3-Ingredient Beer Battered Onion Rings

Picture this: it’s 8pm, you just turned on the football game, and your stomach starts rumbling. If you’re anything like us, you’re probably craving something crispy and fried to pair with the beer you’ve already opened. So what do you do? You make these 10-minute, 3-ingredient beer battered onion rings and happily snack on them all night long.

You might be thinking, how can I possibly make beer battered onion rings in 10 minutes?? It’s not as crazy as it sounds – all you need is boxed pancake mix, beer, and an onion.

Beer Battered Onion Rings Ingredients

These simple homemade beer battered onion rings are made with just 3 ingredients! Here’s what you’ll need for our easy recipe:

• Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix
• Beer
• Sweet onion

Boxed pancake mix and beer make a delicious and easy two-ingredient beer batter recipe (who would have thought?). The thick batter sticks to the onions well and tastes just like our favorite restaurant style onion rings.

If you’re wondering what kind of beer is best for battered onion rings, here’s the easy answer: use your favorite beer! You’ll notice the flavor of the beer in these 3-ingredient onion rings, so use one you genuinely enjoy. However, here are some general guidelines to get you started:

• If you want a more plain, everyday onion ring, opt for a light lager. 
• If you’re looking for bolder flavors, try something dark like Guinness. 
• Don’t be afraid to experiment and try out different kinds of beer each time you make this recipe!

Note: You’ll also need vegetable oil for frying, as our beer battered onion rings aren’t made in the air fryer. 

How To Make Crispy Beer Battered Onion Rings At Home

We recommend deep frying for the best beer battered onion rings. This tried-and-true method is quick, easy, and provides flavor that reminds us the most of classic pub style onion rings.

Grab some vegetable oil, a cast iron frying pan, and your 3 ingredients and you’ll be enjoying these homemade beer battered onion rings in 10 minutes or less! Here’s how to make our beer battered onion rings:

1. Slice a sweet onion into half-inch thick rings and separate.
2. Whisk together the dry pancake mix and beer in a bowl that’s big enough to dip the onion rings into. In the meantime, heat about three-quarters of an inch to an inch of vegetable oil in a deep cast iron frying pan over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Once the oil is plenty hot, coat the onion rings one by one in the batter and transfer them carefully to the pan. You don’t need a ton of batter on each onion ring, as it will puff up while frying – let any excess batter gently drip off before the rings go in the pan! Work in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.
4. Once the onion rings are in the oil, gently agitate the oil with a utensil (we like to use a metal fork) to help solidify the batter all around. After about 30 seconds to 1 minute, gently flip the onion rings over and cook until both sides are a deep golden brown, about 15 to 30 seconds more.
5. Transfer the onion rings to a plate lined with paper towels to drain, and let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Tips For Success

You’ll need to work quickly while making these beer battered onion rings. Frying them in oil is a fast process, and if you’re not careful they could end up burnt! Here are a few tips to help you succeed:

• Work in small batches of 3 to 5 onion rings at a time so you don’t feel rushed.
• Have your workstation set up before you start cooking. Set up an assembly line of raw onion and batter next to your stove, then make sure you have a paper towel lined plate ready for the cooked onion rings. Also make sure you have all the necessary utensils within reach.
• If you flip the onion rings too early, the batter will break and fall off the onion. Agitating the oil as they cook should help the batter solidify all around – look for signs of this before flipping!
• Lower the heat if the onion rings start to crisp too quickly – the onions need time to soften. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a crispy coating and raw onion inside.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

In case you run into any issues while frying your beer battered onion rings, here are some helpful answers to some FAQs:

How do you keep the batter from falling off while frying?

The easiest method we’ve found to help the batter stick to the onion rings while frying is to gently agitate the oil at the start of cooking and avoid flipping the onion rings too soon. As they fry, the onion rings will float at the top of the oil, so the very top surface will be exposed to air. But if you gently agitate the oil around the onion rings, the extra heat should help solidify the outside surface of the batter all the way around – even on top where the onion rings aren’t actually submerged in oil. Once the outside layer of batter is solidified, then you can carefully flip the onion rings without worrying about losing batter.

We also recommend using a fork to gently flip the onion rings. Other utensils that require you to squeeze or pick up the onion rings, like metal tongs, will break the outer layers of solidified batter and cause it to fall off.

Why are my onion rings soggy?

This could be one of two things: the excess oil isn’t draining properly off the cooked onion rings, or you coated them in too much batter.

If you’re ending up with soggy onion rings after draining them on a paper towel lined plate, try draining them on a cooling rack positioned over paper towels instead. This should improve the airflow around the onion rings to help keep them crispy.

To avoid soggy onion rings due to excess batter, make sure to only coat them in a thin layer before frying. It’s better to have too little batter on the onion rings than too much (less is more, in this case!). Since our beer batter puffs up while the onion rings fry, you’ll have plenty of crispy goodness to crunch into, even if it doesn’t seem that way while you’re coating them.

Beer Battered Onion Rings Serving Suggestions

Homemade beer battered onion rings are perfect for game day parties, cookouts, and burger nights! You can serve them as an appetizer, snack, or side dish for any occasion – because who doesn’t love onion rings?

• Pair them with your favorite dips, like ketchup, chipotle mayo, ranch, or BBQ sauce
• Serve them as a side with one of these unique burger recipes
• Enjoy them as a topping on our Guinness burger
• Add them to a french fry grazing board with your favorite fries and tots

These beer battered onion rings are best served immediately, so we recommend only making as many as will get eaten in one sitting. (One small onion makes about 25 to 30 onion rings, which is a good amount for 4 people). 

If you want to prepare them ahead of time for a party, you can simply leave them at room temperature for up to an hour and reheat in the air fryer at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes. And in case you do end up with leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheat in the air fryer the same way!