Fried Onion Blooms
Cold beer, sour cream and chili sauce come together in this vegetarian — 70 minutes, 7 steps, and the kind of result worth repeating. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for frying pan / skillet and large pot. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Peel each onion and slice off the pointed top, leaving the root end intact; sit the onion cut side down and make about 12 to 16 evenly spaced cuts from near the root down to the board, stopping about 1 cm short of the root, then turn it over and gently fan the petals apart.
- Soak the cut onions in a bowl of ice water for 10 to 15 minutes to help the petals open, then drain and pat dry.
- Make the seasoned coating flour by whisking half the flour with the paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, and make the batter by whisking the remaining flour with the egg and cold beer until smooth and pourable.
- Dredge each onion in the seasoned flour, working it down into the petals, then dip and spoon the beer batter all over so every petal is coated, and dredge once more lightly in the flour for a crisp shell.
- Heat the oil in a deep pot to 175 C; for the right size pot, fry one onion at a time, lowering it in petal side down for about 1 minute, then turning it root side down.
- Continue frying for a total of 4 to 6 minutes, turning as needed, until the bloom is deep golden brown and crisp all over, then lift out and drain upside down on paper towels.
- Stir together the sour cream and chili sauce for dipping, and serve the onion blooms hot and freshly fried with the sauce in the centre.
You'll use: Frying pan / skillet · Large pot · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Sour Cream
- plain Greek yogurt · crème fraîche
Tips & common questions
How long does Fried Onion Blooms take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 12 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of sour cream?
Try plain Greek yogurt. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Fried Onion Blooms vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Fried Onion Blooms is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Blooming onion.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.