The Best Homemade French Fried Onions for Thanksgiving

I don't know about you but Green Bean Casserole is a staple at our Thanksgiving table. Every year for as long as I can remember, my mother has whipped up the casserole using green beans from a can and topped it with French fried onions from a plastic container. Until last year that is!

My parents have been inspired by my zero waste changes over the years and have implemented their own versions of various switches. Seeing the two plastic containers we throw out after using the French fried onions made an alarm bell go off for my mom. So we decided to tackled making our own French Fried Onions - no plastic containers in sight!

Making your own French Fried Onions is very easy and doesn't require much preparation. It does take more time though, so plan on booking a half hour or so for the frying part! I highly recommend making them the morning of, although we made them the night before and they stayed crispy pretty well!

Have you started making Thanksgiving dishes at home to avoid plastic? Have any been successful?

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French Fried Onions

Ingredients:

• 3 large onions

• 2 cups milk (almond, soy, or cow)

• 2 cups flour

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tsp. onion powder

• 1 tsp. pepper

• salt (to taste)

• vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Slice the onions into thin rings or strips.

2. Soak the onions in the milk for a few minutes.

3. Mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a bowl. Toss a handful of onions in the bowl to coat fully. Repeat until all onions are coated with the mixture.

4. Heat the oil in a pan on high and cook batches of the onions for two to three minutes, until crispy and brown.

5. Place the cooked onions on a kitchen towel to drain off the oil. Store them in an air tight container.

The original recipe said to dry the cooked onions on paper towels, but I wanted to avoid that. Paper towels, although compostable, are still single use and have a large carbon footprint. I simply placed them on a cotton towel and washed the towel with my laundry afterwards. No stains!

If you're looking for other dishes to add to your dinner plans, you should also try our vegan coconut whipping cream recipe!