Amazing Tony Roma’s Onion Loaf copycat for the tasty popular appetizer or side! Add some chicken and cole slaw for a complete meal!
This Tony Roma’s inspired recipe will have you looking for more Copycat meals from your favorite restaurants. Try Boston Market Mac and Cheese and Chilis White Spinach Queso for more appetizers and sides!
Sabrina’s Tony Roma’s Inspired Onion Loaf with BBQ Sauce (Copycat) Recipe
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.
Recipe Card
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 ¼ and a ½ 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.
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Table of contents
About this Recipe
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!
What to Pair With
Serve onion loaf with BBQ sauce and garnish with fresh parsley. Enjoy as an appetizer or serve as a side dish with more Tony Roma’s inspired recipes like Cole Slaw and BBQ Chicken! Enjoy!
Related Recipes
More Yummy Copycat Recipes
You refer to pancake mix but it appears to be dry there for just flour and salt?
You’re on the right track David! Pancake mix is a blend of flour, sugar, salt, baking powder or soda (depending on what kind you use). And yes 2 cups of dry pancake mix is what the recipe calls for! Enjoy!
I’ve made an almost identical onion loaf for years but I prefer the rings to be thinner…about 1/8 inch or less. I fry them just to a faint gold color, not really browned, then do a similar bake step. I prefer just lightly salted after and plain ketchup rather than a bbq sauce. But they’re good either way.
Love all your recipes. Thank you.
I have been eating this onion loaf since I was in my teens. Its the best since slice bread, I’m retired now and just discovered my favorite recipe side for bbq. I gonna reminisce about the good old days now.
“Pack fried onion rings solidly, but loosely, without pressing, …”
I’m confused. How do you pack something solidly, but loosely? Solidly and loosely are opposite terms!
I’ve never eaten at Tony Romas’s or ever heard of an “onion loaf” before, but I came across this randomly and find it interesting because of the simple ingredients.
Its means you want the oaf to be a solid form, but you don’t want to crush it together. Its a delicate process, sorry for the confusion!
I haven’t made it but it looks finger licking good easy to make
How can you rate it when you have not tried it!
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.