I love converting unhealthy recipes to healthy raw food recipes. Onion rings were always one of my favorite treats, but I refuse to eat the deep fried variety anymore. They are soaked with oil and breaded with nothing that is health promoting. I still love them and wanted to find a healthy way to enjoy them.
I have seen a few onion ring recipes but I wanted something that was similar to the traditional way of making them. Using the technique of soaking the onions, I employed almond milk. You will use the almond milk for soaking and also for breading for the rings. Once you make the milk, you save the nut pulp, dehydrate it and combine it with spices and a little flax. One warning…you really need to use a mild or sweet onion for this recipe or the onion flavor will be too strong.
Onion Rings
Almond Milk:
- 1 C soaked almonds
- 4 C water
Combine soaked almonds and water in blender. Strain through nutmilk bag. Save the pulp and dehydrate it.
Onion rings
- 1 Large Sweet Onion
- 4 C Almond Milk
- 3/4 C Almond Milk Pulp
- 1 C Ground Flax (3/4 C before grinding)
- 1 T. Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 t Ground Chipotle
- 1/2 t Salt
Slice onions and place in zip lock bag with almond milk. Soak while pulp is dehydrating. When pulp is done dehydrating, place in food processor with flax, spices and salt. Separate into two batches. If you use all of it at once, a lot of it will be come saturated and too wet to use. Splitting it into separate batches protects against waste. Drain onion rings, RESERVING milk. Dip onion ring in the milk, then in the almond flax mixture, dip in milk once again and then in almond flax mixture again to get a heavier coating. Dehydrate for 6 to 8 hours until almost dry. You want the onions to retain a little moisture, the breading should be dry.
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh Lady, those look delish!
i love onion rings. cant wait to try these!
now by mild or sweet. what are you recommendations?
I would ask your grocer for the sweetest ones they have in stock. It changes constantly.
This looks like a great way to make onion rings and use leftover almond pulp!
BRAVO! You give me such great inspiration…thanks yet again! (Gets dehydrated onions from pantry…)
Those are grand looking!
Enjoy!
Fabulous!! Thank you for this Susan!!
xo
Eco Mama
these look fantastic! they look ready to dip into some light and tangy sauce… i’m feeling creamy with cucumbers perhaps with a little cilantro and garlic? mmmmmm…… Delish!
Nom nom nom. This look amazing. I just saw another similar recipe today. This one seems a bit easier. Definitely going to have to make this one. I have two large onions just calling out to me right now.
Sorry this may be a stupid question, but how do you dehydrate them?
In raw food “cooking” we use a dehydrator. See http://www.rawmazing.com/articles/raw-food-equipment-questions-dehydrators/
Great recipe. I can’t wait to try it myself. I’ve dehydrated onions by themselves, with a light dressing, and haven’t found the right combination. Have a happy holiday!
How long do you dehydrate the pulp, and are the onion rings soaking the total time of the dehydration?
You dehydrate the pulp until it is dry. 2-3 hours. And yes, the onions are soaking the entire time.
These look nice and crispy and I’d bet they have a great flavor from all the almonds. Too bad I don’t have a dehydrator. The ten hour wait is kind of a bummer too, but I’m sure they’re a great treat when you plan ahead.
only one onion? w/4 cups of almond milk?
Yes…one large onion will make a lot of onion rings.
Wow, either I am very hungry right now or those are amazing looking!
I am new to raw food and I do not have a dehydrator. Is there another way to make the rings?
Any recommendations for a raw ketchup to eat with these wonderful looking rings?
you know what would also be amazing, “fried” zucchini, i’d totally dredge some zucchini in that mixture! i love your recipes btw!
Thank you sooooo much….
I`ve been 100 % raw only since 18 September and this is my favourite so far.
Trying different recipes from the world on internet is great because here in Norway we don`t have many raw vegans yet !!!!!!!!!!!!!
You get a 1000 warm thoughts from cold Bergen
How long do you have to soak the almonds before blending w/the water?
You should soak your almonds for at least 12 hours and rinse them to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors. You can do a search for “soaking nuts” on the website. There are a couple of posts explaining it.
What can you use in place of a dehydrator? The oven on a low setting? I want to make these for a raw appetizer recipe swap party!!! I am new to this and don’t know what I am doing!!!
Any suggestions??
Thanks!
If you want them to be raw, you need to use a dehydrator unless you oven has a setting that will keep the temperature under 116 degrees. When the food heats above that, it is no longer raw,
Hey Alyce & Mayra. When I first started raw before I got my first dehydrator, I just used the oven. Place the oven on the very lowest setting (for me it was the “warm” setting) and leave the oven door cracked. I got a cheap oven-safe thermometer to make sure I was staying under 115 degrees F. On my oven, the door cracked was letting out to much heat so I used a cookie sheet to keep it open just a little bit. It will take some trial and error to get it just right, but once you figure it out you are good to go!
I am absolutely amazed by the recipes you have here. I will be starting my raw lifestyle in a few weeks, but was worried I would not be able to find recipes that would keep me on the right track. Boy was I wrong!! Keep up the great work!!
Those look delicious! Do you know the nutritional content per serving?
Nope. There are many nutritional calculators that you can find online.
I would comment but I am droling onto the paper I am trying to frantically scribble this recipe on. I’m off to start these now! Thanks so much!!
drooling* Geez…..
Are white onions mild enough, or would I have to use a vidalia? I’m hesitant to use a Vidalia as I’ve never liked sweet tasting onion rings.
If you don’t like vidalia onions, don’t use them. Just know that since these are not “cooked” the onions will be stronger.
I also tried another recipe using unbleached wheat flour and soy yogurt and small amount of vegtable oil. They came out exactly the same- yummy! I realize the vegetable oil isn’t the bestest but when you need onion rings you NEED onion rings!
(so happy to have discovered this site)
Has anyone made these? I’ve tried making onion rings several times with different types of onions but they just burn my sinuses ! There doesn’t seem to be a non-cooked way to de-flame onions. I’ve tried all the types of non-cooked foods ways I accept (non-vinegar, non-salt ways) but nothing has worked so far. I understand that several changes of water might work but haven’t had luck. I think I’ll next try longer soak baths in _several_ changes of water to see if that’ll wick away the oils better. Hmmm …
Anyone else had this problem with onions and they way they doggedly seem to hang on to their oils?
These looks tasty
Do they have to be served immediately? If not, how do I store them if I want to eat them lets say 8 hours later?
These Onion Rings look amazing! Is there any other ingredient besides the ground flax that I can use for this recipe? I am really allergic to flax seeds………..but would really like to try these Onion rings.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can still make these onion rings (and other foods) although they will not be “raw.” Set your oven temperature to the absolute lowest setting (you can experiment) available. Put your breaded rings on a cookie sheet and set it on an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Wedge a wooden spoon between the oven and the oven door to keep it open about 1/2″ (or a little more). This allows the moisture to escape. The lowest temp on my oven is about 130 degrees. Again, not raw. But you can still make this wonderful, healthy snack!
Madi, chia seed works well.
Barb: They could work but unfortunately, they are not a universal substitution. People will have to experiment with the recipes when using them to find the correct balance. They also dehydrate differently.
Yum, making a similar version, didnt have almond milk so I’m using pumpkin seed milk
@Diana, If you cut your onion rings and just leave them out in the fridge overnight they will oxidize a bit and loose some of that burny flavor.
Sweet onions work best for this recipe.
I am a brand new baby vegan and I am doing tons of research and it all is so interesting but this really surprised me…dehydrating food is considered raw? Wow. I wonder where I can buy one and if they are expensive.
Yes…as long as you keep the food temperature under 115 degrees! Cheers!
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