How To Make A Blooming Onion

blooming onion served with lime dipping bowl in the centre on slate

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5 from 7 votes

Here I'll show you how to make a blooming onion in the most delicious way possible!

Prep Time30

Cook Time10

Total Time40

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American, Game Day

Servings:

Author: Chris Collins

Cost: £2 / $2.50

Equipment

Deep Pot & Slotted Spoon (for deep frying)
Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
2 Medium/Large Sized Mixing Bowls
Paper Towels
Kitchen Thermometer

Ingredients

1 large White Onion (see notes)
1.5 cups / 225g Plain White Flour
1/2 cup / 125ml Milk
2 Eggs, beaten
1.5 tbsp Paprika
1.5 tsp EACH Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder plus extra salt to sprinkle for serving if desired
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
4-8 cups/1-2 litres Oil, or as needed to cover the size of the onion (something with a high smoking point like Vegetable, Sunflower, Rapeseed, Canola)

Instructions

Slicing

Make a tiny slit across the tip (not the root) of your onion and peel the brown shell away.
Place the onion with the root facing up. With a knife, begin slicing around 1/2 inch away from the root in a circular motion. You should be able to create 12-16 even slices depending on the size of your onion.
Flip the onion and gently spread out the petals.

Coating

In one bowl combine flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, oregano, garlic powder and salt & black pepper. In a second, combine eggs and milk.
Place the onion in the dry mix, spread out the petals and thoroughly coat, ensuring you coat as much of the onion/petals as possible. Shake away excess flour, then place into the wet mix. Coat again, ensuring you get right in between the petals. Allow excess to drip off then place back into the flour. Coat once again, ensuring you thoroughly coat each petal, carefully spreading them out as needed and shaking out any excess so the petals don't clump together. This is a tedious process but worth it to ensure each petal has a good coating and also don't all stick together.

Frying

In a suitably sized pot, heat up enough oil to cover the depth of the onion. You want to get it to about 350F/180C. Drop a petal in and if it vigorously sizzles, you're good to go. Using a ladle, slowly and carefully drop in your onion root side up. Allow to fry for around 2-3mins, then very carefully flip it over. It's ready to flip when the very tips of the petals begin to lightly char.
Continue frying until deep golden and visibly crispy all over. Depending on the size of your onion it should take around 6-10 minutes until done. You don't want to pull it out early as the batter with taste flakey/powdery, so ensure it's a deep golden colour before it comes out. Try and keep it submerged in the oil throughout and keep it on a high heat to try and maintain the oil temp as best possible.
Place upside down on a paper towel to drain. Flip then sprinkle another pinch of salt. Serve with your favourite dip!

Video

Notes

a) Onion - Try and find the largest onion you can get your hands on! In the UK I recommend grabbing a 'cannonball onion' (they sell them in Morrisons). For reference the weight of the onion I use if 1lb/500g. You can use smaller onions if that's all you have.

b) Coating - As I mentioned, I won't tell you this isn't a slightly tedious process, because it is. But do try and coat as much and as many of the petals as thoroughly as you can, shaking off excess flour as needed. Try and get right in the cracks a crevices of the petals and ensure that no petal is stuck to another one. You will lose some petals along the way, your finger will go fingers made of flour, but do persevere!

c) Lime Dipping Bowl - As I've done in the video/photos you can make a dipping bowl out of a lime if you fancy! Just use a knife to carve around the centre, then use a spoon to scoop it out. I usually fill it with Sriracha Mayo because it goes nicely with the onion and uses lime juice!

d) Dips - Alongside the Sriracha Mayo, two other great dips that pair with blooming onion are BBQ Mayo and Sweet Chilli Mayo. Do check out all my Delicious Dips for inspiration though.

e) Calories - Tricky to work out how much oil/flour attaches to the onion. This is an over estimate as it assumes all the flour/milk/eggs attached and 1/4 cup of oil.

Nutrition