Awesome Blossom Petals (Chili’s Blooming Onion Recipe) (2024)

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Similar to the famous Outback Steak’s blooming onion, Chili’s Awesome Blossom Petals is a delicious and crispy appetizer! Learn how to make Awesome Blossom easily at home with our step-by-step instructions.

What is Chili’s Awesome Blossom?

This copycat recipe is an onion cut to an onion flower, seasoned, battered and deep-fried to perfect golden brown. It’s also called bloomin’ onion and tastes similar to onion rings.

Like Outback’s bloomin’ onion, you can serve this recipe as an appetizer. Just break off pieces using your fingers and dip into the bloomin’ onion sauce.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Onion: You can usewhite or yellow, but try to find the largest onion for this recipe.
• All-purpose Flour
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Oregano
• Salt and Pepper
• Eggs
• Milk
• Vegetable Oil

How to Make An Awesome Blossom (Blooming Onion)

Awesome Blossom is easy to make, but it can be hard to get the crispy texture when making them at home. This recipe ensures that your homemade blooming onion comes out perfectly crispy every time!

Pair it with Baked Chicken Breast, Chicken Fajitas or Beef Stir Fry for a great dinner!

Awesome Blossom Petals – How to Cut A Blooming Onion

Start with cutting your onion into an onion flower. You can use a blooming onion cutter if you have one, but I find it fairly easy with a regular sharp knife.

Remove the old skin first, and then cut off ½ inch from the pointy stem. Then place the onion cut-side down on a cutting board, and starting about ½ inch from the root, make a downward cut.

Repeat the vertical cut and make cuts evenly distributed around the onion. I usually cut it into about 12-16 sections. When you turn the onion over, it will look like a flower with many onion petals. You can open it up more with your fingers.

Awesome Blossom Batter

Prepare two large bowls for making bloomin’ onion batter. In one bowl, mix together flour, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. In the other bowl, mix together eggs and milk.

First, place the onion flower into the flour mixture bowl. Lift the onion and shake off the excess, and dip the onion into the egg wash bowl.Make sure the onion is completely submerged in the batter.

Lift the onion and place it in the flour mixture again. This doubling dipping process ensures a crispy texture.

Before you fry your onion, it’s best to freeze it for 30-60 minutes so that the seasoning and batter will stay on during the frying process.

Fry the Blooming Onion

If you don’t have an air fryer, you can use a large deep pot that can cover the onion flower completely. Heat oil to 350°F, and place your onion into the oil cut-side down very carefully with tongs or a slotted spoon.

Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, and then turn the onion over and fry 3-4 more minutes until the onion flower is nice and golden brown.

Awesome Blossom Sauce

My favorite Awesome Blossom sauce is a very simple one: just mix Thousand Island dressing and creamy horseradish sauce. It tastes exactly like the blooming onion dip you find at outback!

What Kind of Onion to Use for Awesome Blossom Recipe

Yellow onion or white onion works best for this recipe as they result in a crispier and tastier onion when deep-fried. I usually buy the largest one I can find at the local grocery store.

Baked Awesome Blossom

If you prefer a healthier blooming onion recipe, you can bake the battered onion flower in the oven at 400°F for about 16-20 minutes or until golden brown. Skip the freezing process.

If You Like This Recipe Try These Out

I hope you like this recipe. If you try it, please comment below and let me know how your Awesome Blossom turns out!