Baked Panko Onion Rings Recipes

CRISPY BAKED ONION RINGS

Steps:

• At least 4 hours ahead of time, place the sliced onion rings into a large dish and pour buttermilk overtop. You don't have to drown the onions, just make sure they are somewhat submerged. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. In this step, you are soaking the onions, which will tenderize them. I strongly suggest soaking them for at least 12 hours for the best taste. I soaked mine overnight.
• Once the onions have soaked, remove from the refrigerator. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites. Set aside. In a large shallow dish (I used a pie dish), mix the whole wheat flour, cornmeal, bread crumbs, and the seasonings together until combined.
• Remove each ring from the buttermilk and dip in egg whites. Immediately submerge in the bread crumb mixture, mixing around to coat the onion well. If the bread crumbs won't adhere, dip in egg whites and then the breading again. If you find you need more breading, make more.
• Lay each breaded ring on the baking sheets in a single layer. You'll have two batches if your onions were quite large like mine. When all the rings are breaded, spray each with nonstick spray to "seal" the breading, which will prevent the breading from staying raw and allows it to bake onto the onion rings.
• Bake each batch for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and flip each ring using tongs. Spray the other side with nonstick spray. Then bake for 15 more minutes. A note about bake time: all ovens are different! And everyone likes a different level of crispiness. I baked my onion rings in my oven for 30 minutes, rotating and flipping once, and they were perfectly brown and crisp. Just bake the rings until they reach your desired level of brownness.
• Allow the onion rings to sit out for 10 minutes before digging in. Enjoy immediately.

OVEN-BAKED ONION RINGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Separate onion slices into individual rings.
• Whisk egg whites with milk in a bowl until thoroughly combined; season egg mixture with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Place panko crumbs into a separate bowl.
• Place onion rings into a large resealable plastic bag. Add flour, salt, and black pepper; seal bag and shake until rings are well coated with flour.
• Drop flour-coated onion rings into egg white-milk mixture, a few at a time, and toss lightly with tongs until coated. Place rings into panko crumbs and gently shake the bowl to toss the crumbs with the onion rings until rings are coated with crumbs.
• Transfer coated onion rings to a large baking sheet; spray rings lightly with cooking spray.
• Bake in the preheated oven until onion rings are tender and crumbs are lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.