Few fast-food items inspire the devoted following that Sonic’s onion rings have cultivated over the decades. These were made fresh daily at every location; these aren’t your typical frozen rings. The secret that sets them apart is an unexpected ingredient that creates their signature sweet coating and incredible crunch.
Having worked at Sonic as a teenager, I can share the insider knowledge that transforms ordinary onions into the crispy, golden perfection that keeps customers returning. The magic ingredient? Vanilla ice cream melted into the batter, creating a coating that’s simultaneously crispy and subtly sweet.
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Why Our Copycat Sonic Onion Rings Recipe is the best
The genius of Sonic’s onion rings lies in the three-step breading process that creates maximum crunch and flavor. The flour provides initial adhesion, the melted vanilla ice cream adds sweetness and helps the final coating stick, while the cornmeal delivers that signature crispy texture. The vanilla ice cream also contains dairy proteins that help create a golden-brown color when fried, mimicking the original vanilla ice milk mix used in restaurants.
Ingredients
- Spanish onions – Provide the ideal size, sweetness, and structure for perfect rings
- Water – Keeps onion rings hydrated and helps remove sharpness
- All-purpose flour – Creates the foundation layer for breading adhesion
- Vanilla ice cream, melted – The secret ingredient that provides sweetness and superior coating
- Cornmeal – Delivers the signature crispy, crunchy exterior texture
- Vegetable oil for frying – High smoke point essential for proper deep frying
How to Make Sonic Onion Rings
- Peel and cut onions into slices that are between 3/8 and 1/2-inch thick.
- Remove the small center of the onions, and you can chop those into diced onions for later use. See how to freeze onions.
- Separate onions into rings and place them into a large bowl of water.
- Place three containers in a row.
- Place flour in the first container, melted ice cream in the second, and cornmeal in the third.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees.
- Prepare onion rings by shaking off the water and dipping them into the flour. Shake off excess flour.
- Dip flour-coated onion rings into the melted ice cream and cornmeal. Gently shake off excess cornmeal.
- Place the battered onion rings on a cookie sheet to dry for a few minutes before frying.
- Fry onion rings in a deep fryer or heavy-bottom pot until golden brown.
- Drain your homemade onion rings on a wire rack to maintain crispiness. Do not lay them on paper towels, they will steam on paper towels.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, like ketchup, honey mustard, bbq sauce, or the Sonic Smasher sauce.
Recipe Notes
I suggest using one hand for dry ingredients and the other for dipping the onion rings into the melted ice cream. It will be easier this way. These are messy but taste so good that you will never repurchase store-bought onion rings.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is because they are made with sweet onions and breaded with vanilla ice milk mix (or melted vanilla ice cream).
No, flour is one of the ingredients of the breading.
No, they are dipped in a milk mixture as part of the breading process.
Storage & Reheating Leftover Onion Rings
- Best Practice: Onion rings are best served immediately for optimal crispiness and flavor.
- Short-Term Storage: If necessary, store in refrigerator for up to 2 days in paper towel-lined containers.
- Reheating Method: To restore crispiness, reheat in a 350°F oven for 5-7 minutes or an air fryer at 350°F for 3-4 minutes. Avoid the microwave, as it makes the coating soggy.
Looking for more Sonic copycat recipes? Try these!
- Sonic Breakfast Burrito
- Sonic Dr. Pepper
- Sonic Frito Burrito
- Sonic Chili Cheese Tots
- Coconut Cream Milkshake
- Strawberry Lemonade Sonic
- Strawberry Limeade Sonic
- Cherry Limeade Sonic
- Root Beer Shake
- Ocean Water
Popular Fast Food Sides
- Popeye’s Cajun Rice
- KFC Fries
- Culver’s Fried Cheese Curds
Be sure to check out more of my easy side dish recipes and the best fast food copycat recipes.
Original Sonic Onion Rings Recipe (Easy Copycat)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Spanish onions sliced, and rings separated
- 24 ounces water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 12 ounces vanilla ice cream melted
- 8 ounces cornmeal
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Peel onions. Slice onions into slices that are between 3/8 and 1/2-inch. Remove the small center of the onions, you can chop those into diced onions. Separate onions into rings, and place the rings into a large bowl of water.
- Place three containers in a row. In the first container, place the flour, in the second container, place the melted ice cream, and in the third container place the cornmeal.
- Preheat oil to 350 degrees.
- Prepare onion rings by shaking off the water, dip onion into the flour, shake off excess flour. Dip into the melted ice cream, and then dip into the cornmeal. Gently shake off excess cornmeal. Place the onion ring on a cookie sheet to dry for a few minutes before frying.
- Fry onion rings until golden brown.
Ice cream mix, onions and flour are correct, but in the 80s when I was a GM we used cracker meal, not corn meal.
As a child I helped to make Sonic Onion rings. We used evaporated milk, not ice-cream mix. Other than that it’s pretty close as I remember. My mom, assistant manager, my sister and a few carhopps and myself made the rings in large batches. It’s still a favorite.
I made these and they were great. I used the ground ritz crackers instead of corneal. Definitely recommend making these.
I made those onion rings and we used Nabisco Cracker meal to bread them with. Sadly, it’s no longer made since Nabisco was bought but the cracker meal added to the flavor, We never used cornmeal.
I worked at a Sonic in NM for ten years. We used the flour, ice cream mix, cornmeal method the whole time for battering. We soaked the onions in ice water for a day and the next day removed the thin skin from the onion. This is a critical step for ultimate onion rings. After we battered we dried in walk in fridge for a day. However, I tried this with gluten free flour at home and it cracked the batter badly.
As early as the 90’s, Sonic didn’t use condensed milk or ice cream mix. There were two different breadings and a batter mix.
Sonic also uses ground rits crackers instead of cornmeal. Made them at Sonic for many years.
I helped start the sonic industries. At age 13, Back in 1960 I started working at the sonic in Stillwater Oklahoma as a carhop making 40 cents an hour. The busness had shortly eariler been transformed from Top Hat to Sonic Drive In, Service with the speed of sound. The owners were Charley Pappy, Troy smith and Gene Longworth, Gene was the manager of the busness in Stillwater. The first new built Sonic was built in Shawnee Oklahoma.
I worked unger Gene and worked my way up to manager as the years rolled by. Gene was a very good person to work under. Other coworkers were David Castleberry, warner Riley, Loretta Toles. We prepared daily the onion rings, french fries, sliced the lettece and tomatos. Made our own tarter sauce and a liquid smoke sauce. We opened each morning at ten oclock, and closed at midnight. The work was long and hard. We only closed one dat a year and that was Christmas Day. We did close early on Christmas Eve.
I worked steady at the Sonic until I left to go to the Army
The menu was a simple minu to prepare, unlike what it is today. The original batter was made with a condensed milk called milnot and not ice cream mix as eariler stated.
Also they do not fill the busnesses ketchup as we did earlier.
I went back to work at the Sonic after the military but left shortly after due to wages.
The Sonic Drive In will always have a special spot in my heart and remember my first pay check of nine dollars. I thought I was rich, that I had earned every penny with no help.
Charley.
First off, let me thank you for your service! We are free because of people like you.
It sounds like you had long hard hours, but it sounds like you really enjoyed working with your co-workers. Good co-workers can make or break a job. It sounds like the onion ring recipe has changed a little bit over the years.
Thank you again for sharing your history with us!
Thank you for the history of Sonic, I live near Woodard Oklahoma and in my opinion it’s the best Sonic!