A truly unique variation of onion rings, the Bloomin’ Onion from Outback Steakhouse is a fun appetizer to share with your friends and family. It’s like a giant crispy onion flower with spicy mayo dipping sauce in the center, and it remains one of their most popular appetizers. Outback has introduced a couple of variations like the “loaded” Bloomin’ Onion with cheese fries, cheese, and bacon, but the original is still the best.
While there are a lot of copycat recipes, Outback says their secret recipe is under lock-and-key so no one can truly duplicate it. However, we tried our best! Below, we’re sharing the closest recipe we could come up with for the famous Bloomin’ Onion, complete with deep-frying instructions, and spicy mayo dipping sauce.
It may take a little practice to cut the onion into petals without the onion falling apart, but if that happens, you can still fry the petals or wedges. The type of onion you use is not too important, as long as its medium to large and a bit sweet. We recommend using peanut oil so that the onion turns out extra crispy, but you can use any oil you have. This recipe will yield four Bloomin’ Onions, but you can prepare as many as you like!
Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion Recipe
Equipment
- deep fryer and basket
Ingredients
For the Batter
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 12 oz beer
- 4 Vidalia onions or other large sweet onion
- 2-3 cups olive oil or peanut oil for frying
For the Seasoned Flour
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
For the Dipping Sauce
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 pint sour cream
- 1/2 cup tomato chili sauce
Instructions
For the Onions
- First, prepare the batter by mixing the cornstarch, flour, and seasonings in a bowl until well blended. Add the beer and mix well.
- Next, prepare the seasoned flour in a second bowl by combining and mixing the ingredients.
- To prepare the onion, cut about 3/4 of an inch off the top and peel. Cut 12 to 16 vertical wedges into the onion, but do not cut through the bottom root end. Remove about 1 inch of the petals from the center of the onion. You may want to separate the onion petals slightly, but do not do this too much or you will destroy the onion.
- Heat your deep-fryer to 375°-400°.
- Dip each onion in the seasoned flour. Remove excess flour by shaking the onion gently. Separate the petals to coat it thoroughly with batter. Then dip the onion into the batter and back into the flour mixture again.
- Gently place in fryer basket and deep-fry for 1.5 minutes. Turn over and fry an additional 1.5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- Place the fried onion upright in a shallow bowl and remove center core with circular cutter or apple corer. Repeat these steps for each onion.
- Serve with your homemade dipping sauce.
For the Dipping Sauce
- Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well. Chill until you're ready to use it.
Notes
- You'll need a deep fryer for this recipe so that the entire onion can be dunked into the cooking oil.
- Peanut oil tends to make the bloomin' onions more crispy, but you can also use olive oil or vegetable oil.
- If you feel cutting the blooming onion is too much or it falls apart while you're cutting it, then try cutting it into petals, strings, or even onion rings.
What else could you serve with your Bloomin’ Onions? Check out our Outback Alice Springs Chicken Recipe which would complement this appetizer perfectly.
