Depending on the restaurant and the region you’re in, the name can vary–Awesome Blossom, Bloomin’ Onion–but they’re all the same thing. It’s one of my favorite things to order on date night, but I have to admit it’s better when I make this Baked Blooming Onion recipe at home.
This Healthy Awesome Blossom is gluten free, and baked. You get all the crunch and flavor without sacrificing your healthy lifestyle. I’ve even whipped up a spicy dipping sauce–you’re going to love it.
I love that this recipe isn’t deep fried–I feel that the flavors come through better and you can definitely enjoy it on any diet. A deep fryer is something I’ve never had in my kitchen, and while it’s fun to order fried foods at a restaurant, like Outback Steakhouse, it’s not something I make at home.
Ingredients
For the onion:
- Yellow Onion: High in vitamin C, low in sodium, and containing no fat onions are a great way to get antioxidants. Yellow is best because it’s a bit sweeter than other types.
- Eggs: If you need to make this Blooming Onion without egg, you can use any egg replacement that you like.
- Almond flour: A healthy way to get a fried texture without actually frying. Almond flour provides a nice crunch while giving you a good dose of healthy fats, protein, and vitamin E.
- Paprika: A ground spice made from dried sweet peppers, paprika adds notes of heat and sweetness to your dish.
- Garlic salt: I prefer to use garlic salt, but you can use garlic powder so this recipe has less sodium.
- Pepper
For the sauce:
- Greek yogurt: Less fat and more protein than other ingredients like sour cream or cream cheese–you won’t even be able to tell the difference ;)
- Hot sauce
- Chili powder
- Garlic salt
How to make a Baked Blooming Onion:
Time needed: 35 minutes.
Detailed instructions about how to make this recipe, including exactly how to cut a Blooming Onion.
- Preheat
Preheat your oven to 400°F
- Make your onion bloom
Cut the top ½ off of your onion and remove the outer layer of the onion and discard.
Then place the flat part of the onion on the cutting board (root side up).
Starting about 1/2 inch from the root, cut the onion straight down–like the picture below. Go all the way around the onion. Turn the onion back over and allow the onion petals to fan out, then place the onion on a cookie sheet.
- Make your egg wash and batter
In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and water. In a second bowl, mix together the almond flour, garlic salt, paprika, and pepper.
If you’d like to bake your onion on top of some aluminum foil and bake it for easy clean up, add that to the pan now. - Batter your onion
Slowly pour your egg mixture over the onion then use a pastry brush to spread it over all of the petals, making sure it’s fully coated. Sprinkle the almond flour mixture all over the onion.
- Bake
Cook your onion for 20-25 minutes until browned and onion petals are soft.
- Make your dipping sauce
While your onion cooks mix the Greek yogurt, hot sauce, chili powder, and garlic salt together in a bowl. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Healthy Eating Plans
Whether you’re looking for a Weight Watchers Blooming Onion, or one for the 21 Day Fix, Trim Healthy Mama, or your low carb diet, this recipe is delicious and checks all of those boxes for you.
- Weight Watchers: ¼ of the onion and ¼ of the sauce is 1 Blue Plan Point, 3 Green Plan Points, and 1 Purple Plan Point when using fat free yogurt.
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: For the entire recipe: 2 Green Containers, 2 Blue Containers, 1 Red Container. The sauce is 1 Red container.
- 1 serving is ¼ of the onion. Container counts per serving: ½ Green Container, ½ Blue Container, ¼ Red container. ¼ Red Container for the sauce.
- Trim Healthy Mama: This is a THM-S recipe.
Looking for more healthy copycat recipes?
While I love eating delicious food, I love it even more when it’s healthy. I’ve taken many of your favorite recipes from restaurants and grocery stores and given them a healthy makeover. Here are the most popular:
- Starbucks Bacon Egg bites
- Chipotle Chicken
- Turkey Chorizo
- Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Healthy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Starbucks Espresso Brownies
- Copycat Brown Rice and Quinoa
- Homemade Rotisserie Chicken
- Wine Popsicles
How to make a Baked Blooming Onion
Equipment
Ingredients
For the onion:
- 1 onion large, white or sweet
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp water
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp pepper
For the sauce: (makes enough to fill the dip cup and refill a few times)
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder or cayenne pepper to make it spicy
- ½ tsp garlic salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Cut the top ½ off of your onion and remove the outer layer and discard. Then place the flat part of the onion on the cutting board (root side up). Starting about ¼ inch from the root make cuts going straight down. Go all the way around the onion. Flip the onion back over and allow the onion petals to fan out, then place the onion on a cookie sheet.
- In a small bowl whisk together eggs and water. In a second bowl mix together the almond flour, garlic salt, paprika, and pepper.
- Pour your egg wash mixture over the onion then use a pastry brush to spread it over all of the petals, then sprinkle the almond flour mixture all over the onion.
- Cook your onion for 20-25 minutes until browned and onion petals are soft.
- While your onion cooks mix Greek yogurt, hot sauce, chili powder, and garlic salt together in a bowl. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- Weight Watchers: ¼ of the onion and ¼ of the sauce is 1 Blue Plan Point, 3 Green Plan Points, and 1 Purple Plan Point when using fat free yogurt.
- 21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: For the entire recipe: 2 Green Containers, 2 Blue Containers, 1 Red Container. The sauce is 1 Red container.
- 1 serving is ¼ of the onion. Container counts per serving: ½ Green Container, ½ Blue Container, ¼ Red container. ¼ Red Container for the sauce.
- Trim Healthy Mama: This is a THM-S recipe.
Oh, I remember getting these at Damon’s! Sadly, I think they all closed. Can’t wait to make it again!
This is my favorite appetizer from Outback, so I’m glad to have a recipe to make it at home now! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you! I need a low carb blooming onion so I’m not tempted by the fattening real one!
I love that dipping sauce! It has just the right amount of kick to it. This will be perfect for this weekend.