Crispy Guinness beer battered onion rings with a sprinkle of garlic and Parmesan and served with your favorite dips on the side. What could be better to help celebrate St Patrick’s Day!

Making beer battered onion rings isn’t that difficult but preparation is important. Every ingredient has to be ready at hand and because most of us don’t own a restaurant sized fryer, you have to work fast. The potential for a messy kitchen that smells like fryer oil is high but I think its well worth it once in a while to create these crispy beer battered onion rings, especially as they’re made with Guinness!
The Guinness helps create a deep, dark brown batter and the malty flavor really comes through. The batter isn’t too thick so that important crispy texture is there with every bite. I like to mix a little garlic powder with some grated Parmesan and sprinkle it over the onion rings as they come out of the fryer.
FAQ’s about making beer battered onion rings
Sweet onions will provide the best flavor but can sometimes be hard to find. White or yellow onions will work just fine.
Because you need an oil with a high smoke point, these are probably your best choices. Canola, peanut or vegetable oil
The first thing I’d check is the oil temperature. The oil has to be at 375 F for the batter to cook quickly and evenly. If the oil temperature is too low, the batter will soak up the oil and become heavy and inedible.
All it needs is a light shake in some seasoned flour. Make sure to tap off any excess flour before dipping deep into the batter. Let the excess batter drip back into your bowl before placing into the hot oil.

This post has been updated.
more St Patrick’s Day recipes




Guinness Beer Battered Onion Rings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 quarts of canola oil
- 1 large onion
- 2 cups all purpose flour, divided
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 ¾ cups Guinness beer
- 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Using a deep frying thermometer, heat the oil in a deep pot until it reaches 375°
- In a bowl, whisk together the 1 ½ cups of the flour, baking powder, Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Add the beer to the flour mixture and whisk until all of the lumps have disappeared. It should be resemble a pancake batter consistency.
- Peel the onion and slice into thick rings. Set the smaller inner rings to the side incase you don't want to use them.
- Have a baking tray beside your pan lined with paper towel to absorb any grease.
- Place the remaining ½ cup of flour in another bowl.
- Once the oil is at the correct temperature, dip one ring at a time into the flour and tap to shake off the excess flour.
- Dip the onion ring into the batter and coat completely. Tap the onion ring on the side of the bowl to shake of any excess batter.
- Gently drop the onion ring into the oil and repeat until you have no more room left in the pan. don't overcrowd or they may stick together 3-4 max depending on the size.
- Cook the onion rings for about 1-2 minutes each side or until golden brown always making sure to adjust the oil temperature to maintain 375°.
- Using tongs, transfer the cooked rings from the oil to the paper towel and let them drain for a few minutes.
- Repeat the process until you have cooked as many as you need.
- Season them with some more salt and sprinkle some of the Parmesan on top.
- Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauces.
Notes
You can keep the cooked onion rings warm in a low set oven until you’re ready to serve them.
Nutrition
The most beautiful onion rings I’ve ever seen! Thanks for linking up to mine, as well! ;)
These look like absolute perfection
These onion rings look incredible, Gerry! Love the Guinness batter!
My husband and I love onion rings, but we are very picky about them. Yours look just perfect! With that light batter and all those flavorful seasoning, I am totally going to try this!
These look amazing! So this is kind of unrelated, but I had fish fry last night that had CINNAMON in the batter. It was disgusting. And now I feel totally inspired by you to make my own batter at home. And then these. I LOVE a good onion ring. And these are literally making me drool.
Ummmm these look amazing! I have some irish friends that will freak over this.
Gorgeous photos!
these look delicious, we love onion rings, we will have to try these!
Wow those look amazing. Great photos, awesome recipe with Guinness.
I agree, I’ll take onion rings over fries any day! Guinness batter is genius, Gerry. They are fried to perfection!
it doesn’t get better than this…sharing!
These look incredible, I love beer batter onion rings, I will love these even more.
Growing up, I was always a French fry kid. As an adult, I’ve grown to really appreciate a good onion ring… and these, with that dipping sauce, would really beat out any side.
Thanks Brian, i’m a huge onion ring freak but they have to be made a certain way :)
These were amazing! Absolutely love the flavor. I ended up needing a little less Guinness for the batter since the humidity the day I made them was 100+ percent, but otherwise perfect.
Glad to hear it Tara! i could eat them all day long, thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it :)
Would this batter be good with mushrooms along with the onion rings?
Thanks!
Hi Dina, yes for sure, great idea!!
Anyone try these with the 1:1 gluten free flour? They look amazing but I don’t want to invest the time and effort if GF flour is going to ruin the results! Thanks!!!
Nicely done!!