Crispy French Fried Onions Copycat Recipe

​Make crispy onions at home with this copycat French Fried Onions recipe. These are a great topping for casseroles, salads, and other side dishes. 

Do you know those delicious fried onions everyone puts on top of sweet potatoes and other casseroles? Well, we made them at home! This was a work-in-progress recipe and took a few tries, but we have now successfully made beautiful golden deep fried onions. 

When I look at the ingredients for the French’s brand of crisp fried onions, they aren’t too bad. This wasn’t made from necessity, but more because it sounded fun to try. We originally made them to use to top our sweet potato casserole, but they are great for a quick snack or to top salads. 

My recipe for crispy fried onions uses 2 large onions. I tried it with red onions, white onions, and yellow onions. The best taste came from the yellow onions since they are a bit more mild in flavor. You could try yours, though, with different kinds of onions to see what you like best. 

When preparing the onions recipe, you’ll want to make sure you have a sharp knife so you can get the onions cut into thin slices. After slicing, we cut the rings in half to make them half-moon shaped. Depending on the recipe you plan to use these with, you may want to make them larger or smaller. 

Luckily, the only thing that takes a lot of time for this recipe is the marinade. The sliced onions are soaked in buttermilk for 24 hours. This doesn’t affect the taste of the crunchy fried onions but helps to make the flavor a bit more mild. If you are using a stronger onion, you may want to let them rest longer. 

As always when you are cooking with hot oil, be careful about how much you put in the pan at a time. You don’t want it spitting hot oil at you. And, if you put a large quantity of onions in at once it can lower the temperature of the oil. 

French Fried Onions Step by Step

Ingredients

• 2 yellow onions, sliced thinly then cut in half
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• High-heat oil for frying (such as canola oil)

Preparation

In a large bowl, soak onions in buttermilk for 24 hours in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally.

Pour enough oil into a large cast-iron skillet until you have about an inch of oil and heat over medium heat.

Drain the buttermilk-soaked onions on a paper towel.

Add the flour to a medium bowl and whisk with the salt and pepper.

Toss about a quarter of the onions in the flour mixture until well coated.

Use tongs to grab the coated onions and carefully place them in the hot oil.

Fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Drain on a wire rack lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Continue in batches until all onions are fried.

French Fried Onions Leftovers

Storage: Store leftover crispy fried onions in an airtight container at room temperature for a day. If you need to save them longer, refrigerate them for up to 4-5 days. 

Reheating: Since these were originally fried, they are best reheated in an air fryer or in the oven. 

Freezing: Place drained and cooled French Fried Onions in a freezer-safe ziplock bag and freeze for up to one month. 

Recipe

Fried Onions

​Make crispy onions at home with this copycat French Fried Onions recipe. These are a great topping for casseroles, salads, and other side dishes. 

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Marinade Time 1 day day

Total Time 1 day day 30 minutes minutes

Course:

Homemade Staple

Cuisine:

American

Diet

Vegetarian

Keyword:

french onion

|

fried

|

fried onions

|

onions

|

yellow onions

Dietary Needs:

Egg-Free

|

Nut-Free

Cooking Method:

One-Pan Meals

Servings: 20

5 from 7 votes

Ingredients

• 2 yellow onions (sliced thinly then cut in half)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• High-heat oil for frying (such as canola oil)

Recommended Equipment

• Mixing Bowls – Stainless Steel
• Whisk – Wire
• Cast Iron Skillet
• Wire Cooling Rack

Instructions

• In a large bowl, soak onions in buttermilk for 24 hours in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally
• Pour enough oil into a large cast-iron skillet until you have about an inch of oil and heat over medium heat
• Drain the buttermilk-soaked onions on a paper towel
• Add the flour to a medium bowl and whisk with the salt and pepper
• Toss about a quarter of the onions in the flour mixture until well coated
• Use tongs to grab the coated onions and carefully place them in the hot oil
• Fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown
• Drain on a wire rack lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil
• Continue in batches until all onions are fried

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Nutrition Facts

Fried Onions

Amount Per Serving (2 tbsp)

Calories 35 Calories from Fat 5

% Daily Value*

Fat 0.5g1%

Saturated Fat 0.2g1%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g

Cholesterol 1mg0%

Sodium 129mg5%

Potassium 40mg1%

Carbohydrates 6g2%

Fiber 0.4g2%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 21IU0%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 18mg2%

Iron 0.3mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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