you probably have most (if not all) of them in your pantry already! And most of us probably have an Onion (or two, or three) that may or may not be sprouting and is just screaming to be cooked with. Or is that just me…
Don’t forget the ketchup, though. It’s essential 😉
A Few Final Thoughts:
- These Onion Rings will stay crispy for a few hours after you make them, but will not last overnight. As with most “fried” foods, they are best served warm.
- For a less messy preparation, try to keep one hand dedicated to dipping the Onion Rings in the wet mix, and the other for the dry. You’ll be glad you did!
- This recipe would also work well if you swapped the flour for Gluten Free flour and used GF breadcrumbs. You could also use these breadcrumbs made from Chickpeas to give the recipe a higher-protein content.
If you’re looking for more Healthy Side Dishes, you’ll also love these Perfect Oven Baked Fries and this Easy Vegan Cornbread!
Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
PrintHealthy Vegan Onion Rings
These 6-Ingredient Healthy Vegan Onion Rings are Crispy, Golden Brown, and Absolutely Delicious…but you don’t need ANY Oil to cook them!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 People 1x
Ingredients
- 2–3 Yellow Onions (3 medium or 2 large)
For the Wet Mix:
- 1/2 cup Flour of Choice (All Purpose, Spelt, GF, etc)
- 2/3 cup Unsweetened Plant Milk
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Salt
For the Dry Mix:
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs (make sure they are Vegan!)
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
- If you are using an Oven, preheat it to 450F.
- Slice the end off of each Onion, and then peel the outer skin off. Carefully cut each Onion into 1/2″ circular portions.
- Note the “layers” that comprise each Onion portion (like the pattern in a tree trunk). We will be using two Onion “Layers” for each Onion Ring. Using your fingers, carefully press the center portion of each Onion away from two of the Onion Layers, to form a hollow Ring. Repeat with each portion of the Onion until no more circles remain, and then continue with the rest of the Onion portions.
- Add all of the Wet Mix ingredients to a medium bowl, and stir well.
- Add all of the Dry Mix ingredients to a separate bowl, and mix well. Then, divide the Dry Mix evenly into two separate bowls. (The Dry Mix gets a little “sticky” with time, and this prevents the mixture from becoming unusable.)
- Using separate hands for the Wet and Dry mixes, dip each Onion Ring into the Wet Mix, then transfer to the Dry Mix and coat evenly with breadcrumbs. Place onto a greased or lined Baking Tray, or into the basket of your Air Fryer if you are using one. Repeat with the remaining Onion Rings.
Air Fryer Baking Instructions:
- Bake the Onion Rings at 400F for 8-10 minutes. You will have to cook the Onion Rings in a few batches, so the basket does not become overcrowded. Serve Warm.
Oven Instructions:
- Bake the Onion Rings on a greased or lined Baking Tray (I used a silicone mat) at 450F for 30-35 minutes. If you are using parchment paper, I would suggest flipping the Onion Rings, but otherwise you should be ok. Serve Warm.
Notes
These Onion Rings will stay crispy for a few hours after you make them, but will not last overnight. As with most “fried” foods, they are best served warm.
For a less messy preparation, try to keep one hand dedicated to dipping the Onion Rings in the wet mix, and the other for the dry. You’ll be glad you did!
This recipe would also work well if you swapped the flour for Gluten Free flour and used GF breadcrumbs. You could also use these breadcrumbs made from Chickpeas to give the recipe a higher-protein content.
Want to save these Healthy Vegan Onion Rings for later? Pin the recipe to your Pinterest boards:
These are absolutely amazing!!! I’m so happy I found this recipe. We used a deep fryer and they tasted as good as what I’d get at a restaurant
★★★★★
Wow, these are amazing!
I didn’t actually think this would work. Ran out of Panko crumbs so made a smaller batch than I wanted to after the first lot came out and blew me away. I thought the concept of not using any oil and having actual real tasty onion rings was up there with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.
This recipe actually works and produces a great product, I won’t eat fried onion rings again. Only tip I can offer is don’t put to many in the fryer. Make sure you place them strategically so the air can move around, that is the secrete to an air fryer. Put to much in and the air can’t move then any recipe won’t work to crisp things up.
★★★★★
I made these and they were very good, but mine cooked unevenly—more cooked on the outside and less cooked on the inside. Once I changed them from 2 layers to 1 layer, they cooked evenly and were much better. I did use 2 bowls for the dry mixture, but there was still not enough useable dry mixture even if I had kept the onions at 2 layers. Really appreciate that they’re fat free and still taste great. Will make again. Thanks!
★★★★★
We made with gluten free flour and bread crumbs. They were great.
★★★★★
Wow!!! These are SUPER DELICIOUS!! I had no idea they’d be this good and truly taste like they’re fried. I cooked them in my air fryer for around 8 or 9 minutes. So much crisp and flavor!
★★★★★
Thank you!
I’ve been craving onion rings but due to COVID, I haven’t been to a restaurant in over 7 months and fried food usually leaves me feeling gross. Anyway-these were great! I followed everything but the cooking times/temp (oven method) since I had roasted potatoes going, too. They still turned out wonderfully! So crisp and held their shape. I prefer onion rings with “texture” and the onion didn’t completely fall out when I bit in.
Thanks for coming up with this recipe!
Glad you could enjoy a little throwback to pre-covid days!
I just made these in the oven and they are delicious!!!! I haven’t had onion rings in 3 years since going vegan and these hit the spot. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again!!
★★★★★
Yay! Isn’t it nice to have some throwbacks? Thanks for making!
I made this recipe today but with red onion, because that’s what I had available. I don’t want to leave a rating because I didn’t follow the exact recipe, but it was very good! I’m new to being vegan, and trying to find vegan substitutes for some of the foods I used to enjoy. I did use the air fryer and it was not hard at all. The only issue I found is that my wet mix was a bit too thick (I used oat milk), so I added a little more oat milk to make it the right consistency. Otherwise, 5 stars, and I will definitely make this again!
Awesome – thanks so much! And I hope you’re enjoying trying some new stuff!
Made these with Vidalia onions and WOW! I added a little more milk to the dredge because it was too thick. These were amazingly crispy and cooked perfectly! My family loved them!
Will reheat leftovers in air fryer tomorrow. Thank You!
★★★★★
So happy your family enjoyed them with you!
Just made these, everything turned out perfectly and crunchy!
YUM
★★★★★
Awesome! Thank you!
First recipe in my airfryer.. and it was very good!! There is only one thing I would like to improve in my rings: do your onions come out slightly raw? Like when you bite them they’re still kind of crunchy? I would like them to be way softer, any suggestion? Thanks heaps for the recipe anyway 🙂
Hey! If you set your air fryer to 400 and cooked them between 8-10 minutes you can try either cooking them longer at that temperature if the breading is light in color you can afford to cook it at that high of a temperature for a little longer. Or if the breading was getting dark in color, try a lower temperature for longer. Some air fryers aren’t as precise as ovens so there may need to be some experimenting with yours to figure out if it runs hotter or colder.
Thanks!! I’ll probably put a thermometer in it to check the temperature then, I didn’t think about it but it’s very important to know the real temp, it’ll save me 🙂 thanks again and happy holidays!
I finally got around to making these yesterday. I was making roasted veggies, tofu and brown rice. Figured these would be a great addition. 1. Can’t believe how easy they are to make. 2. Can’t believe how good they are. 3. Can’t believe they are baked!!!
Thank you for posting this, Making them again today.
Thanks so much for making them and glad to hear you enjoyed it!
The absolute best onion ring we’ve tried to replicate by far. almost no fat and crispy like the fried version. Great
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks!
I made these for lunch yesterday and they were AMAZING!!! I cooked them in the oven, and followed the recipe exactly! I did add some onion and garlic powder to both the dry and wet mixes. They turned out so good and were incredibly crispy!!! looked likely they just came out of the fryer but an oven did that!! so good, thank u!
★★★★★
That sounds delicious! Thanks for letting us know you liked it!
These were so crispy! I made something similar before and got flustered when the dry mix became a mess, so the tip to separate the dry into 2 bowls because it will become unusable was great to have and mentally prepare for. The flavor and texture was amazing!
★★★★★
Thank you, Melissa!
These were wonderful and gone within minutes! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
You are very welcome 🙂
I spread out newspaper under the whole operation so clean up is easier. That works with any tempura project.
★★★★★
Great idea, Frances!
I made these. Two thumbs up. Will make again. Thank you!
Thanks, Angela!
cooked 20mins, not 30, in the oven would have been better I think
★★★★
I have to be honest, I was not in love with my air fryer until now. These were amazing!! More air fryer recipes please!
★★★★★