A few months ago I traveled to Dallas with my mom to visit my sister & cousin. We were going to spend the weekend shopping at Canton – a MASSIVE flea market. We headed out early Saturday morning and shopped for hours. At noon, we headed over to a little restaurant to have lunch. They had a new side dish option – mini onion straws – and I had to have them. They were so delicious and I knew I had to make them again when I got home.
As a kid (ok, until just a few years ago) I didn’t like onions in any form. But as I’ve aged, I’ve become more adventurous. While I am still not a huge fan of raw onions, I do like them grilled or fried! Luckily, my kids inherited their dad’s fearless spirit. They’ll try anything at least once.
When I was ready to make the mini onion straws, I thought having the kids help was a good idea. In retrospect, it was not. James was able to cut the onions for me and Colin poured the buttermilk and measured the flour. I do not recommend that kids help with the actual frying. Having them help with preparation is fine, as long as you have a kiddo who can work a knife.
Kids in the Kitchen: Mini Onion Straws {#Recipe}
Ingredients
- Shallots or whatever onion you like best
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- Oil
- 1/2 cup Flour
- Salt Pepper and any other seasonings you'd like
Instructions
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Slice the shallots, place them in a bowl with 1 cup of buttermilk and let them sit for at least an hour.
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Put 1/2 cup of flour, salt, pepper (and any other seasonings) in another bowl.
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Scoop the shallots out of the buttermilk with a fork and dredge in the flour mixture.
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In a pan, heat a decent amount of oil on medium/medium high.
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When the oil starts to sizzle, pull the shallots out of the flour mixture with a fork. Gently shake off the excess and toss them in the oil.
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Carefully move the shallots around in the oil so they don't stick to each other.
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Pull the shallots out when they are golden brown. (This won't take long!)
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Place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil
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ENJOY!
Alternative: You can make Baked Mini Onion Straws by preparing the onions as directed, spreading them out evenly on a baking sheet and then baking them at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
MMM! These mini onion straws were just as good as they were when I had them in Canton! I will definitely be making them again – but without any help from my kiddos.
Would your kids eat mini onion straws?
Did you have fun in the “kitchen” this week? Did you try a new food or a new kid friendly restaurant? Did your little ones use their snacks to count to 10? We invite you to share your experiences, photos, stories or recipes that include your #kidsinthekitchen!
Come join me and my co-hosts, Melinda at Look What Mom Found, Paula at Frosted Fingers and Sarah of Play2LearnWithSarah, each week by linking up a post, new or old, that features the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.
- preparing healthy snacks
- having a tea party
- counting skills with m&ms
- pouring from measuring cups
- discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
- creating new family friendly recipes
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I don’t like onions either…but these look awesome! I might have to try just to see if my taste buds have changed. Thanks!
Oh yum !! I don’t know if my boys would eat this but my husband and I so would!
OH I have never thought of using shallots. I bet that’s really good.
My kids would eat them for sure. They’ll pretty much try anything and eat anything, unlike their picky mama.
These look really yummy! I would love to find them at the dinner table!!
I’d probably NOT let my kids help me make onion straws, but oh, they’d gobble them right up!
These always look and smell good, but I am not an onion person so never eat them.
Waaaaaaaaant! I love onions, onion straws, onion rings.. ALL OF IT!
I would try these with Walla Walla Sweet Onions. I bet they would melt in my mouth!!
Yum! These sound fantastic. I am not a huge onion fan but my Husband loves them. He would inhale these.
I don’t know if my kids would eat them or not. They might try them if I didn’t tell them what they were at first. Which is how I sneak in quite a bit of stuff. LOL
YUM> I love onion rings and these look so good
Love trying new things! My kids would enjoy this!
I’m picky about onions. That said, I would love these! There is nothing like a good fried onion.
Those sound AMAZING! One of my absolute favorite foods is onions in basically any form so this is perfect. My son would try them, and I bet he’d like them too!
This looks so much better than FRIES again! I love this whole idea. I bet you could use different types of onions to spice it up
Yum! These are something Johnny would really want to make and eat!
These look delish!
I love onion rings so I am def going to make these!
Looks fun and yummy! Thanks!