More than just a bar food, the onion ring claims its glory by having the perfect contrast of flavors and textures. The crispy, savory exterior coating enrobes a soft, subtly sweet caramelized onion center. And better yet, making onion rings at home is relatively simple — whether you’re deep frying them in beer batter, baking them in panko breading, or making restaurant-worthy onion rings in the air fryer. However, before cooking them, it’s important to note that there’s one onion you should avoid. Chef and cookbook author, Tini Younger, known for her comfort food recipes on TikTok and her time on “Next Level Chef,” told Tasting Table, “I think the worst, or maybe something that I would not suggest is a red onion … they’re not bitter, but they’re more for salads and stuff, they’re not meant to just eat [as] an onion ring.”
Red onions are known for their pungency, which makes them perfect for pickling in acid, or chopping thinly and immersing in cold water to take away some of their heat. Their strong bite works well when paired with other complex and powerful flavor profiles, like as a garnish for tacos or on a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. But when it comes to onion rings, you want to select a white or yellow onion variety, which will caramelize well and are typically more mild and balanced than red onions. That way, the vegetable’s sweetness shines through more readily with every bite.
For the best onion rings, choose a sweeter variety
When making onion rings at home, choose your onion variety wisely. According to Younger, the best types of onions to use are yellow “because they’re nice and sweet.” Since an onion ring, in its relative simplicity, is meant to highlight the flavor of the onion in every bite, choosing a milder onion variety will make it more palatable — and tempting to reach in for more for dunking in creamy dipping sauces. Yellow onions have the perfect balance of pungency and sweetness, which makes them among the most popular types of onions and extremely useful for onion rings and other cooking applications. Yellow onions are still slightly pungent, so it often helps to slice them into half-inch disks, then soak them in water to reduce their spiciness before coating them in batter and frying until golden, pillowy, and crisp.
While many people eat and cook with their fair share of yellow onions, some do prefer sweet white onion varieties like Vidalia or Maui for their relative caramelized notes and ability to hold their firm shape during cooking. Though most onion ring recipes call for yellow or white onions, overall, either type will provide a nice base that becomes sweet when fried or baked, all without overpowering the simple coating of flour and spices, like a red onion might.
