The Absolute Best Type Of Onion To Use For Onion Rings

There's an art and a science to frying up the absolute best onion rings and, as with anything important in life, mastering the skill requires keen attention to detail. Clearly, the most basic detail that goes into a batch of onion rings is the onion itself. As such, you can't just grab any ole onion off your local grocery store shelf and expect to get the ideal type of onion rings that your mouth waters for. Instead, you need to select the right type of onion. 

What it really comes down to is finding an onion that allows for the perfect balance of flavor. It's important to use one that has enough sweetness to balance out the bite but that still allows for the vegetable's spiciness to shine through. And, of course, it's nice if it's an onion you can use for other purposes, too. We spoke to Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer's Corporate Chef, Stephen Parker to get his tips for making the best onion rings, and he insists that Spanish onions are the perfect choice. 

Spanish onions are large white or yellow-skinned onions that have a subtly sweet flavor. Parker told us, "At Black Tap we use Spanish onions for our onion rings because they pack a nice, sweet, mild flavor that is versatile and great for other uses as well." When picking your onions, look for firm vegetables around the size of a baseball or softball without cuts or bruises.

The onion's size is important — by using larger onions, you get nice, big onion rings, and you can still use the veggie's smaller inner rings for other purposes. "We use the middle of the remaining Spanish onion for our caramelized onion burger topping," Parker offers as an example. You could also include them in your favorite stir-fry recipe or add them as a topping on your sandwiches. 

That said, if you can't find Spanish onions, don't sweat it. Most sweet yellow onions offer a similar result. Just steer clear of small onions and red onions that tend to have too much bite for the fried side dish. Instead, options like Vidalia or Walla Walla onions tend to be good alternatives.