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This air fryer blooming onion recipe is crispy, crunchy and incredibly flavorful. Making a homemade bloomin onion is as simple as cutting a large onion, coating it in egg wash and seasoned flour and popping the onion blossom in air fryer until everything is tender, golden and delicious. Blooming onion air fryer is the perfect weekend treat or game night snack that’s ideal for sharing.
This homemade bloomin onion is healthier but every bit as tasty as the appetizer you’d get at Outback Steakhouse, Chili’s or Applebees. This blooming onion air fryer is made without deep frying so that you can void all that excess grease. Air Fryer Blooming onion is tender on the inside, crispy on the outside, and every bite is perfectly seasoned. Enjoy your favorite restaurant appetizer without all of the guilt.
If you love restaurant copycat recipes, try my Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp or Cheesecake Factory Chicken Madeira.
Why You’ll Love Making Blooming Onion in Air Fryer
- It’s healthier. You can enjoy your favorite appetizer without the guilt of eating deep fried foods.
- It’s less messy. Deep frying uses a lot of oil and makes a mess. Air fryer blooming onion takes less work, and cleanup is a breeze.
- It’s perfect for sharing. This is such a fun appetizer to share with friends and family.
Blooming Onion Ingredients
- Onion: use a single, large sweet onion
- Flour: use regular all-purpose flour. This hasn’t been tested with gluten-free flour, but you can give it a try.
- Spices: combine paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, salt and ground pepper
- Eggs: beat 2 room-temperature eggs.
- Milk: Use any kind of milk that you prefer.
- Cooking Spray: to help the onion blossom to turn golden brown.
How To Make Air Fryer Blooming Onion
- Peel and cut the onion. Peel the outer skin of the onion, and trim the top of the onion for ½ an inch. Place the cut side down and start cutting downwards ½ inch from the root of the onion. Cut 4 equally spaced cuts around the onion. Now cut between the sections until it reaches 16 equal cuts. Turn the onion over and use your hands to make some separation between the sections, and allow the onion petals to relax for a couple of minutes.
- Prepare the coating mixtures. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk flour, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. In another bowl whisk egg and milk. Keep the bowls aside.
- Coat the onion with flour. Place the onion in a wide bowl facing the cut side up and sprinkle the flour over and coat the onion with the flour mixture making sure the onion sections are well coated with the flour.
- Coat with the egg mixture. Transfer the flour-coated onion into the egg mixture bowl and coat it evenly. Once done, transfer the onion back to the bowl and pour the remaining flour mixture on top and coat evenly.
- Prepare the equipment. Meanwhile, preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees F. Cover the air fryer basket with aluminum foil.
- Air fry the onion. Place the onion carefully into the air fryer basket and coat the cooking spray generously on the onion. Air fry the blooming onion for 20 minutes and spray the oil after 10 minutes once again all over the onion.
- Serve. Once done, serve the blooming onion with a dip on the side to enjoy.
Tips To Make Blooming Onion in the Air Fryer
- Cutting the onion can be tricky. Be sure to use a sharp knife and work on a flat surface.
- For smaller onions, you may prefer to cut 8-10 petals rather than 16.
- Gently work the onion to open the petals.
- Carefully coat the entire onion and between each petal with flour.
- Spray with cooking spray several times during cooking for maximum crispiness.
- Using tin foil will keep the onion blossom from sticking and make cleanup a breeze.
- If a petal begins to close while cooking, gently pry it open with a fork.
- If cooking more than one onion, cook separately so the hot air can circulate.
- Cooking times are approximate. You will need to adjust based on how your individual air fryer cooks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Onions range in flavor from sweet and mild to very strong. Onions do tend to mellow as they cook, but for this recipe, I prefer to use a sweet onion or Vidalia onion rather than a white onion. Most importantly, the onion should be very large in size.
When cutting an onion blossom, it is very important to leave the root end intact. This holds the awesome blossom together while it cooks. Use a sharp knife and cut into petals very carefully. Gently pry the petals open using your hands and a fork. Refer to photos.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for several days. Reheat in a hot air fryer until the pieces are warm and have crisped back up.
Freezing your leftover awesome blossom is not recommended.
Onion blossoms are perfect as part of an appetizer spread at a party or for serving with your favorite steakhouse meals like Grilled Steak and Potatoes, Simple Skillet Ribeye Steak, Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp or Best Baked Chimichurri Chicken.
More Appetizer Recipes
- Shrimp Sushi Stack
- Air Fryer Pasta Chips
- Easy Spanakopita Triangles
- Air Fryer Garlic Chicken Wings
- Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Onion Blossom in Air Fryer recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it, and share it with your friends and family!
If you try this recipe and like it, please leave a star rating and comment below. Use my hashtag to share it with me on Instagram so I can see your delicious recreations! Also, follow me at Cookin’ With Mima on FACEBOOK |INSTAGRAM |PINTEREST for all of my latest social posts and recipes.
Air Fryer Blooming Onion
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet onion
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 whole eggs
- ½ cup milk
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Peel the outer skin of the onion, and trim the top of the onion for ½ an inch.
- Place the cut side down and start cutting downwards ½ inch from the root of the onion. Cut 4 equally spaced cuts around the onion.
- Now cut between the sections until it reaches 16 equal cuts. Turn the onion over and use your hands to make some separation between the sections and allow the onion petals to relax for a couple of minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk flour, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. In another bowl whisk egg and milk. Keep the bowls aside.
- Place the onion in a wide bowl facing the cut side up and sprinkle the flour over and coat the onion with the flour mixture making sure the onion sections are well coated with the flour.
- Transfer the flour-coated onion into the egg mixture bowl and coat it evenly. Once done transfer the onion back to the bowl and pour the remaining flour mixture on top and coat evenly.
- Meanwhile, preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees F. Cover the air fryer basket with aluminum foil.
- Place the onion carefully into the air fryer basket and coat the cooking spray generously on the onion.
- Air fry the blooming onion for 20 minutes and spray the oil after 10 minutes once again all over the onion.
- Once done, serve the blooming onion with a dip on the side to enjoy.
Notes
- Cutting the onion can be tricky. Be sure to use a sharp knife and work on a flat surface.
- For smaller onions, you may prefer to cut 8-10 petals rather than 16.
- Gently work the onion to open the petals.
- Carefully coat the entire onion and between each petal with flour.
- Spray with cooking spray several times during cooking for maximum crispiness.
- Using tin foil will keep the onion blossom from sticking and make cleanup a breeze.
- If a petal begins to close while cooking, gently pry it open with a fork.
- If cooking more than one onion, cook separately so the hot air can circulate.
- Cooking times are approximate. You will need to adjust based on how your individual air fryer cooks.
