Crispy Air Fryer Blooming Onion
Crispy and salty, this Air Fryer Blooming Onion is the perfect way to satisfy your fried food craving without the guilt!
A quick and easy, restaurant-quality appetizer, Air Fryer Blooming Onion is fun to make and doesn’t need a lot of time or ingredients! Get your air fryer ready, along with an onion, milk, eggs, flour, and spices for a savory starter, and don’t forget the condiments and spices to make the dip, it’s fantastic!
Air Fryer Love
I LOVE fried foods. French fries, chicken wings, onion rings, popcorn shrimp. If it’s fried, it’s for me. But my stomach does not always agree with me eating fried foods all the time. Enter my new favorite appliance – the air fryer! Now, I can fry up all my favorite foods without using pots full of scalding oil or a hard-to-clean deep fryer. Without fail, I get several requests for the Air Fryer Blooming Onion on game days and get-togethers, and I’m really happy to make them for friends and family because that means I get to eat these Blooming Onions to my heart’s content, along with this tangy, zippy, ridiculously addictive dipping sauce!
Other Recipes to Serve with Air Fryer Blooming Onion
- Air Fryer Crab Rangoon is another easy and delicious air fryer appetizer that you don’t have to feel guilty about after eating a bunch!
- Another poppable and binge-worthy appetizer you need to make is Air Fryer Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets– they are so hard to stop eating.
Ingredients
FOR THE BLOOMING ONION
Onion: I’ve found that my favorite flavor of onion for this blooming onion recipe is white onion. It’s not nearly as sharp as a standard yellow onion, and it’s not quite as sweet as a Vidalia onion, but Vidalias also work great for this recipe.
Dry Mix: You will need flour, paprika, garlic, thyme, and oregano.
Wet Mix: You will need milk and eggs.
FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE
Condiments: For this sauce, you will need mayonnaise, ketchup, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and creamy horseradish sauce.
Spices: You will need paprika and cayenne pepper.
How to Make an Air Fryer Blooming Onion
STEP ONE: Start by prepping your onion to get that beautiful “blooming flower” look. Peel your onion and cut off the top. Place the cut side down onto your cutting board. Start about 1/2 inch from the root and cut the onion into 4 even quarters. Then cut each quarter into 3 even pieces for a total of 12 onion petals. Soak the onion in water for about 10 minutes, allowing it to separate into petals.
STEP TWO: Whisk together the milk and eggs in a medium bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour and spices. When the onion is finished soaking, pat it dry, then dredge it in the flour mixture, then in the egg mixture, and finally in the flour. Spoon the flour mixture over each petal as needed, so each one is well coated.
STEP THREE: Place tin foil in the air fryer basket to prevent sticking and place your onion on top. Spray the onion with cooking spray, then cover with another piece of tin foil to prevent the top from burning.
STEP FOUR: Cook the blooming onion at 340 degrees F for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, spray the onion with cooking spray again and increase the air fryer temperature to 360 degrees F, then cook for another 10-12 minutes. Remove the tin foil and cook for 3-5 more minutes, depending on how browned you want the onion.
STEP FIVE: While the Blooming Onion is cooking, stir together all the ingredients for the dipping sauce until well mixed. Spoon the dip into a small bowl, like a ramekin. When the blooming onion is done, spread the onion petals in the middle and place the dipping sauce bowl in the middle.
Tips for Success
- Just about any kind of onion will work for this recipe, but a white onion is best, followed by a Sweet Vidalia. You can use what you have on hand; it will all taste great!
- If you are preparing more than one onion, fry them one at a time so that each onion has space and each petal can fry perfectly.
- Using tin foil while cooking will keep the blooming onion from sticking to the bottom, and covering the top will prevent it from getting too brown before the rest of the onion is properly fried.
What is an Air Fryer?
Air fryers are ALL. THE. RAGE. these days (and for good reason, if I do say so myself)! Air fryers are the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets. They let you cook all your favorite crispy foods without submerging them in oil! Think perfect chicken wings, crisp French fries, and, of course, a state-fair-quality Blooming Onion, all from a small countertop kitchen appliance! I’m not one for cluttering up my kitchen with useless fad tools, but believe me, my air fryer has a permanent spot there! Fried foods, but MUCH healthier – sign me up!
How do Air Fryers work?
An air fryer is like a mini convection oven. It continuously circulates hot air around the food inside, allowing it to crisp up without being submerged in oil. Full-sized convection ovens are super cool, but definitely not in everyone’s price range (especially if you’re not in the market for a new oven!). An air fryer is affordable, compact, and lets you fry your favorite treats quickly!
More Recipes That Will Make You Love Your Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Donuts
- Air Fryer Asparagus Fries
- Air Fryer Baked Apples
- Air Fryer Fried Chicken
- Air Fryer Parmesan Zucchini
*This post was originally posted on 03/06/2020.
Air Fryer Blooming Onion
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Olive oil spray
Dipping Sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 teaspoons creamy horseradish sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Peel the onion and cut off the top, leaving the root intact. Place top of the onion down on a cutting board. Starting 1/2-inch from the root, cut the onion into quarters slicing down toward the cutting board. Then cut each quarter into 3 equal pieces for a total of 12 sections. (see note)
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, paprika, garlic salt, thyme, and oregano. Place the onion into the flour. Use a spoon to make sure to distribute flour mixture and make sure all petals are coated. Shake off any excess flour.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk milk and eggs together. Coat entire onion in egg mixture. The mixture will be sticky. Then place the onion back into the flour mixture and spoon it all over the onion until coated.
- Place a piece of oil into the bottom of your basket of your air fryer. Set the breaded onion on top of the foil and then spray the onion with olive oil spray. This will give the onion a deep-fried texture. Loosely place another piece of foil over the onion to help prevent the tips from burning.
- Cook at 340 degrees F for 10 minutes. Spray the onion with more olive oil spray. Cook at 360 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Remove the foil over the onion and cook for another 3-5 minutes depending on how browned you like it.
- Once the onion is done cooking, transfer it to a large, shallow bowl. Carefully take out the middle of the onion (keep this for snacking!) and place the ramekin of sauce in the center. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If the onion doesn’t spread into “petals” by itself, soak it in cold water for 10 minutes or until the petals open up. Take the onion out of the water and shake dry.
- Nutrition includes 1/4 of the onion and 2 tablespoons of dipping sauce per serving.
I made this recipe yesterday, and it was the biggest disaster I have had since 1976. Made a chicken casserole that had to be tossed too….glad I did not make the sauce beforehand.