Air Fryer Onion Rings

Overhead view of a dark plate with nine golden onion rings of assorted sizes by a bowl of ketchup.

5 from 3 votes

The perfect snack or appetizer, these extra crispy Air Fryer Onion Rings are so easy to make with a few simple ingredients! These onion rings are perfectly seasoned, crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside. No deep fryer needed for these golden and crunchy onion rings!

Prep Time10

Cook Time13

Total Time23

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 183kcal

Author: Justin Coit

Equipment

Air Fryer

Ingredients

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
½ cup flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
1 large yellow onion sliced ½ inch thick rings
olive oil spray

Instructions

First, set up your dredging stations: whisk the egg and butter milk together and add to a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, garlic powder, and paprika in another bowl, and in the 3rd bowl add the panko breadcrumbs.
One at a time dip the onion rings into the flour, then into the egg and milk mixture, and finally into the breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs lightly into the onion rings to help it stick.
Once all of the onion rings have been prepped, spray them with a light coat of olive oil.
Air fry at 400 F for 9 to 13 minutes or until they are golden.
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Video

Notes

If you do not have buttermilk, you can use regular milk or make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a ½ cup of milk.
For a little bit of an extra kick, you can add cayenne pepper to the flour mixture.
Avoid overlapping the onion rings in the air fryer basket. While you may be able to nest a small ring within a large one, try your best to keep everything in a single layer for the crispiest onion rings. Air fry them in two batches if needed to avoid the rings touching each other.
These onion rings are best when they’re still hot! If you’re air frying them in multiple batches, you can add all of them back into the air fryer at the end to heat up for 1 to 2 minutes, so they’re all hot.
As smaller rings cook much faster than the larger ones, you can either group them together to air fry or pull them out as they reach your desired crispiness.
A little oil spray does go a long way with air fryer recipes. Simply mist the onion rings with a light coating of oil. There’s no need to drench them as the air fryer will crisp them up.
These onion rings are delicious on their own but are amazing with a dipping sauce! Serve them with mayo, ketchup, ranch, aioli, or your favorite dipping sauce.

Nutrition