I have a weakness...

For onion rings!

When we go out to burger places or other restaurants that have onion rings on the menu....It's either the appetizer or on the side (K-man loves them too and we always share!) But as you are enjoying the crunchy, onion-y goodness...you just don't want to think about the amount of fat they absorbed in the cooking.

We've gotten the frozen ones for home cooking and those just aren't not good enough. We've also tried doing the "baked thing" to something like the potato fries....sure they are healthier but they just don't get crunchy enough. Then I found this recipe...tried it and OH MY GAH! KEEPER!

Baked Onion Rings
adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs (they used crushed cornflakes and plain breadcrumbs)
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp Chili sauce (the sweet Asian type- you can use tabasco)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium sweet onion, such as Vidalia, quartered crosswise and broken into rings
2 tablespoons olive oil


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the flour and black pepper in a ziploc bag. In a medium bowl, whisk together, buttermilk and Asian hot sauce. Prepare a shallow dish with your Panko seasoned with salt and cayenne.

2. Dip a few rings in the flour in the ziploc bag, then dip into the buttermilk (letting excess drip off) and dredge in panko. Place onion rings on cookie sheet covered in non-stick foil. The original recipe called for some oil on the bottom of the cookie sheet, I skipped it. With this special foil....it did NOT need it!

3. Bake @ 400 for 20 minutes. Or until the rings are golden brown.

AWE-some, so crunchy, you gotta put your hand underneath your chin. The onions were PERFECT. Not mushy or still raw. One onion was perfect for two.

Enjoy!