Outback Steakhouse's Bloomin' Onion is delicious, but you don't always have the time to go out for this crunchy treat. Fortunately, you don't have to go out, because we've got a baked blooming onion that you can make at home. It's a perfect appetizer or game-day snack, and because it's baked, this oven blooming onion recipe is a super easy recipe to make. Use your air fryer if you have one to cut down on cook time and up the crunch factor.
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Start by placing a large onion (we like large yellow onions or a Vidalia onion for this recipe) on the cutting board and cut off the top of the onion. Peel off the skin, then turn the onion cut side down. Starting about 1/2-inch from the root, make a downward cut all the way down to the cutting board. Repeat with three other cuts evenly spaced around the onion, leaving you with four cuts total. Continue slicing each section until you have 16 total cuts. And don't worry if you accidentally cut the onion blossom, you can usually stick it back together.
It's best to soak the cut onion in a bowl of water overnight so that the onion opens up. When you're ready to bake it, take the onion out of the water and pat dry. In a small bowl whisk together one cup panko bread crumbs, cajun seasoning, and salt. You can also put together your own seasoning mix of paprika, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and black pepper. Heck, even onion powder! The seasoning is completely up to you.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. Start with the bottom layers of the onion and using a pastry brush, brush each onion petal with the egg mixture until coated. Sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture and press with your fingers to adhere. Repeat until the entire sweet onion is coated.
Lyndsay Cordell
Or if you want to get it all done at once, dunk the onion in flour, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.
When the whole onion is covered, place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and tent the entire baking sheet with aluminum foil. Bake until steamy, about five minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until the onion is soft and the breading is crispy and golden brown. Serve the oven blooming onion with ketchup, horseradish sauce, sour cream, or spicy ranch dipping sauce and enjoy!
Originally published on July 12. 2020
Oven-Baked Blooming Onion
Ingredients
For The Blooming Onion
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
For The Spicy Ranch
- 1 cup ranch
- 1 Tbsp hot pepper sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
Instructions
For The Blooming Onion
- Place your onion on the cutting board and cut off the top of the onion (the part that does not contain the root) to expose the layer. Peel off the skin and discard.
- Turn the onion cut side down. Starting about 1/2-inch from the root, make a downward cut all the way down to the cutting board. Repeat with 3 other cuts evenly spaced around the onion, leaving you with 4 cuts total.
- Next, continue slicing each section until you have 16 total cuts. You can achieve this by cutting each section 3 times.
- Place onion in a bowl of water and soak in the fridge overnight for the onion to open.
- Take the onion out of the water and pat dry.
- In a small bowl whisk together panko, cajun seasoning, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk eggs until combined.
- Start with the bottom layers of the onion and using a pastry brush, brush each petal with the egg mixture until coated. Sprinkle with panko and press with your fingers to adhere. Repeat until entire onion is coated.
- Meanwhile preheat your oven to 400ºF. Place onion on baking sheet and tent the entire baking sheet with foil. Bake until steamy, about 5 minutes. Remove tent and bake until onion is soft and the breading is crispy, about 15 minutes.
For The Spicy Ranch
- In small bowl combine ranch, pepper sauce, and chili powder. Serve with Blooming Onion.
