Onion Rings & Southwest Sauce

Every time I go out to eat with my family I always get super excited about the appetizers. As a PKUer, most restaurants don’t have many entrée dishes that I can choose from. But appetizers are another story. There are usually several choices that I can make work with my diet. You’ve got bruschetta, olive tapenade, salsa, guacamole, spinach and artichoke dip, spring rolls, and so many others. (These are just some of my favorites). One of my all time favorite appetizers to have are onion rings (my personal fave are the ones from Red Robins).

Onion rings always seemed a little complicated to make, so I always avoided trying to make them. I think the toughest part about making them was figuring out a good batter to coat them. The batter is really important to get a good, crispy onion ring. For this batter, I used a combination of the Cambrooke Baking Mix and Swans Down cake flour. In order to coat the rings, you need the batter and the breadcrumbs (also from Cambrooke). First, coat the onion rings in the batter, then the breadcrumbs. I just put the breadcrumbs on a plate or in a bowl to make coating the onion rings a little easier. Once your onion rings are coated with batter and breadcrumbs, fry them in oil for 3 minutes on each side and then let dry on a paper towel. Onion rings are great with ketchup, ranch, or a good southwest sauce.

The southwest sauce is even easier to make. You just have to blend all the ingredients together and let it sit in the fridge for an hour before use. This sauce will go great with a variety of things, like onion rings, French fries, maybe as a dressing for a southwest salad.

Let me know how you like these onion rings in the comments below! Also, if there are any other appetizers that you’d like to see a recipe for, drop it below and I will try to create a delicious recipe for you.

Ingredients:

Onion Rings:

1 medium/small yellow onion (98g)

6 tbsp. Cambrooke Baking Mix (60g)

2 tbsp. cake flour (I use Swans Down)

¼ tsp. salt

2 tsp. vegetable oil

¼ cup non-dairy creamer/milk

¼ cup water

½ cup Cambrooke breadcrumbs (40g)

cooking oil

Serving Size: 8 onion rings

Servings per recipe: 2

Phe per serving: 86.4

Southwest Sauce:

½ cup vegan mayonnaise

6 tbsp. BBQ sauce (110g)

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. chili powder

Servings per recipe: 5 servings

Serving size: 2 tablespoons

Phe per serving: 24mg

Directions:

Onion Rings:

Heat cooking oil in a frying pan or pot deep enough to cover onion rings.
Cut onion into ½” thick slices. Set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the baking mix, cake flour, and salt. Mix well.
Add the vegetable oil, non-dairy creamer/milk, and water to the mixture. Whisk together.
Dip onion rings into flour batter, then coat each ring with bread crumbs.
Add the onion rings to the frying pan or pot once the oil is hot. Do not over crowd your pan/pot. Cook onion rings in oil for 3 minutes, then flip the onion rings and cook for another 3 minutes.
Remove onion rings and set on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil.
Serve with southwest sauce and enjoy!

Southwest Sauce:

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and blend together.
Place sauce into the refrigerator for 1 hour, and then serve.