Easy Gluten-Free Onion Rings

Easy gluten-free onion rings! These are easy because you don’t have to manage a fryer, and there’s no batter to make. Simply bread with cornmeal based breading and bake with oil spray. They also happen to be dairy-free!

I’ll be honest, I hate frying things. I think it’s stressful and messy, and a pain in the ass. There, I said it. I still do it occasionally, but if I can figure out how to get equally good results in the oven you can bet I will. And, these are great! Not greasy with plenty of flavor. Crispy on the outside with tender onion on the inside. This recipe makes a lot of onion rings. It makes 4 big portions, or 6 portions if you’re stingy (or having multiple sides, or feeding a couple of little kids).

I love cornmeal breading, and I happen to prefer onion rings that have cornmeal in the breading or batter. I think it gives them a much richer flavor than bread crumbs. You want to be sure to use a finely ground cornmeal (corn flour would work too) or these won’t have the right texture and it won’t stick to the onions as well. To round out the breading you’ll also need a little almond flour.

These would be great with burgers instead of fries. Or, in addition to fries if you’re feeling really decadent. My recipe for oven baked steak fries happens to cook at the same temperature as these easy gluten-free onion rings: https://www.mapletaffyandlousytomatoes.com/recipes/crispy-oven-fries/ They’d also be great served with some gluten-free dairy-free chicken nuggets. Hey, I have a recipe for those! https://www.mapletaffyandlousytomatoes.com/recipes/gluten-free-dairy-free-chicken-nuggets-baked/

These were a big hit at my house. My father, who is something of an onion ring aficionado, loved them. He kept going back for more and finished the leftovers later that same night (#selfish, #doesntlovemeenoughtoshare)!

Print Recipe

Easy Gluten-Free Onion Rings

Author: Mary Ellis

Difficulty: Easy Prep Time 25 mins Cook Time 30 mins Total Time 55 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

Servings

• 1 cup fine grind yellow cornmeal
• ¹⁄₂ cup almond flour
• 1 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• ¹⁄₂ tsp garlic powder
• 3 medium-large onions
• 1 egg
• 2 mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• oil spray (a generous amount, any kind you like)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Measure out the cornmeal, almond flour, ancho chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, and half of the salt. Add to a container with high sides, such as Tupperware. Mix well.
   
3. Peel but keep whole the three onions. Thickly slice and separate the rings.
   
4. In a small bowl or measuring cup: place the egg, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and the rest of the salt. Whisk well with a fork until creamy and emulsified, it'll be clumpy at first don't panic. Just keep whisking.
   
5. Put the sliced onions and the egg mixture into a plastic bag. Toss to coat onions.
   
6. Spray a sheet pan (you'll likely need two or three depending on their size) generously with oil spray.
7. Take a couple of onion slices at a time out of the bag and place in the cornmeal mixture. Toss very gently to coat. Remove and place on the sheet pan in a single layer, you can place smaller rings inside larger rings to save space!
   
8. Continue until you're out of onions.
9. Generously spray the top of your onion rings with more oil spray.
   
10. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
11. Enjoy!