Air fryer frozen onion rings are a tasty, not very healthy finger food that is great as an appetizer or to munch on during big games.
With a bag of your favorite onion rings straight from the freezer, you can enjoy these delightful circles of golden brown onion heaven in less than ten minutes.
Don’t forget to pair crispy cooked onion rings with your favorite dipping sauce… or just munch on them as is!

Recipe Tips/Substitutions
Before you cook frozen onion rings in the air fryer, check out these recipe tips so you can have the best results aka crispy, crunchy onion rings!
- Just air fry the onion rings from frozen – there is no need to defrost them.
- Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may have to cook this amount of onion rings in two batches. This is because the onion rings should be in one layer on the air fryer tray so that they have room to cook and crisp up.
- You typically do not have to add any additional oil to these onion rings since the breading usually contains oil. If you are unsure about your onion rings, check the package. We could physically feel the oil in the breading so we knew we were good to go!
- Be sure to flip them half way through cooking so that they can get crispy on both sides. When flipping, we recommend using silicone tongs so you don’t accidentally scratch your air fryer.
We use this air fryer for our recipes and it has been great.

Step by Step Instructions
Making onion rings in the air fryer is super easy! If you’d like to see visuals anyway, you can have a look at the recipe process photos in this section.
If you don’t need photo steps, you can just skip below to the recipe card.

To begin, preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once hot, add the onion rings in one even layer. There should be very little overlap so that they can cook evenly and get crispy.
If your air fryer is quite small, you might have to cook this amount of onion rings in two batches.

Cook the onion rings for approximately 9 minutes total. Flip after 5 minutes.

If you like your onion rings extra crispy, you can cook them for a little bit longer but keep an eye on them.
Cooking time can vary depending on your air fryer and the brands of onion rings you use so keep that in mind.

Remove the onion rings and serve them plain or with your preferred dipping sauce.
Storage Tips
When it comes to onion rings, you should plan to not have any leftovers. They taste best when they are fresh and hot out of the air fryer.
Once onion rings cool, they tend to get soggy and are nowhere near as good.
What to Serve Air Fryer Frozen Onion Rings With
As a tasty snack or greasy appetizer, air fried frozen onion rings are super delicious on their own or with a dipping sauce.
To be honest, there are lots of great dipping sauces that go with onion rings like chipotle mayo… but good ol’ fashioned ketchup also works well!
Related Recipes
For more simple-to-make frozen finger foods or appetizers in the air fryer, you have to try out these classics:
- Air Fried Frozen Spring Rolls
- Air Fryer Pierogies (From Frozen)
- Frozen Arancini Balls in the Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Nuggets

Air Fryer Frozen Onion Rings
Ingredients
- 7 ounces frozen onion rings, approximately 10 rings
- your preferred dipping sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once hot, add the onion rings in one even layer. There should be very little overlap so that they can cook evenly and get crispy. If your air fryer is quite small, you might have to cook this amount of onion rings in two batches.
- Cook the onion rings for approximately 9 minutes total. Flip after 5 minutes. If you like your onion rings extra crispy, you can cook them for a little bit longer but keep an eye on them. Since every air fryer and brands of onion rings are slightly different, your cooking time might vary.
- Remove the onion rings and serve them plain or with your preferred dipping sauce.
Notes
- There’s no need to defrost the onion rings – you can just cook them from frozen.
- There are different brands of onion rings that cook slightly differently, so keep an eye on them when you make them the first time.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.