Healthy Onion Rings - Raw & Cooked Version!

I have pretty mixed feelings about onion rings. Whilst I will agree that they are tasty.. traditional onion rings, in all their battered, fried glory.. just seem pretty.. gross.

Heavily processed, lacking in nutritional value, and high in fat..

If you make them yourself they will obviously be better.. but what if you could make them healthy?

High in protein, fibre, magnesium, iron, calcium, with vitamin B-6, and vitamin C, these certainly pack more of a nutritional punch than your average onion ring!

These are incredibly easy to make, and they make quite a few! I popped a big batch in my dehydrator to tick away overnight – and I also had enough mix to make a batch to cook in the oven! I’m extremely happy to say that both ways work amazingly well.

These are light, crunchy, and extremely tasty. Thanks to the nuts in their coating, they are also rather filling! So be warned against wolfing them all down in one go!

The raw version tasted just as crunchy and tasty as the cooked ones. The only difference that I noticed, is the raw ones have a slightly stronger onion “hit” than the cooked version. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

I served these up with a raw tomato sauce (which takes seconds to prepare) and these made for a fantastic side to dinner.

Try them, and let me know what you think!

Pixie x

Step 1: Ingredients

2 large Onions - Sliced into roughly 1/2 - 1cm thick slices

For the coating

1/4 cup Almonds

1/4 cup Pumpkin seeds

1 tsp Dried garlic (I dehydrated mine - feel free to use dried garlic from the shop)

1 tsp Chia seeds

1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast Pinch

Salt and Pepper

For the Wet mixture

1/4 cup Cashew nuts soaked at least 3 hours

1/4 cup Buckwheat Soaked at least an hour

1 tsp Soy sauce (I used liquid aminos, but use what you have)

1 tsp Garlic powder

Pinch Salt

1/2 Cup Water

Olive Oil (Optional)

Step 2: Step 1

First, make your wet and dry mix! Pop all of your dry mix ingredients into a food processor, and blitz until it resembles fine crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, a blender will work too. Just keep an eye on it, and don't over-process. You want crumbs - not nut butter! (Also, if you only have all almonds, or all pumpkin - or even sunflower- seeds, feel free to just use those! It will still work, the flavour will just be a little different). Pop the dry mix into a shallow bowl.

Step 3: Step 2

Next, make your wet mix. Add all of your wet mix ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. I put mine into a container and used my hand blender, which worked really well. (Similar to the dry mix - if you have only cashews or only buckwheat, it will still work. Just use what you have). Pour into a shallow bowl.

Step 4: Step 3

Next, slice your onions. I used one white, and one red onion. Cut your slices approximately 1/2cm thick. Too thin and you won't taste it in the batter. You can make them thicker if you want, but if you're doing them raw, the raw onion taste will be intense! Separate your onions into their rings. Most importantly - Lay everything out. Once your start making the onion rings, your hands get messy. So make sure your trays are lined with non-stick paper, and everything you need is nearby.

Step 5: Step 4

This is the simple, but messy bit! Take a ring of onion, and dip it into the wet batter. Make sure it's coated all over, then drop it into the dry mix. Flip it over so it's coated in the crumbs, and then place it on your baking tray / dehydrator tray. Repeat with all onion rings! I find it easier to keep one hand for dunking in the batter, and one to flip in the dry mix. But just find whatever works for you!

Step 6: Step 5

If you're planning on cooking your onion rings, pop your oven on medium-high, and line a tray with tin foil or non-stick parchment. If you use non-stick parchment, you don't have to use oil if you don't want to! If you would like to use oil (or are using tin foil), add about 1 tbs of oil to your tray (making sure it's well coated) or mist using a cooking spray. Once your onion rings are dipped and laid out, cook for 10 minutes, then flip, and cook for a further 10, or until they look golden in colour and are crispy.

Step 7: Step 6

To dehydrate, make sure your dehydrator is lined with non-stick paper.
Place your onion rings on your trays, and dehydrate at 45 degrees C for 12 hours, flipping over once halfway through. If they still seem soft, just dehydrate a little more (though 12 hours should be fine!)

Step 8: Step 7

Enjoy your amazing, healthy, tasty onion rings!
Feel free to add in any extra flavours you like! More garlic, paprika, chilli powder, dried herbs - try it and see what you think! I served mine with a very easy tomato sauce.

Step 9: Step 8 (for the Sauce)

Just blend together:

1 big tomato (or 2 littler ones),

2 sun-dried tomato halves

1/2 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp vinegar (I used white balsamic, but any would work)

1 Tbs red bell pepper

And a pinch of salt and pepper.

Give it a taste and add more of anything as you see fit :). I also added in some chilli powder, because I'm a spice food nut ;).

Enjoy! <3