The Tony Roma’s train keeps rolling today. Yesterday’s Cole Slaw post was one part of this delicious summer BBQ meal! Today we continue with a delicious side/appetizer called an Onion Loaf. These days they make the loaf in the shape of a mini bundt pan, but the onion loaf of my childhood was this amazing towering loaf. You could order a half or full order (we always ordered the full size) and it would show up at your table, no less than a foot high, crispy sweet and savory with a large bowl of bbq sauce for dipping. Pay no attention to the calorie count of this dish. If you are working towards getting ready for bathing suit season, this is not the recipe for you. If you are looking for a finger licking good, sticky, salty, sweet fried onion ring….this is your lucky day!
The best part is that the recipe is so easy! The steps are uncomplicated and in the end you’re left with a great bbq side! To get started, slice the onions into rings. You’re looking for somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/2 inch thick.
Combine milk, eggs and salt in mixing bowl. Soak onion rings in mixture for 30 minutes to an hour. The longer, the more tender. Heat oil for frying in skillet to 375 degrees F.
Remove onion rings from milk mixture, coat with pancake mix. You can use a bowl or a plastic bag that you can shake up.
Tap excess pancake mix off onions. Make sure your oil is ready to fry. This is not ready…
Still not ready…
Almost….
Annnnnnd ready! 
Fry rings until golden brown.
Drain fried onion rings on paper towels.
Pack fried onion rings solidly, but loosely, without pressing, into 8 x 4-inch loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and serve with BBQ sauce. Heck, serve with Cole Slaw and BBQ Chicken while you’re at it!
Enjoy!
Tony Roma's Inspired Crispy Vidalia Sweet Onion Loaf with Original BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 medium Vidalia onions
- 1 cup milk , whole or 2%
- 3 eggs , beaten
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups pancake mix
- canola oil , for frying
- parsley , for garnish
- Tony Roma's BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Slice onions crosswise and separate into rings. You're looking for somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/2 inch thick.
- Combine milk, eggs and salt in mixing bowl.
Soak onion rings in mixture for 30 minutes to an hour. The longer, the more tender.
- Heat oil for frying in skillet to 375 degrees F.
- Remove onion rings from milk mixture, coat with pancake mix. You can use a bowl or a plastic bag that you can shake up.
- Tap excess pancake mix off onions.
- Fry rings until golden brown.
- Drain fried onion rings on paper towels.
- Pack fried onion rings solidly, but loosely, without pressing, into 8 x 4-inch loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with BBQ sauce.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from: LA Times SOS Kitchen from 1995
Use open pit BBQ sauce for this. Had this it at Tony Roma’s and a few other places that had it. Open Pit was awesome.
I’ve never been to Tony Roma’s , nor had their onion loaf, but the recipe looks delicious and we love onion rings with bbq. Just some questions: What is the purpose of packing them in a loaf pan and baking them? Why not just put them in a bowl loose? How do you serve it? Slice it per serving or pull it apart with a fork at the table? It says yield 6. Is that really enough for 6 people? Thanks, I can’t wait to try it!
The presentation is just great and makes it fun to pull apart and dip as an appetizer. I hope you decide to give it a try.
I have always wanted to make an onion loaf like Bobby Rubino’s or Tony Roma’s. Didn’t know it was this easy. I remember the onions being very thin and packed into a loaf shape. Do the onions get thinner when fried? I thought you would have to slice them thinner. I am definitely going to try this since I’m home a lot during this whole virus thing.
Hey, they’re still going strong! (Even sells three kinds of BBQ sauce!)
Boy………ya’know what would be good with this article?
ANSWER: the BBQ sauce recipe.
I’m sure it’s here somewhere, I can’t find it from drooling all over my keyboard.
Sadly, wipe your drool because I’ve just been buying mine off of Amazon.
I love Onion Loaf!!! I’m pretty sure the small Hackney’s chain in IL has been making Onion Loaf since 1958 and I think they are the original creators. Thanks for the recipe I’d never tought of using pancake mix great tip.
You’re welcome!
Finally, someone else who remembers Tony Roma’s awesome Onion Ring Loaf! Used to eat these as a kid in Palm Springs. My folks would take us there once a year for a vacation.
Tona Roma’s was always the highlight of the trip, where our family of 5 would fight over that full-size loaf.
Can’t wait to give this recipe a try! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it!
You Yanks and you bizarre dishes,
I had an onion loaf on an old tug boat that was used as a restaurant in Swansea UK about 30 years ago and have been looking for a recipe ever since! I came across this one by chance and can’t wait to try it!
I hope you enjoy it! Please come back and let me know how it turns out for you!
I made this recipe last night and while the onion loaf was delicious, the onions lost all crispiness while baking. Don’t know what I could have done differently.
Did you overpack it? Were the onions crispy before they went in? I find if I overpack it and make it too tight, it sort of steams in the pan. Would love to troubleshoot more if you would like, email me at sabrina @ dinnerthendesser.com 🙂
I made these for my family the other night, and my oldest keeps begging me to make more! He says on a scale of 1-10 they are like an 11! LOL
LOVE THIS!
Wow it’s been a long long time since I’ve eaten at a Tony Romo’s – that was a place we frequent a lot way back in the days. Your recipe looks so yummy, makes me want to go to TR!!
Isn’t it such a wonderful memory? That place was so special and we always got so excited and anticipated when we would get to go. I have so many wonderful memories of it.
This looks like some delicious comfort food. I think my husband would love it if I surprised him with this.
Thanks! Let me know if you try it!
I would always order this at Tony Roma’s and I’m so psyched to have come across this amazing recipe for it!
Thanks for sharing!
Yay a fellow onion loaf lover!! I hope you get to try it, it is such a nostalgic dish for me!
I’ve never made homemade onion rings before. These look and sound amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
These look amazing!! I love your pictures!
Aww how sweet, thank you 🙂
This is one of my favorite things over at Tony Romas! I didn’t realize it was so easy to make! Thanks, totally trying it now!
Yay a fellow onion loaf lover! Hope you love this recipe!
So that’s all onions? My mother would be in pure heaven if I made that!
Yes! All onions and it is pure heaven!
Oh wow that looks yummy! I love eating crispy onions but I have never made any for myself! I can’t wait to try this!
Aww how sweet! Thanks!
I would so eat this right up, glad you shared it. I must try to make it here at home – I am so not good at cooking but I am trying to be better. Love this.
Try it, you will love it, I promise!
Oh Sabrina.. These just look AMAZING!!! I need to make these very soon!
Thanks!!
Vidalia onions are the perfect choice for onion rings. Every ingredient and suggestion in the recipe is spectacular.
You’re so sweet, thank you!
That really made me drool. Espeically those onions! Yum!
Thanks!
That looks so yummy. My husband loves meat loaf so I bet he would love this.
I have to try this as soon as possible. It looks amazing and i have never tried anything like it.
Hope you love it!
I’ve never been to Tony Roma’s but I sure want to taste this onion loaf! It sounds amazing!
Haha, thanks 🙂
I haven’t made meatloaf in while… but this recipe will be added to our menu soon. Looks so delicious.
Yum! Never had Tony Roma anything but I bet this would be delicious. Looks so very tasty!
Thanks!
That looks SO GOOD! What time is dinner? I’ll be right over.
Haha, thanks!
I’ve never been to Tony Roma’s before, so I haven’t had this particular dish- but I do love onion rings!
It is addicting!
What a mouthful to say, but I’d say it 10 times over if it meant I could actually have some in my mouth. So good!
Haha thanks! It is a lot to describe! To friends, I just say onion loaf and they get excited but I didn’t think people would necessarily get excited by the words “Onion Loaf”
Yum! I know it’s summer when things started getting fried! I have never made onion rings myself, but I’m so excited to try.
Hope you love them!
This dish looks so delicious! It’s something my husband and I would definitely enjoy together!
Fantastic! I hope you enjoy them!
I do not have a Tony Roma’s near me so I have never been there, so thanks for sharing the recipe so I can make it at home!
Give them a try, these dishes are celebrated around here.
I love the presentation! This is a nice spread and it looks really delish!
Aw, that’s so sweet! Thank you!
This looks sooooo good. I wish I could make it in my house, but my husband is deathly allergic to onions. Thanks for sharing it though.
So sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, this is a recipe that happens to use a lot of onions. As an alternative, you can try fried zucchini slices.
Wow! that looks amazing! I could have some right now
Thanks!
I love how unique this recipe is. It looks delicious. Thanks for sharing it with us.
How sweet, thank you!
I love using Vidalia onions and this recipe sounds perfect for them. I am definitely going to have to try it!
Me too, they’re my favorite! I’m glad you’re going to give this recipe a try.
Wow, fried and then baked onions? Sounds so amazing! I’ll have to indulge in this soon!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
Holy moly, I am vegetarian but I am seriously awed by this! Totally making for my husband!!
we always have crispy fried onions out whenever we get the chance. They are so good with dipping sauce.
I know right? How can you go wrong with crispy fried onion rings?! haha.
I don’t think I have ever had this onion loaf but I sure want to now. I love any and all things onion!
Me too! Onions in any form!
This looks so delicious! I know the family would love it.
Thanks!
Wow, this sounds amazing. Vidalia onions are my favorite!
Mine too!
I’d definitely like to try this recipe. The onions would be a huge hit over here!
Hope you love it!
Holy cow, this looks AMAZING!!!! I would make this just for the onions alone!
Noooo! You have to make the sauce that goes with it. Trust me! You will be licking your fingers it is so good!
Yum! I love onion rings, so this is right up my alley. I can’t wait to give this a try.
Hope you love it!
This looks great! Being a southerner, I’m all about the vidalia onions!!
Me too! I am a sucker for sweet onions! Oooh even when caramelized. Ok, I need to not be thinking about this at 9am, haha.
I am drooling over here. I have never had anything like this before, but I HAVE to try it 🙂
Haha, thanks! I hope you like it 🙂
We’ve been to Tony Roma’s but I’ve never had the onion loaf. Now that just seems so wrong! This recipe looks so YUM and seems easy enough.
That seems like it goes against nature to go there and not get the onion loaf! Haha. You have to try it!!