Bite-Sized Blooming Onions
Bite-Sized Blooming Onions
Author: The Blue Jean Chef, Meredith Laurence
Serves: 4
These little delights 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.
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.
