OVEN-BAKED ONION RINGS WITH HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING

Golden circles of goodness! They’ll never be fries, but man are onion rings addicting. I have a lot of fun coming up with healthy versions of food that I find ultra tempting. A couple of days ago I set out to create healthy onion rings that leveled up in flavor with the typical deep-fried, fast food rings. They turned out so good! And tasted just as sinful 😉

You start with sweet onions and coat them in a traditional 3-step process. This is quite an art, I must say. I used oat flour that I made myself for the first coating (along with some arrowroot) and I made the breadcrumbs using sprouted bread and Italian herbs, keeping it simple and clean. The only oil I used was EVOO, but coconut oil will work too. I really like how this recipe came together! The ingredients are really light and easy on the digestive system and won’t wreck your stomach since it’s not fried and only healthy carbs and oils are used!

I also threw in a bonus healthy homemade ranch recipe with a Greek yogurt base. I NEVER eat store-bought dressings, because they are full of absolute trash. I only use mustard occasionally, because it tends to consists of cleaner ingredients, though high in sodium. I’d also be especially careful with ketchup products, since majority of them are full of corn syrup and other sugars. (A helpful tip for when you’re at a restaurant is to ask for some lemon wedges and olive oil instead of eating their dressing, unless you clearly know what’s in it). Homemade is always better, so I whip this ranch up for a quick dressing and use it in salads, for veggies, burgers, fries, and now onion rings!

Sides for the win! Try out these onion rings next time you’re craving something crispy and delicious.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet onions, cut in ¼ inch slices

1 cup oat flour (1 cup rolled oats blended makes about 1 cup of oat flour)

2 tbsp. arrowroot starch

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

2 eggs

2 tbsp. almond milk

¼ cup olive oil

(Breadcrumbs):

6 slices of sprouted or ezekiel bread

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. oregano

½ tsp. basil

2 tsp. smoked paprika

2 tsp. garlic powder

(Ranch Dressing):

½ cup greek yogurt

1 tbsp. olive oil or raw coconut oil

1 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried parsley

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

Other Stuff You’ll Need:

blender

1 large plate or tray

1 small bowl

2 medium bowls

2 large baking sheets

parchment paper

pastry brush (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Blend the slices of sprouted bread in a blender until they turn to crumbs. Pour breadcrumbs into bowl and mix with the salt, oregano, and basil.
3. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread the crumb mixture on it. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown. Take out of oven and allow it to cool. Once cooled, mix in the smoked paprika and garlic powder.
4. Increase oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the two large baking sheets and set aside.
5. In a bowl, stir together the oat flour, arrowroot starch, salt, and pepper.
6. In a second bowl whisk the eggs and almond milk together.
7. On a large plate (I used a tray), pour the breadcrumbs.
8. Take a few slices of the onions and toss them in the oat flour mixture. Then, throw them in the egg mixture, making sure they’re well coated. Lastly, place the onions in the breadcrumbs and coat them as well as possible. Gently place them on the baking sheet. Gentleness is key here, so the crumbs don’t fall off.
9. Repeat the above steps for all the onions slices. Once they are all coated and on the baking sheets, use a pastry brush and brush the rings with olive oil. You can also just drizzle instead of using the brush (especially if your brush is too stiff). But don’t skip this step! Or else they’ll end up dry and not as tasty.  
10. Place the baking sheets in the oven on the center rack.
11. In your small bowl, mix the greek yogurt, olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper. Boom! Healthy ranch dressing!
12. Once the onion rings are crispy and golden brown, take them out of the oven and enjoy!

Tips:

1. Dedicate one utensil per dipping station. This will help the ingredients from getting mixed, which would make it harder to coat the onions. Also, the larger the plate you use to hold the breadcrumbs, the faster the process will go along since you can throw in more rings at once.
2. You can use any healthy flour for the first coating as long as it’s really fine and will stick to the onion. I wouldn’t recommend almond flour because it’s too coarse.
3. Always try to make dressings at home, but if you’re buying from a store, make sure to read the label and looking for refined sugars, unhealthy oils, and additives.
4. Read yogurt product labels! make sure the only ingredients included are pasteurized milk, and bacteria cultures. Avoid any brands that have cream in them, or additives like carrageenan, pectin, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, etc. These additives can be found in a lot of foods and have many cons, but most importantly, they’re terrible for your gut lining and flora.