Perfectly crispy air fryer onion rings are way better than the frozen variety (and easy to make)!
Satisfy your craving and skip the takeout (and the extra fat). Onion rings aren’t difficult and taste amazing.
Air Fryer Onion Rings
Finally, we can enjoy crispy, crunchy onion rings without a vat of oil!
We love air fryer recipes because they come out so crispy and are so easy to make! The air fryer needs less oil, creates fewer fat calories, and plus it takes less time. What’s not to love?
Ingredients
ONIONS We like large, sweet onions like Vidalias, but if Walla Wallas are available, those are the best!
FLOUR This simple dredge adds seasoning but most of all helps the coating stick to the onions.
BUTTERMILK & EGG This helps the crumbs stick. If you don’t have buttermilk, cream or milk will work.
PANKO Panko bread crumbs have more crunch for a crispy coating. If you only have regular bread crumbs, those work too.
How to Make Air Fryer Onion Rings
Make a double batch of these beauties, because you can be sure that they will disappear in no time!
- Cut onions into ½ inch slices and separate the rings.
- Combine flour, seasoned salt, & cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk eggs in another bowl until they are frothy. Stir breadcrumbs, oil, & cornmeal in another bowl.
- Dip each ring into eggs, flour, eggs, breadcrumbs, then place in the preheated air fryer.
- Fry rings in a single layer until golden brown & crispy on the outside, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove onion rings from the air fryer & sprinkle with seasoned salt or sauce. Serve immediately.
Can you Freeze Onion Rings?
Freeze cooked and cooled onion rings in a zippered bag with the date labeled on the outside. They’ll keep fresh for up to 8 weeks in the freezer.
Cook from frozen in the air fryer.
Air Fryer Appetizers
- Air Fryer Potato Wedges – perfect for dipping
- Crispy Air Fryer Dill Pickles – ready in 30 minutes
- Everything Air Fryer Wings – so flavorful
- Air Fryer Taquitos – cheesy with a kick
- Crispy Air Fryer French Fries – only 4 ingredients
- Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks – so cheesy & gooey
Did you enjoy these Air Fryer Onion Rings? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Air Fryer Onion Rings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet onion
- ⅔ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal optional
Instructions
- Peel onion and cut into ½ " thick slices. Separate slices.
- Combine flour, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Whisk egg and buttermilk in a second bowl. Toss breadcrumbs, oil, and cornmeal in a third bowl.
- Dip each onion into egg mixture and then into the flour mixture. Dip it back into the egg mixture and finally into the bread crumb mixture pressing to adhere.
- Once all rings are coated, spray each with cooking spray. Preheat air fryer to 350°F.
- Place onion rings in the air fryer in a single layer and cook for 12-15 minutes or until crisp on the outside.
- Remove from the air fryer and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Good texture but they were kinda bland. Would recommend more seasoning. Also use bowls and not shallow plates! A made a mess
I have a Quisinart toaster oven/air fryer, at what temperature should I fry these?
Hi Rose, I have not tried a toaster oven/air fryer so I can’t say for sure. You could try following the recipe as written with just a couple of onion rings and then make another batch and adjust as needed. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Holly. When you say ” spray each with cooking spray” do you mean non stick cooking spray….or is there another kind?
Hi Dianne, yes I use non stick cooking spray. Enjoy!
Fabulous!! Didn’t even get a picture before the whole family devoured them!
Well those certainly didn’t turn out like I thought. The ones that actually had something stick to it tasted okay I suppose. Way more work trying to get the crumbs to stick to it. Didn’t seem like it should be hard to do. Chalk it up to a bad day in the kitchen.
Oh no! How disappointing Kim. Next time you can try patting the onions dry before coating them. Also make sure at each coating step the onion ring gets really well coated and then moved to the next step right away. I hope this helps!
I thought these were amazing and I had to alter recipe to fit my ingredients that I had. First, I had regular not panko bread crumbs which makes a difference. Second, a bigger difference would be that I was out of milk, so I open a box of almond milk/mixed with a little vinegar to make a sort of buttermilk. I had everything else. My air fryer only needed 6 minutes for these. I mixed sriracha sauce with mayonnaise to dip these into which was perfect for these. Next time, I’ll have right ingredients on hand. I know they’ll be even better!
Made these for the first time tonight, followed recipe as printed except substituted 1 teaspoon of a low sodium seasoning from The Spice House from the third ward in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.called Fox Point seasoning, used 2teaspoons in the floor instead of1 teaspoon of 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt. very good and much lower sodium this way!! very Yummy!,
So glad you loved them!
Amazing!!
I added additional Spices to both the flour and to the breading.
I would say the best non-deep fried O R I have ever eaten.
Hi Holly, I made these Air Fryer Onion Rings along with the Onion Ring Sauce today… I am eating them as I type! These are delicious. DEEE-licious! Easy to make. Super crispy. Not greasy. I used a red onion & had all the other ingredients listed on hand.
Thanks very much for your great recipes. ~MargieW.
I’ll never do that again! Hey I’m no expert chef but adding oil to the dry mix and expecting it to stay on the onion is a big mistake! Plus 15 minutes at 350 wasn’t even close with mine. I’ll just stick with the deep fry method!
Hi Dan, for these onion rings we dip in an egg wash first, into a flour mixture, back into the egg wash, and then finally into the breadcrumb mixture pressing it gently to adhere to the onion ring. Make sure to let your air fryer preheat to 350°F before adding the onion rings into the basket. Hope that helps!
Never said to add oil. Says after coating them, use a spray vegetable oil and spray them lightly
Actually it does. It said add breadcrumbs, oil and cornmeal together
We found nearly all of the wet and dry mixes to be used up before we even breaded half the onion. What was left was sticky, wet, balled up unusable panko, which I think I will form into a patty and fry up for breakfast with butter and honey. This recipe made about 8 good onion rings, if that. The rest were a mess and so was my kitchen. Sorry but not worth the effort, in my opinion.
Hi Holly, I am new to your site but so far the two recipes I’ve made have been wonderful. I’ve been looking to buy an air fryer, but there are so many to choose from. What kind do you have and are you really happy with it? Is there anything you wish your brand had added? Thank you for giving us such great recipes.
Sheila
You’re welcome! Sheila, you should take a look at the air fryer information in this post! I share my favorites and the ones that I have.
What temperature do you put your air fryer on for?
The air fryer should be set to 350°F.
I love your recipes. They are so down to home and something I’d make and enjoy. The problem is I do not have an air fryer. Do you have a great recipe for onion rings that can be made in the oven.
Maybe alternate cooking options could be included in the Air Fryer recipes?
You can find our oven baked onion rings here. Enjoy the recipe Janet!
Looks amazing double dip great idea will try for sure
Can’t wait to hear how you like it Irene!
Can’t wait to try this recipe, Holly..!! I’ve been following you for a long time and all your recipes are great..!! Thanks so much.
Thanks so much Kevin, I hope you love them. Let us know how it goes!
Can I prepare them, not cook and freeze?
Hi Erin, I have not tried freezing these before cooking but would love to hear how they turn out.