The Flour Combination That Results In The Best Onion Rings You'll Ever Eat

Depending on who you ask, onion rings might reign supreme over fries when it comes to late-night bar snacks or burger sides. The caveat, however, is that it's a little more tricky to make homemade onion rings compared to fries. The decadent side needs to be crispy and crunchy rather than soggy or oily, and one of the tips for making the best onion rings is some chef-approved advice to make that happen. It's all about what flour to dredge the onions in before you drop them in piping-hot oil.

Felipe Munoz, executive chef at Thompson Hospitality's Matchbox Restaurants, told us back in August 2023 that semolina flour mixed with other flours is the key to the crispiest onion rings. Semolina flour is made from durum wheat and has higher starch levels that are released when it's cooked in hot oil, resulting in crispy onion rings. Semolina also won't absorb as much oil as other options like all-purpose flour according to Munoz. You won't only use semolina flour, however, because a mixture of all-purpose flour and even cornstarch will make a balanced coating for those deep-fried onion rings.

For every two large onions, here's what you need to make the perfect dredging mixture: Start with two cups of semolina flour mixed with a couple of tablespoons of all-purpose flour. To obtain that extra crunch, add a tablespoon or two of corn starch like Felipe Munoz suggests. Another option is to mix in a half teaspoon each of baking soda and powder to help with the crunch factor. You can easily double it to make a large batch of onion rings, and you can also adjust with more all-purpose flour if you don't have enough semolina in the kitchen. Try these crunch-obtaining cooking tips with our beer-battered onion rings recipe that are ready to eat in just about 12 minutes.

There are some other tips that will ensure your homemade onion rings come out of the oil crispy. First, make sure the oil is around 375 degrees Fahrenheit. A temperature too low will result in the onion rings absorbing oil before cooking, and too high will result in overcooked or burnt onion rings. To keep them hot, put each batch in an oven warmed at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless, drain the onion rings on a wire rack or paper towels to keep them crunchy. But why stop there? Try more tasty additions to onion ring batter from cornflakes to bacon.