How to: Make Crispy Shoestring Onions

Unlike a lot of foods requiring oil frying, these little beauties are SO easy and they won’t totally trash your kitchen. They’re awesome on top of salads or burgers, or for a topping on casseroles or even just to snack on.

You’ll need three bowls. One with an egg and a little milk, one with some white flour and seasonings, and one with your sliced onions. You can slice your onions however you like. I slice them about 1/8-1/4″ wide and then quarter the slice of whole onion so the pieces are only an inch or two long. (ya, ya…forgot the picture of that one…)

Take a small handful of onions at a time and dunk them in the egg. Lift them up and let any excess egg drip off. We don’t want to deep fry clumps of egg here. Actually, that would probably taste good. Pretty much anything deep fried tastes good, but that’s beside the point.

After they’ve had a dunk in the egg, then just toss them around in the flour mixture until everything is coated. This is where you can personalize these little bits of yumminess. The recipe here is the most basic one, add seasonings to your heart’s delight.

The next step is to pop them in a pot of hot oil, for just a couple of minutes.

Take them out when they’re golden brown and let them drain on some paper towels.

Now eat one warm. And if no one’s looking, bust out the ranch dressing and give it a dip. Just to be naughty.

Let them cool to room temp and then you can use them on salads (they’d be seriously awesome on this salad), to top casseroles, on burgers or sandwiches, or just to snack on!

 

Sara Wells

Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. Oh lovely I’ve made the cheesy bacon and egg breakfast cups with my crispy golden onion rings and a mixture of all kind of peppers and mushroom with seasoning for my husband and he loves it so much he wants it for every breakfast

  2. Here’s a wee idea that might make things a bit less messy….add the onions to a ziplock freezer bag, and then add JUST enough flour and seasonings to coat, give a shake, and voila!

  3. Onion is one of herbs can be made variety of food, and especially it can make us to be spirit to eat. I like Bawang Goreng or fried onion mixed in my food. thank you for your kindness share this tutorial.

  4. Thank you so much for this super simple delicious recipe. I used to spend over $5 on a 24oz frenchs onion rings for baking breading salads and just snacks! This recipe cuts the cost to about 50cents per 24oz!!!!!! Plus its fresh thank you my entire family loves it!!!!

  5. I had some shoestring onions on a salad recently and wanted to make some so I found your recipe and it was easy to make and it sure was yummy. I put the onions on top of a burger patty on top of a salad and it was delicious. It was like having a yummy burger without the bun.

  6. I would like to make these for thanksgiving. How far ahead of time can I make these? And should I store them in pantry or fridge in a container with a lid or baggie? I just dont want soggy onions when I go to use them for thanksgiving. I wont have time to make these close to thanksgiving, that is why I am asking. Thanks.

    1. Jeannie, you’ll want to make them as close to the day as possible, like the day before maybe? I’ve never stored them for super long term, and fried foods are always hit and miss! I’d probably put them in a container but maybe keep the lid cracked a little for circulation.

  7. By far the best little onion rings I have ever had and just the perfect size for popping into your mouth. Thanks for the recipe.

  8. oh my mind just went wild when you said add any kind of seasonings you like, just thinking of all the soups and salids and bugers i can jazz up. thanks and good luck with the contest

  9. I would love to have the machine! It would help in my design work which I use to applique on the baby quilts I make and sell!

  10. I would love to have that machine. It would help me with creating designs which I applique on my baby quilts and sell!! I would share it with my daughter also, she is very creative!

  11. I would LOVE the machine! It would help me come up with creative designs which I applique on baby quilts and sell!! I may share it with my daughter as well. She is very creative!

  12. Wow! We tried these this weekend and they were great! Thanks for posting, your recipes are always So good!

  13. Yay! I couldn't be happier for you two. How fun!

    I am getting giddy thinking of all the ways I could use fried onions…
    MMMMMMMM!

  14. Not a dumb question at all! You can use any onion really, but white or sweet yellow would probably be best.

  15. OH MY… my husband LOVES these things! (Which is weird b/c he is not a fan of onions… not quite sure how that makes any sense!) So yummy on salads and burgers!
    Okay, so this may be a dumb question, but do you use a white onions?
    P.S. Congrats on the cookoff… you'll win for sure! Everything on this site is amazing.

  16. Of course these look delicious, but I HAVE to get on here to say congratulations for all you ladies have accomplished! You deserve everything that comes your way because you two are awesome!

  17. Lacey, I have no idea! I wonder if they'd lose some of the crispiness since it's such a light breading, but I'm not sure. If you try it out, let us know!

  18. These look delish and my hubby loves them on his burgers. Do you think I could freeze these in batches and then warm on a baking sheet???

  19. This is so funny that you posted this today. Last night I had a craving for green bean casserole (no not the yucky canned kind – one with fresh green beans and mushrooms, yum!) but it's topped with homemade croutons and I thought "I wonder if I could make my own fried onions to top it because that would be even better…I bet best bites has a tutorial!" And sure enough, you did! Today! Perfect timing.