Cajun Crispy Fried Onions are thinly sliced sweet onions, seasoned with Cajun seasoning and coated with a light batter and deep fried in a process that’s much less complicated than the traditional method of cooking onion rings.

Onion rings made from Vidalia Onions are one of the best things on the planet. You get the aroma of cooked onions to awaken your senses and a good onion flavor that’s mild and sweet. The only negative about Vidalias is that they’re seasonal. I’m so hooked on sweet onions, thanks to Vidalia’s, that I won’t buy any other variety for my all-purpose cooking onions. You’ll find them on my kitchen counter in a basket right next to Yukon gold potatoes which are the only all-purpose white potato I buy. When it comes to sweet onions and white potatoes, I know what I like.

So, onion rings are tasty, tasty. My cooking process for onion rings was so laborious, I gave up on cooking them. I would slice the onions about 1/4 of an inch thick, dip them in egg wash, then in breading, then in egg wash, back in the breading before putting a few into hot grease to fry. Because of the size of the rings, only a few would fit in the pot at once. So, it took f o r e v e r to fry those babies. The breading process was a big mess. I’m a messy cook on a good day and you set me up with several dipping and breading tasks to do, plus frying, and it takes a week to get my kitchen clean. And that’s if I have everybody I know helping me clean up.

Finally, the thought occurred to me, that fried onions aren’t about the dipping and the breading and the dipping and the breading. It’s all about the sweet flavor of the cooked onion.

Thank the Heavens above!

So, I took two medium-sized sweet onions, sliced them thinly into matchsticks, threw them in a disposable plastic bag, tossed in Cajun seasoning, a tad of buttermilk and flour and fried ’em up! Easy as can be. The bag was disposable, I didn’t have flour and egg all over my kitchen and we had a plate of fresh, hot, seasoned crispy fried onions. Good bye onion rings, hello crispy fried onions. I’m so glad to meet you!

If you’re still wanting more fried onions, you need to check out this recipe for Blooming Onions. Yes, those onions you get in restaurants that you can make in your home kitchen. No reservations required.

Try these Cajun Crispy Fried Onions with Rice Stuffed Peppers . The crunch of the fried onions will be a great paring with creamy rice stuffing.

Can I use yellow onions?

Yes, you certainly may. We prefer sweet onions but use the onions you like.

What can I use instead of Cajun or Creole seasoning?

If you don’t keep a lot of spices, just use salt and pepper. If you have garlic powder, through that in, too.

Instructions for Cajun Crispy Fried Onions

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Peel and half sweet onions.
Thinly slice.
Add to a disposable storage bag.
Pour in buttermilk and make sure the onion slices are well coated. This will help the flour adhere to the onion slices better.
Stir together flour and Cajun seasoning. Creole seasoning can be substituted for Cajun seasoning. I find store bought Creole seasoning to have a little less heat than my homemade Cajun seasoning. Try Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s . For my homemade seasoning, I recommend two teaspoons. For the store bought versions I recommended, use a tablespoon.
Add to bag of onions and toss well to coat all the onions. Pour the onions coated with seasoned flour onto a tray. Sprinkle with additional flour as needed to ensure the onions are well coated.
In a pot or kettle that has deep sides, heat about 2 to 3 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees. Ensure that you have a deep pot because the hot oil will bubble up quite a bit due to the high water content of the onions. Using a shallow pot might result in a spillover of hot oil. Be careful!
Working in batches, drop the breaded onions into the preheated oil. Stir continuously to help the onion pieces break apart. Once they start browning, they’ll go quickly. Don’t get distracted or walk away. They only need about 4 minutes to brown.
As soon as they are to the shade of golden brown you like, remove them with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined tray. Spread in an even a layer so they’ll drain better.
Repeat with each batch. Taste for seasoning and, if needed, sprinkle with additional seasoning while hot.
Transfer to a platter for serving. Or not. Not a thing wrong with eating off the paper towel lined platter.

Cajun Crispy Fried Onions n a serving platter

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