Bloomin' Onion Petals (2024)

If you’re an Outback fan, you’ll love these crispy, crunchy Bloomin’ Onion Petals with the most irresistible copycat dipping sauce! Absolutely irresistibly delicious.

If you have ever been to Outback and ordered their infamous Bloomin’ Onion, then you will know why these Bloomin’ Onion Petals are the PERFECT appetizer!

These Onion Petals have the best crispy exterior. They aren’t heavily battered to where every bite you just eat breading, in fact, the breading is light and really compliments the sweetness from the onion. It’s too hard to just eat one or two, we always gobble these onions up.

I think my favorite part has to be the sauce. If you love the dipping sauce you get at the restaurant then you are going to go crazy for this homemade sauce. It’s a dead ringer for it, perfect copycat dipping sauce.

You know me and how much I adore any appetizers and these ones have to be at the top of my list. Plus they go great with so many of your other main dishes.

If you have never tried these Onion Petals before, now is your chance. Super simple ingredients help these come together in no time and they will become a quick favorite.

Some of our other favorite appetizer recipes we have on our site include: Loaded Potato Skins, Steak Fingers and Mozzarella Sticks.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• Easy enough to make these at home when the craving strikes.
• Perfectly fried to a golden brown perfection and made in no time.
• Simple to scale the recipe to make more, especially if your family is OBSESSED with these.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):

Mayonnaise
Sour cream
Ketchup
Prepared horseradish
Garlic
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Smoked paprika
Cayenne pepper
Sweet onion
All-purpose flour
Seasoned salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
Onion powder
Smoked paprika
Buttermilk
Egg
Oil for frying

HOW TO MAKE BLOOMIN’ ONION PETALS, STEP BY STEP:

1. To make the sauce in a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, ketchup, horseradish, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
2. Cut the root end off of the onion and peel. Cut the onion in half, then into quarters.
3. Cut the quarters in half, set aside.
4. In a large bowl, add the flour, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and smoked paprika, stir until combined.
5. In another medium-sized bowl, add the buttermilk and egg and whisk together.
6. Separate out the onion petals and place them in a gallon-sized ziptop bag. To the bag, add 1⁄4 cup of the flour mixture. Seal and toss the onions in the flour until coated as best you can.
7. Take a handful of the onion petals at a time, gently shaking off the excess flour. Dip them into the buttermilk mixture, let any excess liquid drip off.
8. Next, add the onion petals directly to the bowl with the flour mixture and coat them well, again shaking off any excess flour.
9. Place the onion petals onto a parchment-lined sheet tray white continue coating the rest of the remaining onion petals.
10. Heat your deep fryer or a large skillet that has deep sides with about 2-inches of oil to 350°F. Once hot, fry the onion petals for 3-4 minutes until golden brown, you will most likely need to do this in batches to not overcrowd the pan.
11. Place the fried onion petals onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
12. Then, place them on a wire rack over a sheet tray (to catch any excess oil) while you fry the remaining petals, so they don’t become soggy.
13. Once all of the onion petals are done frying, remove the sauce from the refrigerator, serve and enjoy!

CAN ANOTHER ONION BE USED?

When picking your onion for these Onion Petals, pick a sweet one. Walla Walla onions are one of our favorites, but you can certainly use others like a Vidalia or Texas Sweet Onion.

We use a sweet onion for these petals because it really brings out the best flavors of the dish. But, if you can’t get your hands on any sweet onions, you can make the petals with a white or yellow onion.

I’d stay away from a red onion because the color would look differently, but if that is your only option, you can give it a whirl.

WHAT KIND OF OIL SHOULD I USE FOR FRYING?

You want to use an oil with a high smoke point. We like to use canola oil, vegetable oil or peanut oil. Peanut oil is probably our favorite as we use it in many other fried recipes but it comes with a hefty price tag, so vegetable or canola oil are better alternatives.

WHAT OTHER SAUCE CAN I USE?

We are infatuated with this homemade dipping sauce, but if it’s not your thing, or you don’t have all the ingredients, you can surely serve them with something else.

Classic and simple ranch dressing would go great. You can also use honey mustard, garlic aioli, a sriracha-type sauce, or other fry dipping sauces that would go great with these petals.

HOW TO STORE:

Keep any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can freeze them in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

If you want to freeze them, you can do so after they have been battered or before they are fried in oil.

Place them on a sheet tray in the freezer to flash freeze for 4 hours before putting them in their container.

They can be fried from frozen. You’ll just have to keep an eye on them as they fry since they’ll need a few extra minutes.

When you want to reheat these refrigerated onion bites, toss them back in your fryer briefly, just to warm them, not to re-cook them. Alternatively, you can place them on a wire rack on a sheet tray in the oven so they get that nice crunch again.

Skip the microwave though, that always makes them soggy instead of crispy.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• Make sure whatever you’re frying the onions in has high walls on it to help keep the oil splatter down.
• Use fresh onions when possible, they’ll have the best flavor.
• The longer these onion pieces sit, the more soggy they’ll become. So enjoy them as soon as possible.
• Use a sweet onion variety if you have them, other onion varieties can be used in a pinch. See my suggestions above.
• Choose your oil wisely. See my tips on what we like to use above.
• You can serve these with other dipping sauces if desired.
• Make the sauce a day ahead of time if you can, it’s even more flavorful then!
• These petals aren’t spicy, if you like spice, try adding more cayenne to your breading and to the homemade sauce mixture. If you want to really kick up the heat, try hot sauce in the sauce mixture and in the buttermilk and egg wash for the onion petals.
• You can freeze these before you fry them or once they’ve been fried, see all my tips above.

Are you a huge copycat recipe fan and you have been craving this appetizer from Outback? Then you must make these Bloomin’ Onion Petals at home! So easy and soooo delish!

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Beer Battered Onion Rings
• Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
• Taco Bell Nacho Fries

If you’ve tried these BLOOMIN’ ONION PETALSor any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!