Guilt-Free Onion Rings

Big onion ring flavor, but without the big onion ring calories. These No Fry Onion Rings are completely crunchy and delicious and will keep you coming back for more!

*Disclaimer - This recipe was originally published in 2013. I'm working hard to update all my older recipes with recipe cards, new photos, and additional recipe information. But, getting to all of them will take time. Please bear with me. In the meantime let me assure you that this recipe is still a winner and one I'm sure you'll be well pleased with when you make it at home.

I LOVE onion rings! For me, they even surpass French fries when it comes to a side dish for a burger or sandwich (and that's saying a lot)!!

Unfortunately, as we all know they're not really something you can/should eat as a regular part of your diet. Until now.

I can't claim that this is my own original recipe. I wish. I found this in Lisa Lillien's "Hungry Girl To The Max" cookbook and I'm sharing it with you in case you don't own Lisa Lillien's cookbook.

Perhaps you love onion rings as much as I do but you'd rather not pack in all those additional calories of the traditional breaded and fried ones. I'm here to help. (For additional information about Lisa's cookbook, scroll on down).

The only change I made to the original recipe was by adding some smoked paprika to the coating mix to spice up the heat level of the rings just a wee bit and omitting the onion powder.

The outcome of these rings were very tasty indeed. Not quite the same flavor profile as the heavily coated and fried onion rings of the past but they definitely still hit all the same bells and whistles on my tongue.

I happily munched on them and I didn't feel deprived in any way or as though I was missing out on all the flavor I love about my onion rings.

To me, this is an easy change and one I could live with for the rest of my life and still feel like I was treating myself to something special. My husband enjoyed them too and he's never even been a huge fan of onion rings in the past. Go figure 🙂

GUILTLESS ONION RINGS      {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Makes about 30 rings per serving at 155 calories


1 large, sweet onion
1 cup Fiber One Original bran cereal
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ cup liquid egg whites

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
-Cut both ends off the onion and remove the outer skin and first layer.
-Slice the onion into ½ wide slices and separate into rings.
-In a blender or food processor, grind the cereal to form crumbs (your call on the texture).
-Place the crumbs into a shallow dish OR I recommend a plastic bag.
-Add the garlic powder, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika to the crumbs and shake to mix thoroughly.
-In a shallow dish, add the liquid egg whites.
-Dip to cover the onion rings into the egg whites and then drop them into the crumbs.
-If using the bag method, add several, close the bag and then shake to coat the rings with the crumbs.
-If using the shallow dish method, turn to coat the rings evenly with the crumbs.
-Place the coated rings onto two foil or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between each ring so they're not touching and they get crispy.
-Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes and serve immediately.

To make the process go faster, employ the bag method for coating (plus it keeps your fingers cleaner).

Here is a photo of Hungry Girl, Lisa Lillien's cookbook. I've only gone through a portion of the book so far but as you can see, I've marked many pages for recipes I plan on making soon.

If they're anything like these onion rings, they're all winners!

Pull up a chair. Dinner is served! 🙂