Healthy Raw Onion Rings
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 cup soaked almonds
- 4 cups 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 cups almond milk
- 3/4 cup almond milk pulp
- 1 cup ground flax (3/4 cup before grinding)
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle
- 1/2 teaspoon 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.
Barb wrote on February 24, 2012
Madi, chia seed works well.
Susan wrote on February 25, 2012
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.
Barb wrote on February 24, 2012
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 wrote on January 31, 2012
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.
Anette wrote on January 29, 2012
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?
Diana wrote on November 16, 2011
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?
femmme wrote on June 24, 2011
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)
s clark wrote on April 23, 2011
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.
Susan wrote on April 23, 2011
If you don’t like vidalia onions, don’t use them. Just know that since these are not “cooked” the onions will be stronger.
Shawn C wrote on March 31, 2011
drooling* Geez…..
Shawn C wrote on March 31, 2011
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!!