Crispy Cajun Onion Strings with Spicy Dipping Sauce are as easy to make as they are addictive to eat. The Onion Strings are amazing on their own and delicious when piled high on a juicy burger or as a crunchy topping for your favorite casserole. The Spicy Dipping Sauce is equally amazing and perfect for not only the Onion Strings, but also as a condiment for your favorite burger or sandwich.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Table of Contents
Why You Should Make These Onion Strings
There are a lot of reasons that you should consider making these delicious Crispy Cajun Onion Strings:
First, you probably already have the required ingredients, so why are you waiting?
Second, the onion strings are super simple to make, requiring only four simple steps:
- Cut the onions very thinly
- Soak the onions in seasoned buttermilk
- Coat the onions in seasoned flour
- Fry the onion strings to crispy perfection
Third, the onion strings are a perfect appetizer for any occasion, especially when paired with the Spicy Dipping Sauce.
Fourth, turn an ordinary burger into an extraordinary masterpiece with a heaping topping of the onion strings.
Finally, take your steaks, pork chops, salads, casseroles, baked potatoes, etc., to the next level with a sprinkling of onion strings on top.
Ingredients for Crispy Cajun Onion Strings with Spicy Dipping Sauce
I used the following ingredients for the Crispy Cajun Onion Strings: Sweet onions, buttermilk, Cajun Seasoning, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, Kosher salt, and peanut oil for frying.
For the Spicy Dipping Sauce, I used sour cream, mayonnaise, Cajun Seasoning, lemon juice, Creole mustard, hot sauce, and garlic.
Making the Spicy Dipping Sauce
First, I made the Spicy Dipping Sauce since it needed time in the refrigerator for the flavors to blend.
I added all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisked to combine everything. Then, I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. It doesn't get much easier than that!
Preparing the Ingredients for the Crispy Cajun Onion Strings
The first thing that I did was to peel the onions and thinly slice them using my mandoline slicer. I could have also used my food processor or a sharp knife.
Then, I separated the rings and put the onions in a large bowl. Next, I added some of the Cajun Seasoning to the onions and gave them a toss.
Finally, I added the buttermilk and stirred to combine all of the ingredients. I let the onions sit in the buttermilk mixture for about 30 minutes.
While the onions were "marinating", I combined the flour, cornmeal, salt, and Cajun Seasoning in a bowl.
Then, I decided that it would be easier to coat the onions if I put the flour mixture in a Ziploc bag, which I did. If I had thought about it before, I would have just put all of the ingredients in the Ziploc bag to start with!
Frying the Crispy Cajun Onion Strings
When it was time to cook the Crispy Cajun Onion Strings, I heated the oil to 375°F.
Once the oil had reached temperature, I removed some of the onions from the buttermilk and let the excess liquid drip off. Then, I placed them in the flour mixture in the Ziploc bag and gave the bag a shake to coat the onions.
Next, I removed some of the onions from the flour mixture and gave them a shake to remove the excess flour. I added the onions to the hot oil and cooked them for 2 to 3 minutes until they were golden brown.
When the onions were golden brown, I removed them from the hot oil and transferred them to a paper towel lined plate so that they could drain. Then, I repeated the process until all of the onions had been cooked.
I served the Crispy Cajun Onion Strings with the Spicy Dipping Sauce. They were incredible - crispy crunchy with just the right amount of seasonings.
The Spicy Dipping Sauce was out-of-this-world good. Even the Master Taste Tester was impressed! Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can definitely use low fat sour cream in the dipping sauce. In fact, that's what I use!
The buttermilk actually serves two purposes. First, it serves to tame the sharp taste of the onions. Second, it helps to bind the flour mixture to the onion strings.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk.
My preference is to use sweet onions because of their milder taste. However, you can use any yellow or white onion. Remember, though that white onions tend to have a sharper taste than yellow onions.
I like to use peanut oil because of its high temperature tolerance. However, you could also use regular vegetable oil or canola oil. I would recommend against using olive oil since it doesn't tolerate high heat as well as the other vegetable oils.
Leftover onion strings can be reheated in a preheated 350°F oven for about 5 minutes or until hot.
Other Cajun Appetizer Recipes
If you're a fan of Cajun appetizers, you should definitely check out these amazing recipes:
I first posted this amazing recipe on February 14, 2019 for a Valentine's treat. Since then, it's become a family favorite. This is the same great recipe with updated photographs and text.
I hope you liked this recipe for Crispy Cajun Onion Strings with Spicy Dipping Sauce as much as I do. If so, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. Also, if you’d like to receive notifications of new posts by email, enter your email address in the Subscribe box.
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Recipe
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Crispy Cajun Onion Strings with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Spicy Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup (8-ounces) sour cream (See Tip 1)
- ½ cup (4-ounces) mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Creole mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cajun Seasoning (See Tip 2)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce, or more to taste
Crispy Cajun Onion Strings
- 2 large sweet onions (See Tip 3)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning, divided (See Tip 2)
- 2 cups (10-ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 6 cups vegetable oil (See Tip 4)
Instructions
Spicy Dipping Sauce
- Whisk together all dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Yield: 1 ½ cups.
Crispy Cajun Onion Strings
- Peel the onions, and thinly slice. (See Tip 5)
- Separate the rings in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning; toss to coat. Add buttermilk; stir to combine. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
- Combine flour, cornmeal, remaining 2 teaspoons of Cajun Seasoning, and salt in a Ziploc bag. Toss to combine all ingredients.
- Heat oil to 375°F. Working in batches, remove some of the onions from the buttermilk; allow excess buttermilk to drip off. Add to Ziploc bag with flour; toss to coat. Remove onions from Ziploc bag. Shake off excess flour.
- Add coated onion strings hot oil. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until the onions are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining onions.
- Serve alone or with Spicy Dipping Sauce. Yield: 6 servings. (See Tip 6)
Tips/Notes
- I used reduced fat sour cream.
- For the Cajun Seasoning, I used Emeril's Essence which I always keep on hand.
- I like to use sweet onions in this recipe because of their milder taste. However, you can use any yellow or white onion.
- I used peanut oil for frying the onion strings. However, you could also use vegetable oil. I wouldn't, however, recommend using olive oil since it's not a high temperature oil.
- I used a mandoline to slice the onions.
- Onion strings can be kept warm in 225°F oven until ready to serve. Leftover onion strings can be reheated in 350°F oven for five minutes, or until hot.
C. Robertson says
These are great!! I've been looking for onion rings with this kind of coating.
Chula King says
They're one of my favorites!
Sandy Vidlak-Gore says
I love onion rings but these crispy onion strings were outstanding!
Chula King says
So glad you liked them!
Will Bolio says
Can’t wait to try this..sounds delicious!