Pancake Battered Onion Rings

PIN this recipe for Pancake Battered Onion Rings now… So you can make it later!

I do love me a nice pile of onion rings! We try to take it easy on the deep fried treats around here, but every once in a while we throw caution to the wind and go for a little golden deliciousness.

For me, sometimes that means chicken tenders. Sometimes it means corn dogs.

I mean, THAT FACE. Even better than a corn dog, although I am pretty sure I took that first bite before he even had a chance. (That is true love, kids!)

Back at the onion rings, while I sometimes get a hankering for the delicate little crispy ones, other times I want that good old battered, golden on the outside, tender on the inside, slightly sweet, 100% addictive onion ring, the kind that reminds me of every Jersey Shore vacation I’ve ever been on.

And at some point a lightbulb went on in my head and I realized that the secret to that kind of onion ring perfect was right in the breakfast section of my pantry. (Yep, I have a breakfast section. Granola, oatmeal, honey, Cheerios and Bisquick. I heart breakfast.)

In this case, I grabbed the Bisquick…I have a bunch of from-scratch pancake recipes that I love, but when I need pancakes STAT there’s nothing like Bisquick. And I figured that slightly sweet batter that cooks up into pancake deliciousness would be just the ticket for the onion ring dream that I had in my head.

And speaking of onions, you need a nice fat sweet onion for this recipe.

What’s the difference between sweet onions and regular onions?

Sweet onions have a little more natural sugar, and they are nice and big, both of which make them perfect for onion rings. Most markets simply call them sweet onions, but they are also sometimes labeled with their specific variety, like Vidalia onions or Walla Wallas.

The other common onions – yellow onions and white onions – have a sharper, spicier taste. They are just right for salsa, but if you are making onion rings of any kind, the sweet onion is a wonderful choice.

How to make pancake battered onion rings

Peel your nice big sweet onion and slice it into ¼ inch rings.

Make the batter by combining a couple cups of Bisquick, a couple of eggs and a cup of milk until everything is nice and combined.

Next!  Pour a couple cups of vegetable oil into a heavy deep frying pan or Dutch oven – you are looking for 1 ½  to 2 inches deep of oil so you can adjust the amount according to your pot.  Heat the oil over high heat to 375 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Dunk the onion rings into the batter and lower with a fork into the oil – be careful!  

When the onion rings are golden, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and let them drain on paper towels for a few minutes.

Last but not least (and trust me on this), I wasn’t kidding about the onion rings for breakfast thing. An omelet, a few strips of crispy bacon and a pile of pancake battered onion rings? BREAKFAST HEAVEN.

Hurray for the breakfast pantry!