Southern-fried onion rings

• Preparation Time 10 Minutes
• Cooking Time 2 Minutes each
• Serves 8

Vegan, Vegetarian, nut-free, gluten-free

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I love sides, to be honest, I prefer these to the main course. I would happily have a mixed platter of them for my meal. Onion rings or loaded potato skins are my favourites. Being gluten-free and vegan, I am usually cast into the wilderness when wanting to order these when I am eating out. The only way out of that was to make my own.

I love the coating on my tofu nuggets, so it made sense to try these out on my onion rings for a change

These are everything I love about onion rings

• Crispy
• Hot
• Spicy
• Delicious

For me, it has to be the crunchy breadcrumb coating over a batter one. I added the southern fried flavours for a little bit of a kick and which made a nice change from the plain coating.

Dipped in a vegan garlic mayo or chilli sauce and I am in heaven.

I cannot pretend these are healthy, well apart from the side salad. There are times when only something fried will do. I don’t see why we should deny ourselves all the time, They are a little fiddly to make with all the dipping but so worth it.

These onion rings freeze really well uncooked. Lay them on a baking tray lined with non-stick parchment paper and place in the freezer for 30 minutes and then transfer into a freezer bag.

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Ingredients

Southern fried breadcrumb mix

• 65g of gluten-free breadcrumbs (check if vegan if required)
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp thyme
• ½ tsp Cajun spice
• ½ tsp garlic granules
• ¼ tsp sage
• ¼ tsp mustard powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• Black pepper
• Pinch of ground chilli flakes (optional)

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I used the same mix for the coating on my baked southern fried, tofu nuggets

Buttermilk batter

• 90g gluten-free plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp cornflour
• 165 ml non- dairy milk
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 medium white onion cut into approx 1/2 inch rings.
•   rapeseed or sunflower oil for frying.
• 100g seasoned flour

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Instructions

1. Mix up the dry ingredients for the breadcrumb mix and place onto a deep plate and on another plate add the seasoned flour.
2. In a bowl mix together the milk, cornflour, flour and lemon juice. You don’t want the batter to be too runny. If it is, add a little more flour and set to one side
3. Pour the oil into a large frying pan. Roughly 3 inches deep.
4. One at a time press the onions rings into the flour, making sure they are well coated. Then dip into the batter, then press down firmly into the breadcrumbs, thoroughly coating them with breadcrumbs on both sides. Repeat until all the rings are coated.
5. Heat the oil until hot but not smoking, test by placing a small cube of bread into the oil if it sizzles then it is ready to use. Place a few of the rings at a time into the oil, try not to overcrowd the pan as you want them nice and crispy. Fry on each side for about 1 1/2 minutes
6. Place each one onto kitchen paper to blot off any excess oil. Repeat until all the rings are cooked
7. Serve warm with either a side salad, your meal or just on their own with a dipping sauce. For me that is a sweet chilli or BBQ sauce.

• Vegan Cottage Pie
• Smoky Red Lentil & Carrot Soup
• Soft Gluten-Free Bread Rolls
• Hearty Vegetable & Ale stew with Dumplings
• Cream of Mushroom Soup

PS: If you like this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on twitter as @veganalchemist1 or my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thegfveganalchemist I love seeing your versions of my recipes. Or I would love to hear your comments