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Sometimes being bad can be oh-so-good! Â (I’m channeling my inner-southern girl today.) Â This slippery slope may have been inspired by a recent episode of Paula Dean and Tricia Yearwood frying up hush puppies; maybe it was David Lebovitz posting Hooter’s Onion Rings from Paris; or maybe it was the thought of cooking with beer. Â Whatever it was, we did it, we ate it, and we loved it. Â I don’t often fry but if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right.
I’ve been collecting onion ring recipes for a long, long time.  My husband asked me to make some a year ago so see honey, I didn’t forget!  He claims to be some sort of onion ring connoisseur having eaten them from coast to coast.
Being an organized recipe hoarder really helps when you’re looking for inspiration.  I pulled out my pile and researched recipes looking for just the right combination of spices and ingredients.  A full flavored beer that is also light and crisp made all the difference.
 
 Don’t skimp on the freshly ground pepper – it seals the deal on these flavorful bites of sweet onion.  Traveling husband declared these delicious with a nice, slightly spicy beer batter.  Well bless your heart and thank ya honey 😉
Â
 Don’t forget your PIN!
Onion Rings with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 2
Course: Appetizer
Crispy sweet onions with a creamy, spicy dipping sauce - so much better made at home!
Ingredients
For the onion rings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 cup beer (I use Stella Artois)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne Pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 small to medium sweet onions, peeled and cut into â…“ inch thick rings
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
- Peanut oil for cooking the onion rings
For the spicy dipping sauce:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon yellow prepared mustard
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
Instructions
To prepare the onion rings:
- Mix 1 cup of flour, black pepper, Cayenne, and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the beer and Sriracha sauce and blend until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
- In a large, high sided skillet or saucepan, heat 2 inches of peanut oil until hot – about 350°F – 370°F.
- Add the remaining flour to a large zip lock bag, bowl or plate and toss the sliced onions rings in the flour. Dip the onion rings in the batter and fry in small batches taking care not to crowd the pan. Cook until they browned on both sides and remove to a rack lined with paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve immediately.
To prepare the sauce:
- Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate several hours, or overnight for all the flavors to blend. Serve with rings, burgers, or chicken. Adjust Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce according to taste.
Recipe Notes
- Onion rings adapted from The Hooters Cookbook
- Sauce recipe was slightly adapted from Allrecipes
Nutrition
Calories: 1099kcal | Carbohydrates: 151g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 26g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 1490mg | Potassium: 674mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 313IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 7mg
We’re still on our vacation adventure far, far away so please forgive me for not being able to visit your beautiful blogs this week. Â I’m not sure how easily we’ll be able to access the Internet so I promise to catch up next week. Â I can’t wait to share our adventure photos with you!
Have a lovely weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!
Tricia
Juliana says
Your onion rings look so tempting…love the crispy layer and sounds delicious with the BBQ sauce.<br />Thanks for sharing the recipe and hope you are having z lovely week Tricia 🙂
Daniela Grimburg says
It's just once in a while and they taste soo good!<br />Haven't made onion rings since a long time but yours look so tasty and crunchy ,Tricia,<br />I just have to try them 🙂
Pam says
Onion rings are the best. What a wonderful thing, yours look great! The sauce sounds really perfect for them too.
scrambledhenfruit says
I hope you're having a great time on your getaway! The onion rings are just the comfort food I need right now- they look delicious. 🙂
SavoringTime in the Kitchen says
I really love good, fried onion rings and it's worth the splurge once in a great while to enjoy them. I feel a splurge coming on 🙂 They look delicious and the dipping sauce perfect for our taste buds too.
Angie Schneider says
I don't make onion rings that often any more…they are so good that we usually end up eating too much. Sighs…the olive oil based mayo with sriracha sounds fantastic too.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
Oh, I love onion rings. These are way to tempting. Way to tempting…
Wendy says
How is it possible to SEE crunch in a photo! Wow! You weren't kidding when you said,"…doing it right!" We also don't fry very much but these are worth a deviation from the norm!
Big Dude says
I love rings but rarely make them – already too heavy – but yours look and sound delicious as does the dipping sauce.
Sue/the view from great island says
These are near and dear to my heart, Tricia…I have to try that dipping sauce!
Mary Younkin says
These onion rings look incredible. I hope that you are having a truly fabulous vacation and enjoying every single minute of the trip!
Monica says
I think it could be a bad thing to crave onion rings this early in the morning but you've done just that to me! : ) These look like the perfect onion rings! I love D. Lebovitz and saw these but you've totally sold me on these now!
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow says
Your onion rings look dynamite and the sauce sounds delicious!! enjoy your vacation! blessings ~ tanna