Bite-Sized Blooming Onions
These little bite-sized blooming onions are fun to eat - crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are really quite easy to make as well. Don’t worry too much about pulling all the petals of the onion apart – just open them enough to fan out a little.
Jump to Recipe (or scroll for photos and riveting information...)Featured Recipe Techniques
More about the skills used in this recipe.
Air Frying 101
An introduction into Air Frying so that you can feel comfortable and confident making the recipes you find on my...View Technique
Air Fryer Cooking Charts
Complete list of air frying cooking times and temperatures are listed in this chart. All times and temperatures assume that...View Technique
Converting Recipes to the Air Fryer
Many recipes that use traditional methods can be converted to delicious air frying creations!View Technique
Bite-Sized Blooming Onions
- Prep Time: 30 m
- Cook Time: 16 m
- Total Time: 46 m
- Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound large cipollini onions peeled
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Using a paring knife, cut off the tip of each onion, leaving the root end of the onion intact. Place the root end of the onion face down on a cutting board. Make 4 criss-crossed slices across the onion (like you were cutting up a pizza), but don’t slice all the way to the cutting board. Instead, slice three-quarters of the way through the onion, making sure you don’t slice through the root. Gently separate the onion petals.
- Set up a dredging station with two bowls. Combine the eggs and milk in a large bowl. In a second bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Dip each onion in the flour mixture, separating the petals of the onion to get flour in between the slits. Then dip the onions into the egg mixture to coat completely and then transfer them back to the flour mixture. Gently spread the petals to get the seasoned flour in between the onion petals, then shake off any excess flour. Spray the onions with canola oil.
- Pre-heat the air-fryer to 380°F.
- Air-fry the coated onions in batches at 380ºF for 12 minutes. Flip the onions over and air-fry for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
- While the onions are cooking, make the dipping sauce by combining all the dip ingredients and mixing well. Serve the Mini Blooming Onions with the dipping sauce on the side.
Nutrition Facts
Bite-Sized Blooming Onions
Amount Per Serving
Calories 440
Calories from Fat 225
% Daily Value*
Fat 25g38%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Cholesterol 97mg32%
Sodium 1096mg46%
Potassium 376mg11%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 9g18%
Vitamin A 745IU15%
Vitamin C 9.7mg12%
Calcium 82mg8%
Iron 2.4mg13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
never heard of a cipollini onion! just find them in the produce section?
Yes, they should be in the produce section. Not every store might have them, however.
If I can’t find those, can I use regular sweet onions? If so, is a particular brand better/best?
You can make a blooming onion with any onion that you find. The bite-sized ones are perfect with large cipollini onions. If you’re going for a sweet onion, Vidalia or Maui are perfect, but the blooming onion will be quite a bit larger (like this: https://bluejeanchef.com/recipes/blooming-onion/)
ML
Would a sweet onion be a good replacement?
You can use a sweet onion, but it will be a much bigger blooming onion – like this: https://bluejeanchef.com/recipes/blooming-onion/ If you can find smaller onions, you can definitely apply the same ingredients and directions to them.
ML
To bake these, what oven temp and for how long? I don’t have an air fryer.
I would try baking them on a rack at 400ºF for about 15 minutes. Then flip them over and bake for another 5 minutes if needed.
I’d like to try the bite-size onions, but I have a question . . If these onions get flipped half way thru cooking, ‘which side is up when you start’?
You can start air-frying the onions with the cut side up, then gently flip them over half way through the cooking process to make sure the bottoms get crispy.
Great idea! i’ll give it a go………
Can’t wait to try this! Unfortinately, the grocery stores around me rarely carry cippoline onions, but I love the idea of the bite size. Can pearl or boiler onions be substituted?
Pearl onions might be a little small for this recipe. Boiler onions may work if they are a little larger. You could try ordering some cipollini onions on Amazon or from Melissa’s produce: https://www.melissas.com/products/cipolline-onions .