The Kitchn: You only need 3 ingredients to make these bacon-wrapped onion rings

Bacon. Onions. Barbecue sauce. I could never walk away from these ingredients, even if I wanted to. So, when I heard that a recipe for air fryer bacon-wrapped onion rings was making the rounds on TikTok, it felt like destiny — and they looked even easier and less messy than your standard breaded onion ring. Could this be the bacon-y appetizer I’ve been looking for? Here’s what happened when I made them at home!

How to make bacon-wrapped onion rings

To start, you’ll peel an onion and cut it crosswise into 1-inch slices, then separate the slices into individual rings. Then, you’ll wrap your bacon around the onion. The TikTok creator Jackie Hartlaub suggests using thinly sliced bacon, and stretching it out as you’re wrapping to ensure a crispy texture. Finally, brush a thin layer of your favorite barbecue sauce over top of the bacon-wrapped rings and place them in the air fryer. Cook at 375 F for 20 minutes. When done, remove them from the air fryer basket and enjoy the bacon magic you just created.

My honest review

Not only did these bacon-wrapped onion rings cause my kitchen to smell incredible, but they were also just downright delicious. I will definitely be making them again for a quick snack for movie and game nights, and even as a side dish to wow my family for dinner. I loved how the sugar from the barbecue sauce helped lightly caramelize the bacon.

I will say that I missed the crunch from the original breaded variety, so next time I make this recipe, I’ll add a bit of panko breadcrumbs to the exterior. I would also cut down the cooking time by around five minutes to keep a bit more of the texture of the raw onion when biting into the finished product.

My No. 1 tip

Keep your onion slices big. You want to start with thick onion slices because they will cook down drastically in the air fryer. The air fryer cooks incredibly fast and the renderings from the bacon fat speed up the shrinkage of the onion itself.

(Will Coleman is a contributor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.)