Vegan homemade onion rings. Delicious, with light and crispy crust and super frugal. Serve them with your favorite dip or add them in sandwiches or burgers.
1largeonionsliced (about half a centimeter/0.2 inches thick)
olive oilfor frying (we prefer extra virgin olive oil)
Instructions
Panko
Preheat oven to 120°C/248°F
With a sharp knife, cut the bark from all the slices. Cut the slices in half and put them in a blender or food processor and beat them until they become crumbs.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper, spread the crumbs well, and put them in the oven. After about 10 minutes, stir them a bit, spread them well again and put the pan back in the oven for another ten minutes.
Take them out of the oven and let them cool. They should be crispy, but not toasted.
Put them in a large bowl to use in a while.
Batter
In a bowl add the flour, corn flour, and spices (if you add any), and little by little the water or club soda. Start with half a cup, mix until well combined, and continue adding water/soda as needed. Your batter should be thick, so when you dip the onion rings in it, it will stick on them.
Frying
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over high heat.
While waiting for the oil to heat up, dip the rings one by one first in the batter and then in the panko and leave them on a plate. We can do it by hand or with tongs if we don't want to get dirty.
Once the oil is well heated, carefully (trying not to burn ourselves) add the onion rings into the pan one by one. They should be spread in the pan so that they don't stick on each other.
Fry them for half a minute on each side. Be careful not to burn them, because they're fried really quickly! Using a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon, take them out and leave them on a plate, where you've put some kitchen paper, to soak up the extra oil.
Serving
Serve as an appetizer with the sauce or dip of your choice, such as ketchup, barbecue sauce (make sure they're vegan) or with homemade tomato sauce. But even without a dip, they're amazing!
Don't throw away the crusts you cut off the bread. You can keep them in a well-sealed container or bag to make croutons, which we can use in salads or soups.
If you have any panko (baked breadcrumbs) left, you can store it in a well-sealed jar or bag for next use.
You can find ready-made panko in supermarkets. If you don't have any panko or toast bread to make your own, you can use dry breadcrumbs. It will mostly give a different texture (which will not be as lightly crispy) than taste.
The spices in the batter are not necessary, but they make the onion rings even tastier. If you choose to use them, you may vary the quantity, depending on how spicy you prefer your onions to be. You can try to make some with a few spices, fry them and if you want, you can add more spices in the batter or panko for the next batch.
You should use the larger and medium slices of the onion. The rest of the onion slices that you won't use, you can keep in the refrigerator in a well-sealed container or bag, to chop them and use them in another recipe.