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I’ll be the first to admit it: those deep-fried onion rings at chain restaurants taste ah-mazing. At least when you don’t think about what they contain. Then they don’t seem so wonderful anymore. The nice thing is, that’s what led me to create this low carb onion rings recipe.
Back when we were still dating and well before our little girl was born, my husband and I used to go out to dinner regularly with his parents. They picked a different restaurant each time, but almost anywhere we went, they would order a tall, glistening stack of onion rings or an enormous blooming onion. I would eat just a couple of pieces, savoring every bite, and then always felt terrible afterward. My body just can’t feel good about consuming all that wheat flour batter deep-fried in corn or soybean oil.
Nowadays we don’t have much time for those regular dinners anymore, so our parents just come over to our house to see the baby (and us). It’s definitely for the best not to have the temptation of those processed onion rings in front of me so often. I much prefer to make my own instead.
The great news is that onion rings don’t have to be bad for you or filled with carbs. The key is making them baked, not fried, and replacing unhealthy ingredients with more wholesome ones. These Cajun-seasoned, low carb onion rings are gluten-free, healthy, and contain only ten ingredients, most of which are the Cajun spices. The ingredients are all pretty common, so you might be able to make these without even running to the store. You can even omit some of the spices in a pinch, though I haven’t tried it and they might taste a little different.
These low carb onion rings come out of the oven with a gorgeous coating – bright orange (thank you, paprika!) and delightfully breaded. The natural sweetness of the onion smothered with flavorful Cajun coating is the perfect combination. One thing to keep in mind is that everyone’s oven is a little different, so if you want to make sure they get crispy, you can reduce the baking time by a few minutes and put them under the broiler for a minute or two at the end.
The onion rings do soften as they cool, so they are best eaten right away. Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem once you try them! It’s definitely not an issue at our house. Every time I make these, my husband always asks me why I didn’t make more.
The most time-consuming part of making these low carb onion rings is individually dipping each ring into the eggs and then the Cajun coating. It’s incredibly easy, but takes a little time to do each one. The end result is totally worth it, I promise! Try dunking them into my spicy appetizer dipping sauce and let me know what you think in the comments below. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally hooked.
Cajun Low Carb Onion Rings (Paleo, Gluten-free):
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- 1 large Sweet onion (sliced into rings)
- 2 large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Almond flour
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (or more if you want them hotter)
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
- Beat the egg in a small bowl. Mix the almond flour and all spices in another bowl.
- Pour a little bit of the almond flour mixture into a third bowl. Dip an onion ring in the egg. Shake off the excess, then press into the almond flour mixture, coating all sides. Place on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with all the onion rings, adding more almost flour mixture from the main bowl as you run out (don't use the main bowl for dipping because the mixture will get soggy before you're done using it). You may need more breading mixture depending on how many rings your onion has and how large it is.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, flip over, then bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the onion rings are lightly browned on both sides. If desired, place them under the broiler for 1-3 minutes to crisp up (watch them closely to avoid burning). *Alternatively, you can fry these in oil for a few minutes on each side to achieve a crispier result, compared to baking.
Net carbs per serving: 6g
* These onion rings are best served with my spicy appetizer dipping sauce.
You'll love my low carb cookbook & meal plans!
- LOW CARB MEAL PLANNING STARTER KIT: 7-day low carb meal plan, printable templates, shopping list, recipes, and more!
- 30 DINNERS IN 30 MINUTES COOKBOOK: 30 easy low carb recipes, all under 30 minutes to make and 10 ingredients or less!
Want more low carb, gluten-free ideas for snacks? Try these:
Dee says
What is the serving size? Did I miss that?
Maya says
Hi Dee, The serving size is 1/4 of the recipe. The entire recipe uses one large onion, so the serving size would be 1/4 of that. Of course the exact amount would vary depending on the size of the onion and how you slice it. Hope this helps!
dailyciabatta says
These look amazing! I swear, the older I get the more incapable I am at digesting anything deep fried. Can’t wait to try this!
Terese Anderson Mansell says
Would deep frying these work, or does the breading not hold up to frying?
Maya says
Hi Terese, I haven’t tried deep frying them. Let me know if you do.
Gail Burroughs says
They look delicious! I love onion rings and hated giving them up when i was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. Thank you!!
Michelle says
They look amazing. Have you tried them with a “different flour”? Me and almonds aren’t friends.
Maya says
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried it, but I think coconut flour would work too. For baking recipes coconut flour usually can’t replace almond flour one-to-one, but for breading it works. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Callan says
I tried with coconut flour and they did not work! Breading was just too powdery. Looking forward to trying with almond flour because they look delish!
Maya | Wholesome Yum says
Hi Callan, Thank you for the feedback! I hadn’t tried it with coconut flour. I hope you get to try them with almond flour like in the recipe.
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
Love these! They look amazing and I love that they’re easy to make — and no frying!!
Jan Jones says
Just had a thought to make the recipe even more simple. I plan on taking all the spices from the onion ring recipe and multiplying and grinding in a spice grinder. Then I will place them in a jar where they can be easily measured out each time I make the onion rings. To find out how much to use of the blend each time, add all the original spice measurements together.
Alice says
Thank you for this recipe, I made this and it was delicious. But it was difficult getting the almond flour and spices to stick to my onion rings and I ended up having them stick more on my fingers instead. How did you get yours to stick so beautifully?
Maya | Wholesome Yum says
Hi Alice, The key is to keep the breading dry. The trick I use is to use one hand for dipping in the egg and the other for dipping in the breading mixture, so that the hand going in the breading never gets wet or covered in egg. I also like to separate the breading into a few portions, adding more to the bowl as I run out, because it tends to get more “wet” after dipping a few rings, and once that happens it will get clumpy and not stick as well. Also, I’ve found that you don’t get the breading as wet if you avoid moving the ring around in it too much; instead, place it in the middle and scoop the dry breading over it to coat. Hope that helps!
Diane says
I had a real hard time getting the mixture to stick. Was powdery on the pan and onion rings. The mixture was clumpy. Suggestions?
Maya | Wholesome Yum says
Hi Diane, Sorry you had a hard time with it. See my reply to Alice’s comment above for suggestions. Hope that helps!