Easy Crispy Onion Strings - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

Why are my crispy onions not crispy? ›

To get crispy onions you need to deep fry it in a lot of oil. Sauteing in a shallow pan will result in softened onions as they release their juice slowly and get cooked.

Too much batter.

This is almost worse than having batter that's too thin. Instead of staying light and crisp, an onion ring with too much batter will retain too much internal moisture, and as soon as it comes out of the oil, the batter starts getting soggy.

Crisp fried onions

Crispy deep fried onions are called "French fried onions" in Southern cooking of the United States. Smaller and irregularly shaped (from being deep-fried until they are crunchy) onions are an integral part of the American dish green bean casserole.

A trick for getting your breading to stick better and not fall off as much when frying is to cover the breaded onion rings with a damp paper towel for 10-15 minutes after breading while the oil heats up. This helps it get a little bit tacky and stick better so less of it falls off in the hot oil.

The first is to make sure that you aren't overcrowding the pan when frying the onion. A second reason would be that the oil is too low in temperature which results in soggy onions. Also, make sure to drain the fried rings on a paper towel to soak up any residual oil and then onto a plate.

But indeed sautéing onions in water gets them soft and clear with less shrinkage compared to sautéing in a fat. You're really making stewed onion bits.

Soaking the onions helps dilute their sulfur content, taking away that pungent, raw bite and leaving you with a pleasant, milder onion that still has some snap to it. Cuisine At Home also recommends maintaining ultimate crispiness by double-dipping the onions in buttermilk and seasoned flour.

When it comes to batter, ensure it's not too thin or it will drip right off your onion ring. Also, make sure your batter is ice cold, as this makes for a lighter coating when it's fried. In contrast, ensure your oil is piping hot at around 360 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit before dropping in your battered rings.

Soak the onion slices in cold water to dilute the sulfur content, turning them sweet and mild. For a crust that stays crisp and has character, double dip the rings in buttermilk and seasoned flour.

Sprinkle corn flour on the slices and toss them. Heat oil in a deep pan till medium hot but not smoking hot. Reduce the flame to medium. Add few onion slices at one time and deep fry until crisp.

How do you fry onions so they are soft? ›

This means frying gently, stirring often until they are soft enough to squish easily between you fingers but are still not the slightest bit brown. It will take you about 10 minutes to reach this point. Cook until golden or brown. If you want golden onions then turn up the heat a little, but not beyond medium.

Caramelized onions are an easy way to add richness and depth of flavor to any dish but if you don't take it low and slow then you're often left with burnt crispy onions.