How to make fried onions (crispy onions/Birista) with just one ingredient and some oil (fried or air fryer crispy onions), perfect for topping a green bean casserole, soups, salads, grains, and more! Plus, these onion strings can be ready in as little as 10 minutes!

Recently I seem to be spending a lot of time focusing on delicious garlicky DIYs and recipes (like roasted garlic, roasted garlic bread, and cheesy garlic bread). Now it’s time to throw the onion in the spotlight with this simple method for fried onions/crispy onions! Having shared a recipe for Indonesian Nasi Uduk, followers let me know that crispy fried shallots were a “must” garnish – and I couldn’t get the idea of those little crispy morsels of flavor out of my head!

In fact, crispy fried onions (aka barista) are very popular in South Asian cooking and in Western cuisine. They can be used in biryanis, to top salads, stews, or maybe even a Thanksgiving classic like green bean casserole?! Keep reading for tons of ways to enjoy these crispy onions!

Plus, when fried right, the shoestring onions won’t absorb tons of oil – leaving you with super crispy, not greasy, results. Instead, the onions are super crisp. Best of all, when making this fried onion recipe at home, you don’t have to worry about any unwanted preservatives, chemicals, colors, etc.

Looking for more ways to enjoy onions? You might like these DIYs for onion flakes or onion powder. You can also use them in recipes like pickled red onions, cucumber onion salad, or Shirazi salad (cucumber, onion, and tomato)!

The Ingredients

• Onions: this method works well with any onion that has thin layers – white, yellow, sweet, red, or even shallots would work.
• Oil: use a neutral, high-heat oil like vegetable oil (sunflower/canola) or coconut oil. Ghee would also work.
• Salt & pepper (optional).
• Cornstarch (optional): you can toss the onions with cornstarch or flour before frying for even crispier “French fried onions”.

Optional Add-Ins and Recipe Variations

• French fried onions: soak the onion slices in buttermilk (or a buttermilk alternative) for 15-30 minutes. Then toss the onions in flour (or cornstarch/GF all-purpose flour for gluten-free crispy onions), salt, and pepper mixture. Toss in the oil and fry until crispy.
• Spices: if you decide to use flour/cornstarch, you could combine it with several spices for extra flavor. Paprika, chili/cayenne, BBQ seasoning, cumin, etc. Plus salt and pepper, of course.

How to Make Crispy Onions

Step 1: Prepare the onions

First, peel and thinly slice the onions. You can do this with a sharp knife, a mandolin, or the slicer disk on your food processor, for even-sized pieces.

Step 2: Fry the onions

Then, heat up about an inch of oil in a large, deep pot. Once hot (over medium heat), add the onion and allow them to fry until browned and crispy (2-4 minutes). Stir occasionally to make sure they’re frying evenly.

If you do this in smaller batches, then it can take as little as 2 minutes. However, I’ve found that when frying the whole amount, it’ll take about 3-4 minutes.

When ready, remove the onions from the oil and place them over a layer of paper towel to absorb any excess oil (optionally blot the top with a second sheet). You can then enjoy the onion strings as-is or season lightly with some salt and pepper first.

For air fryer crispy onions: preheat the Air fryer (if necessary) to 270ºF/130ºC and then lightly spray the basket with oil, add the onions, and spray them with a little oil too. Then Air fry for 20-30 minutes, tossing/flipping the onions every 5 minutes to make sure they brown evenly, until crispy and golden brown. 

Make sure to allow the onions to cool entirely before storing; otherwise, they can “steam” and become soggy.

How to Store Crispy Fried Onions?

Make ahead/Store: you can prepare these crispy onions up to 4-5 days in advance (and store in an airtight container) or up to 2 weeks in advance (stored in the fridge). When using, you can re-crisp them in the oven or Air Fryer at 375ºF/190ºC for just a few minutes.

Freeze: allow the crispy onions to cool, then place in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for between 4-6 months.

How to Serve?

There are tons of ways to enjoy these crispy onion strings, including:

• Garnish soup/stews: like Lebanese lentil soup, cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, turmeric ginger pumpkin soup, butternut squash carrot soup, not to mention to top a green bean casserole.
• Over burgers: add to burgers like this sweet potato black bean burger, falafel burger, or sweet potato burger with a mushroom bun.
• Over Salads: top this Lebanese Hindbeh. Or browse through this list of 40+ summer salads for inspiration.
• Pasta: like vegan mac and cheese, Tomato eggplant pasta (pasta alla Norma), veggie lasagna, vegetarian One-Pot Pasta bake, baked feta cherry tomato pasta, etc.
• To garnish dips: like this creamy hummus, baba ghanoush, kashke bademjan, etc.
• Serve with curries: Birista is a classic addition to curried/curry dishes – perhaps like this chana masala (curried chickpeas).
• Over grains: like this Indonesian nasi uduk (coconut milk rice) or grain salads (like this quinoa walnut avocado salad).
• Sprinkle over spuds: like mashed potatoes, smashed potatoes, and oven-baked fries.
• Over pizza: yup, you can even sprinkle the onion strings over pizza – like this butternut squash pizza, sweet potato pizza, mini cauliflower pizzas, or classic Italian Neapolitan pizza.

Let me know in the comment what your favorite ways to use these crispy onions are!

Recipe Tips and FAQs

• For bulk frying: as is generally the case with deep-frying, the more onions you have, the longer they’ll take to fry. For a large batch, it can take up to 20 minutes.
• Remove the onions when a medium–gold color: they’ll continue to cook for a while after removing from the oil.
• To use the leftover oil: the leftover oil from frying the onion strings will have a subtle yet slightly sweet oniony flavor. Use it for other frying or within vinaigrettes, etc., to add an extra layer of flavor. Store it for 2-3 weeks in a jar in the refrigerator.
• Raw to fried onion yield: onions can lose up to 50% of their weight when fried. I haven’t measured the exact yield, though several sources state that one large onion equals around ½ cup fried onions.
• Checking the oil is hot enough: I check this by dipping a toothpick/skewer into the oil. If it starts to bubble around the skewer, the oil is ready. Alternatively, you can use a thermometer. The heat should be around 355ºF/180ºC.
• Keep an eye on the onions: once they’ve turned brown, it’s practically seconds before they may start to burn – so keep a watchful eye on the pan.

Related DIYs You Might Enjoy

• Herb Salt (Rosemary Salt Blend)
• How To Make Garlic Paste (Garlic Puree)
• How to Make Harissa Sauce (Harissa Paste)
• Simple Roasted Onions
• How to Make Onion Jam
• How To Caramelize Onions

If you try this crispy fried onions recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions below. Also, I’d appreciate a recipe card rating below, and feel free to tag me in your recipe recreations on Instagram @Alphafoodie!