Beer Battered Onion Rings

My husband loves onion. Red, white, raw, cooked, it doesn’t matter, he’ll have it with almost any meal. So when I told him I was going to make beer battered onion rings he hovered around in the kitchen, stealing them off the pile as I was making them. I had to wait until he was on a Skype meeting with work to make another batch to photograph for you, and as soon as the meeting had finished he rushed downstairs as he could smell them cooking and couldn’t wait any longer. So I think he approves of this recipe!

I used Heineken lager as that’s what we had in the house and it made a lovely, light, crisp batter. But feel free to experiment with bitters or alcohol free beer. You may need to change the quantity you use slightly if you’re using a different beer, just add it a bit at a time until you get a nice, thick batter consistency.

These onion rings go great with my Garlic Mayo Dip (recipe here) and are perfect for parties or snacks, but they’re also great on burgers or with fish and chips. They store well in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days, then just re-heat in the oven for 10 mins at 200c / 180c fan / gas mark 6.

Ingredients:

• 200g of onion, cut into thick slices
• 75g of plain flour
• A good pinch of salt
• A good pinch of black pepper
• A good pinch of paprika
• 125mls of beer (I used lager)
• Enough oil to fill a small saucepan or frying pan by a 3rd (I used olive oil, but feel free to use rape seed oil, vegetable oil, or whatever you prefer)

Method:

• Put the flour, salt, pepper and paprika into a large bowl and add the beer.
• Whisk until smooth. Add the beer a bit at a time if you’re worried about lumps.

• 

• 

• Put a pan, a 3rd full with oil on a high heat on the hob.
• After a few minutes, check your oil is up to temperature by dropping a small amount of batter into it. If it sizzles and bubbles form around it, it’s ready.

• Set out your frying station. You are going to be working with very hot oil, so you don’t want to be wandering around the kitchen. Have everything to hand so you don’t have to leave the oil unattended at all.

• Put a few onion rounds into the batter, and using your fingers, move them around until they’re fully coated with batter.
• I know everyone likes a massive onion ring, but don’t waste the smaller rounds, I leave the centres whole to get a circle instead of a ring. That way you still get the intense flavour, just on a smaller scale.

• 

• 

• Place a few well coated onion rings carefully into the hot oil. Don’t overload the pan though as that will lower the temperature of the oil and make your onion rings soggy.

• After a couple of minutes, turn them over and cook the other side. I found the easiest way to do that was by hooking a knife through the ring. But watch you don’t scrape the pan as you’ll damage the non-stick coating.

• Once the onion rings are golden brown and cooked on both sides, carefully take them out of the pan and put them straight onto kitchen roll to soak up any excess oil.

• Don’t take the pan off the heat or change the oil, just coat the next batch of onion rings in batter and continue to cook them in small batches until all the batter is used up.

If you liked this recipe, you may also like:

Goat’s Cheese Tartlets

Patatas Bravas

How to Chop Onions Quickly and Safely