These homemade beer batter onion rings cook up crispy and delicious in the air fryer in under 15 minutes. They’re great as a side dish, or an appetizer paired with sauces or dips.
2-3Sweet onions, such as Vidalia(depending on their size)
½Cupall purpose flour
2Tbspcornstarch
1Tspsalt
½Tspgarlic powder
¼Tsp black pepper
½ + ⅛Cupscold beer(I use brown ale)
¾Cupfine ground cornmeal
Oil mist or nonstick spray
Instructions
Cut the ends off your onions and remove the peel, then slice into approximately ¾” thick slices. Separate them into individual rings by gently pushing out each layer with your fingers (save the middles for use in another recipe)
2-3 Sweet onions, such as Vidalia
In a bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Whisk in the beer to make a batter
½ Cup all purpose flour, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 Tsp salt, ½ Tsp garlic powder, ¼ Tsp black pepper, ½ + ⅛ Cups cold beer
Add the cornmeal to a second bowl, and season with extra salt and pepper to taste
¾ Cup fine ground cornmeal
Spray your air fryer’s basket or rack with nonstick spray
Oil mist or nonstick spray
Working in batches, dip the onion rings first into the batter, shaking off the excess, and then coat them in the cornmeal
Place the battered onion rings into your air fryer in a single layer (if they touch, they’ll stick together). Spray the tops with a little nonstick or oil spray
Cook on the air fry setting at 400°F for 8 minutes, then gently flip, reapply oil, and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until browned. For subsequent batches, reduce to 6 minutes to start, and cook 2-3 additional (since the air fryer will be hotter)
Serve hot with additional salt if desired, and your favorite dipping sauces!
Notes
You can swap in other types of onions, but the sweet gives the best flavor. Yellow onions would be next best, followed by white
Really any type of medium to light beer works well with this recipe, so feel free to use whatever you have on hand
Seasoning is very adjustable to taste. Add cayenne for heat, Old Bay or Cajun seasoning, paprika, or anything else you might enjoy into the mix. In most cases ½ tsp should be plenty, but feel free to tweak to your liking!
You can also use breadcrumbs in place of the cornmeal if preferred
To maximize space in your air fryer, put smaller rings inside larger ones so you can cook more of them at a time!
If you don’t shake off enough of the batter before coating the rings, it will drip through the grates while cooking and you’ll lose the batter in the process of freeing the rings (so make sure you give them a good shake)!
I tried MANY versions of this recipe before settling on this one being reliable with staying on the onions and releasing from the air fryer. It’s not quite the same texture as a deep fried version since you need that breading layer on top of the batter to cook these successfully, but it’s still very crunchy and delicious!
Store leftover onion rings in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
To reheat onion rings in the air fryer, use a lower temperature of 350°F for 3-5 minutes (depending on the size of your onion rings and your specific air fryer)
Exact nutritional values will vary based on brand and flavor of ingredients, any sauces or sides added, size of onions, and actual quantity consumed, so please consider this a guideline only
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