These Paleo & Vegan French Fried Onions are so much healthier and tastier than the store bought version, and you’ll love how crispy they are on casseroles or even on their own!
While I love all the holiday casseroles, I’ve been going without French fried onions in the recent years because they are not really an option for those of us who are gluten free and try to avoid processed foods.
Not-So-Healthy Ingredients in Store-Bought French Fried Onions
When I looked up the ingredients for them, this is what I found:
Onions, Palm Oil, Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Soy Flour, Salt and Dextrose.
Yikes. It’s just a lot of unnecessary ingredients I’d rather not put in my body. However, I do love these crunchy onions as a topping for so many of my dishes, so I decided to make my own cleaner version. These Paleo & Vegan French Fried Onions turned out to be surprisingly easy and super duper addicting and delicious!
Easy Paleo & Vegan French Fried Onions Recipe
The best part is that these take less than 30 minutes to make. I sure do appreciate simple and easy recipes, especially when I’m hosting a holiday dinner and I have 12 things I need to cook at the same time.
You can use these Paleo & Vegan French Fried Onions to top on casseroles, soups, salads, baked potatoes, or just on their own. They are essentially fried onion rings, so I ate half of these dipped in my homemade paleo ketchup. I had to portion it out because I couldn’t stop eating them!
If you are missing the crunch factor on your holiday dishes or any savory recipe, I recommend you try this French fried onions. I promise, you won’t regret it!
Paleo & Vegan French Fried Onions
Ingredients
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or more
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Avocado oil or palm shortening, lard, or tallow, for frying
Instructions
- Place sliced onion in a wide shallow bowl, and pour coconut milk and apple cider vinegar over it.
- Toss a few times to coat, then let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Prepare a separate bowl with tapioca starch, coconut flour, and sea salt. Mix to combine.
- Pour your choice of cooking oil in a large skillet until the oil is about 1 inch deep, and heat over medium high heat. Prepare a large dish with 2-3 layers of paper towels.
- Use a tong or a fork to transfer a handful of onions from the coconut milk, then to the flour mixture.
- Coat and dust off excess flour, then fry in the skillet for 30 seconds on each side, or until crispy and golden brown.
- Transfer to the paper towel lined dish. Repeat this process until you fry all the onions, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.
- Use right away on casseroles or eat them on their own with a side of ketchup!
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mmm these look good!!! I wait every year for these yummy onions (even though they are available all year, the holiday season is the only time I eat them) This year I will be making these and eat with out the side of guilt!!. Thanks for sharing this recipe…love your blog
Thanks so much! Hope you enjoy your holidays with these fried onions. You can definitely enjoy them guilt-free!
Oh gosh how fun! I have seen the healthier versions in health food stores, but man this looks WAY better! And so simple/easy! Thank you!
Oh my, I’ve always been a fan of crispy onions of any kind, and these look perfectly crunchy!
This is the recipe we all need because we know it’s the season for French’s fried onions from the package, and I’m just not about that 😉 Beautiful!
Oh I love these! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
Yes please!!! I LOVE this recipe so much! One of my absolute favorite things!
These look amazing! Could I use a substitute for the tapioca starch though?
Cassava flour will work as well!
Have you ever tried cassava flour instead of coconut flour? I am worried about the coconutty sweet flavor. I was thinking 1 cup of cassava flour instead of the 1/2 cup coconut flour?
Also, I want to use this on top of a green bean casserole! Would you recommend adding the friend onions on top partway through the oven bake? Maybe just for the last 5-10 minutes?
You can’t taste the coconut, but you can try using cassava flour and I think it should work. I’ve never tried it though so I can’t guarantee results. For the casserole you can add it in at the last 5 minutes, or just top it at the end.
HOLY DROOL! these look great, and easy, totally making them this week!
Yummers!!! This looks so good! Perfect with some green bean casserole!
friend onions are my favorite ! So delicious the way you prepare it !
mmm this loooks so good! I bet the breading mix will work great on calamari too!
My son would go nuts for these! They look so good!
Oooooh I have never thought of frying onions like this – Love it!
I know the recipe says use right away, but I started making these for tomorrow with out reading that first… (oops) Have you ever stored them over night? Will they loose their crunchiness?
I haven’t tried storing them but if they aren’t crispy you can try re-frying them in a little bit of oil or just bake them in high heat if you using them as a topping on a casserole.
Do you think these would cook in an air fryer?
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried. Let me know if you end up trying it out though!
I was planning on trying air fryer as well! How did it work? Also how long do these last and what’s the best way to store?
I am doing Whole 30 and craving something crunchy. These fried onion rings are amazing. Great recipe.
Made these tonight and they came out amazing! Perfect thank you so much!
Is this the kind of coconut milk like Almond and Soy or is this like Thai Coconut milk?
I used Thai coconut milk that’s thick.