Mini Blooming Onions
These mini blooming onions look so cute and are absolutely delicious
Mini Blooming Onions
From the recipe collection of Tara Ippolito
Mini blooming onions are a really cute and delicious appetizer. My house absolutely devoured these.
They’re crispy and kinda like onion rings but thinner. If you’ve ever had fried shoe string onions then these are right up the same alley.
And of course, they’re basically a rip off of Applebees blooming onion. Which we all know it’s absolute heaven on a plate.
Sometimes there’s just no substitute for a big basket of fried food. Something that’s unapologetically greasy but so so good. When that kinda mood strikes, these mini blooming onions are a fantastic choice.
I would just like to say that as much as you have to be in the mood to eat these, you have to be in the mood to make them, too.
Most of my recipes are super fast and easy and this is an exception. Between preparing the onions, the messy batter and awkward shape for frying, they can be a little bit of a pain in the butt.
But you know what they say, no pain no gain. So for me, it’s totally worth it.
On a simpler note, I recently shared a recipe for easy Boom Boom Sauce that goes perfectly with these mini blooming onions. It’s the ultimate dipping sauce.
I highly suggest making these two things together. My copycat Chick Fil A Sauce is great for this, too. Cause lets face it, that sauce goes great on everything.
Please leave me a comment here if you give this recipe a try. I want to know what your experience with these mini blooming onions was and hear your thoughts on them.
other appetizers you’ll love:
MIni Blooming ONion recipe video:
Which Onions To Use?
There are a lot of onion options out there to choose from. Yellow or white onions work best for this so try to choose one of those.
Also, size matters here, too. Select onions small in size for these mini blooming onions. If you’d like to make this recipe with large regular sized onions that’s totally fine. There are no adjustments in the recipe. Just follow it as directed and they’ll come out perfect.
Tips For Frying
- The best oil to use for this is vegetable or canola oil.
- Keep the oil hot around 350°-375°.
- Don’t add the onions to the oil until it is at this temperature. Always wait until the oil is ready to add the food.
- Don’t over crowd the pan. Fry these in batches. Overcrowding will drop the heat of the oil we want to keep the heat consistent. Other wise the onions will get soggy.
- Drain them upside down on a wire rack so the oil drips away from the onions and doesn’t absorb back into them. This way there’ll be nice and crispy.
- Salt them as soon as they come out of the oil and are placed on the rack to drain. The salt will attach to the hot oil and stick nicely.
- Serve them sooner rather then later. These mini blooming onions are best served hot and crispy.
- Not a fan of all this oil? That’s okay, we can easily pop them in the air fryer. Just place them upside down- root side up- and air fry them at 400° for about 10 minutes.
Tips For Cutting The Onion
First thing is first, after you peel the onion, leave the root on and facing down. Meaning the root should be against your cutting board.
The best way for me to describe how to cut these onions is to image them like a clock. You want to cut at every hour on the face of the clock. Does that make sense? Cut at 12, 3, 6 and 9. The fill in the rest of the “hours”.
Cut deep but not deep enough to slice through the root. That’s the binder that holds the whole thing together.
Ingredients:
- Small onions
- Flour
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garlic powder
- Eggs
- Milk
- Canola oil
Instructions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk and the eggs
2. In another medium sized bowl, add the flour and all the seasoning and stir them together to combine.
3. Peel the onions and place them root side down on a cutting board.
4. Using a sharp knife, slice into the onion on all the hours of the clock. (See the above note). Be sure not to slice all the way through. The root must hold everything together.
6. Coat the onions completely in the flour.
7. Now dip them into the egg mixture.
8. Then back into the four until they are evenly coated in a batter.
9. Heat the oil in a large skillet. You just need enough to cover the onions a little more then half way up.
10. Fry them on both sides until golden browned
.
11. Place them on a wire rack and salt them immediately. Then turn them upside down to drain.
12. Let them cool slightly before serving with this delicious Boom Boom Sauce.
Mini Blooming Onions
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 small-medium onions, yellow or white
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbs paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- canola oil
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl, beat together the eggs and milk
- In another medium size bowl, add the four and all the seasonings. Stir that to combine
- Prepare the onions by peeling them and slicing them from the top to just before the root. DO NOT SLICE THROUGH THE ROOT. That's going to hold everything together. Act as if the onion is a clock- cut the hours 12, 3, 6 & 9. Then fill in the rest of the hours. That's the best way for me to describe it. I hope that makes sense.
- Coat the onion in the flour, then egg mixture, then flour again. Try to make sure that it gets into all of the little cracks of the onion.
- Add as much oil to the pan that it would cover the onions by a little more then half. Heat it to 350-375 degrees. Fry the onions on both sides until they are golden brown
- Remove the onions from the oil and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt.
- Turn them upside down to cool on a drying rack. Serve with Boom Boom sauce ( recipe above)
If you enjoyed this recipe please share it on Pinterest so other people can try it, too. I hope you liked it!
