Pancake Batter Onion Rings

Why you will love this recipe

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.

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 the perfect batter for onion rings was right in my pantry.

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.

Ingredients you need for this recipe

Ingredient notes and substitutions

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

Bisquick: This is a baking mix made up of flour, a little fat, leavening and salt. You can usually find it in the breakfast aisle hanging out near the pancake mixes.

Canola Oil: This is a mild oil that is perfect for frying these perfect onion rings. You can also use vegetable oil or safflower oil…steer clear of olive oil which will interfere with your wonderful pancake batter taste.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.

How to make this recipe

STEP 1: Peel your nice big sweet onion and slice it into ¼ inch rings.

STEP 2: 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.

STEP 3: Pour a couple cups of canola 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.

STEP 4: Dunk the onion rings into the batter and lower with tongs or a long fork into the oil – be careful!  

STEP 5: 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.

Want to round out your meal?

If you decide to go in the supper direction with these onion rings, we do love a steamed cheeseburger (trust me!), maybe with some homemade pickles on the side?

And for dessert, we vote for banana brownies!

Other fun side dishes we love