Keto-friendly Battered Onion Rings

If you’re new to the ketogenic diet, I would HIGHLY recommend the book The Keto Diet Kickstart Program – which contains recipes and advice for keto diet beginners. If, however, you’ve been following a keto diet for a while – then read on.

Fried food has always been one of my favourites, but unfortunately it’s pretty much forbidden on a ketogenic diet. The high fat in fried foods isn’t the problem – its the coating that usually encases these delicious little beauties that causes the issues. Plenty of fried foods often come with either a breadcrumb or a battered coating, which makes them unsuitable for a low-carb or ketogenic diet due to the high levels of carbohydrate found in bread and flour.

But, fortunately, there’s a way around this, if you just get a little bit creative. If you’re feeling a little adventurous in the kitchen, then I seriously suggest trying out this recipe! It’s good old-fashioned comfort food, with a ketogenic twist. And its perfect to go with the delicious low-carb dips that we mentioned in the previous post too!

Why Use Almond Flour for Frying?

The short answer to this is yes! Almond flour can be substituted for regular wheat flour in a number of different recipes – but is particularly good for battering and frying because it doesn’t have as strong a taste as other grain-free flours (such as coconut flour).

Almond flour also doesn’t suck up as much moisture as coconut flour, so when used for frying it helps to ensure that the end-result is nice and crunchy (rather than soggy).

Plus, almond flour is a  good source of vitamin E, manganese,  magnesium, and several other minerals. So, in short, we’ve decided to use almond flour in the following recipe for keto-friendly battered onion rings.

Ingredients:

• large onion, cut into rings
• 1 cup of blanched almond flour
• A tablespoon of water
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• A tablespoon of smoked paprika
• Two teaspoons of garlic salt
• Half a teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 egg
• Half a cup coconut oil for frying

Method:

• Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water until fully combined
• In a separate bowl, mix the garlic salt, paprika, black pepper and almond flour together. This will be the coating for the onion rings
• Take a large skillet and, on a high heat, melt the coconut oil until it’s piping hot and ready for frying
• Take the individual rings of raw onion and dip into the egg mixture, then immediately dip into the flour and spices mixture to coat them fully
• Gently drop them into the oil to fry for a two or three minutes, cooking in batches
• Transfer the fried onion rings onto a paper towel to drain off any excess oil. They should be golden-brown in color, and crispy (not soggy)

These are great to serve with salad and your low-carb dip of choice. But don’t worry if you haven’t got time to prepare your own low-carb dip; try one from Walden Farms instead! They’re completely sugar-free and are a convenient keto-friendly condiment to keep on standby for moments like this.

Have your tried almond flour as a substitute for regular wheat flour? We’d love to hear your opinion about it as a grain-free alternative – so please leave a comment in the section below.