These crunchy onion straws are a big hit at our house. They are the perfect addition to burgers, steaks, or sandwiches.
These onion straws are more than just plain battered onions. The addition of spices to the flour batter brings out the flavor and gives a hint of spice.
They are the perfect topping for sandwiches, steaks, and burgers. They can also be served as a side to most main entrees.
The guys in my house prefer them as a side dish dipped in my creamy sriracha aioli. I love them as a side or stacked on top of a burger with bbq sauce.
I usually do not keep buttermilk at the house but I had some leftover from my Blueberry Banana Cake. So, the pictured straws were made in buttermilk for the wet batter. It made the onion straws a little more breaded than I like but they were still delicious.
Directions
Start out by making the flour and spice mixture in a gallon Ziploc baggie. Cut the onions into thin slices and cut one side to make it a straw instead of a ring. Throw them in the bag and toss them around. This is just to give a light coating.
Spices can consist of paprika, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, cayenne, cumin, pepper, etc.
Next, take them out of the flour mixture but do not discard the flour. You’re going to put them in the wet mixture and back in the dry flour to coat.
The wet mixture can be buttermilk (heavily breaded), egg/milk mixture (medium breaded), or plain milk (very lightly breaded).
Once they are coated in the wet mixture, take small groups of the breaded onions and put them in the dry flour bag. Toss them around to get evenly coated. Do this in small batches so all of the onions don’t cling together in big hunks. This is especially important with the buttermilk.
Once they are dry, wet, and dry coated again then they are ready to be fried.
Don’t forget our favorite dipping sauce for onion straws: Sriracha Aioli. It’s creamy and gives the straws some extra heat.
Make dinner extra fun with a diner theme. Pair the onion straws with a hot dog in a basket like you are eating at a diner. Don’t forget the milkshakes!
Onion Straws
These onion straws are crispy on the outside with a sweet, soft interior. They are a great side to burgers, sandwiches, steaks, and more.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable or canola oil
- 2 ea sweet onion
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cayenne
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin
Instructions
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Heat oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven to 350 degrees.
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Peel the onions and cut them into thin slices. Remove the small pieces in the middle of the onion slices (Optional). Cut one side of the rings to open the rings up into strips.
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Create the breading station: In a gallon baggie, add the flour and all the spices. In a medium-sized bowl, pour the buttermilk.
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Place all the onion strings in the bag of flour/spices and toss around. Make sure you close the bag each time before shaking. Remove the onions from the flour mixture, shaking off excess flour, and put on a plate, paper towel, or something to hold them for a few minutes.
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Next, place the onion straws (in small batches) into the buttermilk mixture until coated. Immediately put them back into the bag of flour mixture after draining off excess buttermilk. Toss in flour to coat.
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You can now choose to put this coated batch of onions in the oil to fry or put them aside while you continue to bread the remaining onions. Either way, work in small batches to bread and fry the onions.
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Fry in oil until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Place fried onion straws on a paper towel to absorb excess grease.
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Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- Don’t have buttermilk? You can use 1 egg to 1 cup of milk mixture instead. Make sure to whisk the egg into the milk.
- Looking to save some calories? After tossing the onion straws in the flour mixture the first time, skip to the frying process. The onions will be very lightly coated.
- You can also bake these in the oven or air fryer.
- Serve with ketchup or sriracha aioli… or eat them plain.
- Great with steaks, burgers, chicken, and sandwiches.
