Baked Panko Onion Rings

Baked Panko Onion Rings – an oven-baked crispy crunchy onion ring with a panko coating. Just the thing to pair with hamburgers and hot dogs.
I know very few people who don’t like fried foods. Some may not admit it, but secretly they love the salty fried stuff.

And how can you resist it, really? That crispy, crunchy goodness coating something delicious and steaming hot inside. Yum.
In the South of my childhood we ate lots of fried foods – fried chicken, fried fish, fried okra, country fried steak, french fries. I could go on. Oh, man was it good! But over the years, of course, we’ve learned that there are more healthful ways to eat. I sometimes even cook my onion rings in the air fryer now.

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Low Fat, Low Salt is Best
You’d have to have been living in a cave in the backwoods to not know the dangers of ingesting too much fat. And salt. And of course, salt goes right along with the fried foods. Salt and fat. They’re what make food taste good.
Too bad our bodies haven’t evolved into salt-and-fat-fighting machines that would allow us to indulge in all the wonderful fried foods we’d like to enjoy.
Way back years ago before people became so health and diet conscious, our old family doctor used to give some really wonderful advice to his patients. He told them, “If you ever find yourself in a restaurant where you’re not sure how clean the kitchen is, just order something deep fried. Hot grease will kill anything.” I just love that :-)
Let’s Lighten Up Our Favorite Onion Rings
One of my favorite fried foods is onion rings. When they’re done just right, all golden and crispy and piping hot, I’d choose a platter of them over most anything else I can think of.
But, like all those other delicious old fried things, I know they’re not good for me so I only indulge occasionally.
Recently, I’ve seen several recipes for baked onion rings on the internet and, since I know I shouldn’t eat the fried ones very often, I really wanted to give the baked option a try.
After researching quite a few different ones, I decided to try using a coating of panko bread crumbs and a mist of cooking spray. The panko gives the baked onion rings a very nice crispy coating. BeeBop gave them a thumbs up, too!
How to Make Baked Panko Onion Rings
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Peel the onions and cut them into thick, approximately 1/2-inch slices. Separate the slices into rings.

Set up your breading station with three bowls. In one bowl place the flour, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. In the second bowl, beat together the eggs and milk and in the third bowl, place the panko crumbs.
Prepare two large baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Spray the parchment lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
Coat the onion rings by dredging them first in the flour. Remove from the flour, shake off any excess and drop into the egg and milk mixture.
Remove the onion ring from the egg mixture allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl and then place the coated ring into the panko crumbs. Toss lightly in the crumbs to coat.

Place the coated onion rings on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all onion rings are coated.
I was trying both the traditional and the panko bread crumbs in the photo above. The ones on the lower part are traditional and the panko are in the upper part of the photo.
Spray the prepared onion rings lightly with cooking spray. Place the baking sheets in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and flip each onion ring carefully using a spatula or tongs. Replace the sheets in the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until crispy and browned.
🧾 More Recipes You’ll Like
- Oven Fried Shrimp Po’ Boy
- Baked Buffalo Wings
- Oven Baked Zucchini Fries
- Crispy Baked Okra Chips
- Buttermilk Baked Chicken
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?
I’d LOVE to know what you thought!
Leave a rating below in the comments and let me know how you liked it!
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Ingredients
- 2 large Vidalia onion or other sweet onions
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups panko crumbs
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Peel the onions and cut them into thick, approximately 1/2-inch slices. Separate the slices into rings.
- Set up your breading station with three bowls. In one bowl place the flour, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. In the second bowl, beat together the eggs and milk and in the third bowl, place the panko crumbs.
- Prepare two large baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Spray the parchment lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Coat the onion rings by dredging them first in the flour. Remove from the flour, shake off any excess and drop into the egg and milk mixture. Remove the onion ring from the egg mixture allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl and then place the coated ring into the panko crumbs. Toss lightly in the crumbs to coat.
- Place coated onion rings on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all onion rings are coated.
- Spray the prepared onion rings lightly with cooking spray. Place the baking sheets in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip each onion ring carefully using a spatula or tongs. Replace the sheets in the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until crispy and browned.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
These turned out great and are super simple to make! Crunchy but not greasy. Thanks Lana!
You’re welcome! So glad you liked them.
A little bit labor intensive, so not something I’m going to make every week, but boy are they yummy! I sprayed with avocado oil just before baking which added no oily feel and no oily taste. I decided to dip them in barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. Both of those were great choices. Thanks Lana for always having the recipe that I’m looking for.
Yes, homemade onion rings do take about 10 minutes of prep work but the results are so tasty!
Just made these, they are so good!
So glad you liked them!
I’m sorry, Geri, but I don’t have the calorie count.
Thanks for the shout out on the onion rings!!
I adore onion rings too! I would even take them over French fries any time. I’m definitely going to make these.
love these!!