Air Fryer Blooming Onion Recipe or a Sweet Vidalia Onion Blossom is a quick and easy recipe using a whole onion to create the best crunchy, crispy breaded appetizer. Dip the onion petals in a zesty dipping sauce.
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The post was originally published in 2019. It has since been updated.
Back in high school I learned what a Blooming Onion was at my first Friday Night Football game. Who has a Blooming Onion? Outback Steakhouse has it. They used to serve the onions and fresh, grilled burgers in the concession area.
What is a Blooming Onion at Outback Steakhouse? It's a large onion that is cut to resemble a flower and then it's deep-fried and served as an appetizer.
According to the Outback Nutrition Facts, the Bloomin Onion has 1,950 calories and 155 grams of fat. You can cut the fact tremendously in this recipe by air frying.
Table of Contents
What Type of Onion to Use
A sweet onion will work best. I use Vidalia.
How to Cut the Onion
Make sure you are using a sharp knife.
- Cut the tip off one side of the onion. Make you cut so that you are able to level out the onion easily on a flat surface. Leave the root completely intact. Place the onion root side up and cut side down.
- Make 4 evenly spaced cuts into the onion, at least a half an inch from the root. The closer you cut to the root, the easier the onion will fall apart.
- Next, make 3 cuts in between each of the 4, still slicing away from the root.
- Open and fluff out the petals.
How to Make Air Fryer Blooming Onion
- Once you have your onion sliced up, create a cooking station. Add flour, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to a bowl large enough to dredge the onion.
- Add milk and beaten eggs to a separate bowl large enough to dredge the onion.
- Cover the onion in flour, then the milk mixture, and the flour mixture again.
- Wrap the onion in foil and freeze.
- Remove the onion and air fry.
Air Fryer Temperature
I like to use 400 degrees.
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Air Fryer Cook Time
Cook the onion for 10 minutes and then spray it again with oil. Be sure to get any of the spots with flour. Air fry again for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the onion is completely crisp.
Dipping Sauce
To make the best dipping sauce to your liking, decide if you like it to have more of a horseradish taste, more ketchup taste, or do you want something that is more mild, and a light combo of the two?
The dipping sauce recipe doesn't have a bold horseradish taste, so if that's what you're going for, use 2 tablespoons of horseradish, as opposed to 1.
How to Reheat
Place the onion in the air fryer and spray with additional oil. I cannot get the onion to crisp up again without additional oil, and even then it isn't as good as when it has been cooked fresh. Air fry for a few minutes until crisp on 400 degrees.
Pair with these Main Dish Recipes
Air Fryer Frozen Burgers
Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan
Air Fryer Brats
Air Fryer Steak
Air Fryer Spatchcock Chicken
Air Fryer Scallops
Air Fryer Appetizer Recipes
Air Fryer Onion Rings
Air Fryer Pizza Rolls
Air Fryer Fried Pickles
Air Fryer Fried Zucchini Chips
Air Fryer Southwestern Egg Rolls
Air Fryer Pizza
Air Fryer French Fries
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Air Fryer Blooming Onion Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet onion I used Vidalia
- 1 -1 ½ cups all-purpose flour I used about 1 cup of flour, you may need more or less depending on the size of your onion.
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup milk I used 2%.
- cooking oil
Blooming Onion Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon horseradish
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut off the pointy stem of the onion leaving the root end intact. Peel the onion and place it cut side down. The root end of the onion should be facing up.
- Starting ½ an inch from the root end, cut downward to make 4 evenly spaced cuts. In each section, make 3 additional cuts. There should be 16 cuts in the onion. This recipe includes a video that shows exactly how to cut the onion.
- Turn the onion over and fluff out the "petals."
- Place the flour in a bowl with the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the milk and eggs to a separate bowl and stir.
- Place the onion in the flour mixture and dredge completely. Use a spoon to get into every area of the onion.
- Next dip the onion in the milk and egg batter. Use a spoon or cooking brush to ensure it is fully coated.
- Return the onion to the flour mixture again and cover completely.
- Wrap the onion in foil and freeze for 45 minutes.
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking oil or use air fryer parchment paper. Unwrap the onion and spray it with cooking oil. Focus on the spots with white flour. Spray them with oil and also remove any excess wet batter from the onion.
- Cook for 10 minutes on 400 degrees.
- Open the air fryer and spray any white areas with cooking oil. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes or until crisp.
Blooming Onion Dipping Sauce
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Stir and mix well.
Debbie says
Very excited to try this. My son is allergic to wheat. Think GF flour would work?
staysnatched says
Almond flour can be used, but it does not adhere as well as all purpose flour. That's the only gluten free flour I have experience with.
Debbie says
Thank you. I'll have to try one of the GF flours and see how it goes! Really love this recipe!
staysnatched says
Let me know how it turns out!
Katie says
I absolutely love blooming onions and I love how quick and convenient this one is!
staysnatched says
Glad it worked out!
Linda says
Woohoo! I finally got my Bloomin' Onion at home! This was the easiest recipe to follow and turned out so good that I had to make another for the hungry guests. I also tried it with panko after I dipped it in the eggs and it came out super crunchy. Thanks for the great recipe.
staysnatched says
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Whitney says
As soon as I saw this I had to make it. This one hit the spot and was really easy!
staysnatched says
I'm glad you found it easy!
Terrie S says
This recipe sounds great! I'm going to try to make it tonight. I'm curious as to why you freeze it before air frying it?
Thanks!
staysnatched says
The batter won’t stick if you don’t.
Karen says
I can’t say enough good things about this recipe! I made it along with the dipping sauce —my husband and I ate it up so fast I immediately made a 2nd one because we did not get enough! So good!
staysnatched says
haha I love hearing that! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Willa says
Can you leave it in the freezer longer than 45 mins. If so how long?
staysnatched says
I'm not sure, I haven't tried it.
staysnatched says
It's worked for the rest of us. I would love hear what you did.
Shaundrika Stevenson says
Yum just as good as outback! I made steak and was craving a blooming onion since we don’t do takeout because of covid! Your website is making it easy for us to eat at home and save money because your recipes are 100% delicious! You a real one like my husband says! So happy to find you and your yummy cookbook! Snatching my body back one meal at a time as I lose the baby weight! Thanks
staysnatched says
Yay! That's so good to hear!
Shaun says
Blooming Onions are my favorite! I’ve tried to make it from another recipe before and it was a fail! Brandi’s recipe was spot on! This was delicious and everyone devoured it in seconds!! Will def be making again and again!!
staysnatched says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
Trudi M Wetzel says
This looks so good. Any ideas for making this Keto friendly?
staysnatched says
No, I haven’t thought about it or tested anything.
Emily Hamby says
So good! And easy!
staysnatched says
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Cristina says
Anyway to make this keto? It looks amazing!!!
staysnatched says
Probably! I haven’t tested a recipe or thought about it.
Glo919 says
Super easy and delish!
staysnatched says
Wonderful! So glad to hear it!
Rochelle Bullock says
This was another hit with my family! This tasted so good and was easy to make. Best believe I’m going to start making more meals from this site!
staysnatched says
I'm so glad to hear that!
Kenya says
Made this for my guys on super bowl Sunday. So easy and super tasty! I’ll be doing it again!
staysnatched says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Carol says
It was good but, the petals would not let go from the core. We had to cut away the core so petals would release. I cooked five min longer but tips were beginning to burn. Was a little disappointed. Any hints as to what I did wrong? Thanks
staysnatched says
I’m not sure what you did, so I’m also not sure what you did wrong. Cutting the onion takes practice. I also didn’t nail it my first time around.
Rita says
We found some beautiful,very large, walla-walla onions at the farmers market and the first thing that came to mind was bloomin onions. Unfortunately, it was way too hot to turn on the oven, and besides, I never had much success making them. I was about to turn my back on the beautiful onions when I remembered the airfryer, and I knew that there had to be recipes for them!
After searching through lots recipes I decided to use yours, primarily because it was the only one that suggested freezing before frying.
Your recipe was well written and easy to follow (and make), and it came out perfectly!
I am going to grab a few more of the local walla-wallas while they are available, and I am going to try preparing a couple of them at the same time, and see how they doing being kept frozen until ready to cook!
Thanks for a great recipe!
staysnatched says
You're welcome!
Patti says
Looking forward to trying how you describe cutting the onion. I failed with the technique that places the flat side on a jar lid and uses the lid rim to stop your cut. I think my onion was too small and I couldn't get the onion to "bloom".
staysnatched says
You definitely need a big one to make this work!
Hope this helps says
You can let the onion soak in ice water for 15 minutes up to an entire night before coating and cooking if you want. Cut it correctly and then drop it in the cold water. Remove and let it drain well. You may want to pat it with paper towels. This helps the flour mixture to adhere better. I've always soaked mine beforehand. I form a loose bowl of aluminum foil to set in the air fryer also.