Light, flaky gluten free beer batter tempura is truly a treat! If you thought you’d never again enjoy crisp tempura vegetables, welcome them back to your table with this recipe!
And it’s not hard to make at all! Choose your favorite gluten free beer, and you’ll wonder where this recipe has been all your life!
If you need help selecting a gluten free beer, consult my gluten free beer tasting notes. And if you’d rather skip the beer, use ginger ale instead!
Gluten Free Beer Batter Tempura Vegetables
Light, crisp gluten free beer batter tempura just perfect for dipping and frying your favorite veggies or fish, shrimp or ... whatever is your pleasure. This tempura makes it better!
Ingredients
- Broccoli florets, mushrooms, asparagus spears, fish, shrimp or other vegetables of choice
- ½ cup + 2 Tbs. gfJules™ All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 5 ounces light-bodied gluten free beer* (drink the rest!)
- high heat vegetable oil of your choice, for frying
Instructions
Wash and cut the vegetables or fish into 3-inch pieces or break florets into bite-size portions. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl, whisk flour blend with salt and pepper, to taste.
Slowly pour in beer, stirring with a fork until batter is thick enough to cling to your vegetables. If batter is too thin, stir in more flour a teaspoon at a time; if too thick, add more beer, a teaspoon at a time.
Pour enough oil into a wide sauté pan to cover vegetables when placed in the hot oil. Heat oil over medium flame. To test for proper temperature, drop a small dollop of batter into the heated oil. If it sizzles but doesn’t burn quickly, oil is ready; if it doesn’t sizzle, oil isn’t hot enough; if it burns quickly, turn the heat down.
Dip each vegetable into batter, coating tops only of mushrooms or broccoli and the entire stem of other vegetables. Gently submerge each battered piece in hot oil and fry until batter is light golden brown, turning once if necessary to fry the entire piece. Each piece should cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon or skimmer, remove hot vegetables from the oil when cooked and place them on a plate covered with a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Place drained pieces onto a baking sheet and keep warm in a warming drawer or oven on low until ready to serve. Refrigerate any uneaten pieces and re-heat for another day.
Club soda works well for a tempura batter with the GF all purpose flour.
I did this for onion rings and deep fried halibut. Was very delicious
I also added salt. Pepper and herb garlic seasoning.
Yes! It’s fantastic with gfJules Flour for gluten free tempura. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
~jules
Would this work in an Airfryer?
Hi Susan, I do think this recipe for gluten free beer batter tempura would work in the air fryer but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet! Please let me know if you get to try it before I do!!!!
~jules
Well, l don’t think this works very well in airfryer. Though I had sprayed the inside of fryer with oil the veggies still stuck and never did turn that golden brown, just stayed beige. The batter hardened but no light taste to it. I did the fish and rest of veggies in sauté pan and they were delicious! If someone has other suggestions let me know! I have done a very light, thin coating of shrimp in Airfryer and it turned out great. So much of this is watching the color and you have to guess times with Airfryer.
As you may know, traditional tempura does not turn that appetizing golden color – although egg yolk and beer can change that. Please tell me what temperature you used in your air fryer experiment. I preheat and go with 400°F. They turn out beautiful. In a side by side comparison with deep fried – they lose. But if the air fryer version is what’s being served, they disappear by the dozen with no complaints, just compliments…
I agree, David, that a side-by-side comparison of air fryer with traditional fried foods usually leads to the air fryer foods losing due mostly to blanched color. I try to spray my foods with oil before air frying if I’m worried that they won’t turn golden, which does help some. My gluten free hand pies are an exception — those are amazing in the air fryer! But when I’ve made GF beer battered fish in the air fryer, it tastes fine, but it’s not so pretty to look at. I wind up doing a quick pan fry and finishing in the air fryer as a bit of a compromise. Thanks for your tips here on the air fryer temps for tempura veggies, as I still haven’t tried these in my air fryer.
~jules
Is there an alternative instead of using beer?
Hi Linda, yes! You can always use gingerale or even just another bubbly liquid like 7Up or carbonated water. I hope that helps!
~jules
Amazing snack idea! I would love to see if your GF all-purpose flour is available in my area (NH). Great pairing suggestions too. I think Green’s Amber would pair well too. Thanks for the recipe!
I have tried this recipe with Green’s Amber, and it is wonderful! I find that either the Amber or the Blonde work well in tempura, beer batter or beer bread. Love those options! As for my products in your area, you can check the retailer list on my site to see if anyone is close. If not, you can always ask your favorite store to carry my flour, or just order on-line for it to be delivered to your door!
Traditional Japanese Tempura is already gluten free because they use Rice Flour and/or Cornstarch – not wheat flour. Most commercial gluten free flours taste off and are not suitable for tempura. Save your money and taste buds: just blend cornstarch and rice flour…
You’re right that most commercial gluten free flours have a funny taste; my gfJules Flour is an exception to that rule, thankfully! It’s clean and light and has no grit whatsoever, which is why it’s so great for gluten free tempura and so many other applications!
~jules