It’s summertime and I love having my friends over, BUT I do not have the time or the inclination to be cooking for days, especially when they’re over and I want to enjoy their company. I look for easy, delicious recipes that are not time-consuming but also make an impact.  We all know the deep fried blooming onions from certain restaurants, but have you ever made them at home and NOT fried them?  I’m here to show you how.

Why you’ll love this grilled blooming onion recipe

• they’re healthier than traditional deep-fried blooming onions; 
• they’re so pretty and make a beautiful presentation;
• you can blanche the onions and make the vinaigrette in advance and grill them at the last minute;
• serve them with whatever sauce or dressing you like;
• onions are a lot more nutritious than people think!

Ingredients 

• Onions – you can use red or yellow onions, but I think red looks prettier. 
• Lemon juice – I prefer freshly squeezed juice. You can use lime juice in place of lemon juice. 
• Red wine vinegar – this is the most common used vinegar in my pantry
• Maple syrup – I prefer maple syrup over honey simply because of flavor. You can use either or omit. 
• Dijon mustard – is one of my favorite ingredients to add to dressings. It adds creaminess and tang. 
• Dried oregano – you can use dried oregano or fresh thyme. 
• Olive oil – use an unrefined olive oil for best flavor. 

How to make grilled blooming onions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Slice off ½ inch from the top end of the onion and peel, leaving the root end intact. Place the cut-side down of the onion on a cutting board (the root should be facing up). Take your knife and starting ½ inch below the top (root) end of the onion, make a cut going all the way down to the cutting board. Make 3 other evenly spaced cuts so you have 4 quadrants (like a compass). Now, make 2 cuts in between each quadrant. You should have a total of 12 cuts. If you have a really big onion, you can make more cuts. Turn the onion over and carefully separate the leaves to look like a flower. It’s ok if the leaves don’t open up all the way. After the onion gets cooked the leaves will open up much more easily. Repeat with the rest of the onions.
3. Generously season the pot of water with salt. Add onions and cook for 4 minutes. Carefully pull out onions with a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet. Allow to cool slightly.
4. Preheat the grill to low. I like to have it around 250 degrees.
5. Brush onion petals with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place onions (root side down) on the grill and cook on low for 20 to 25 minutes, until tips start to char. Transfer to a serving plate. I like to use a stainless steel spatula to remove the onions from the grill.
6. Make vinaigrette by adding all vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar with a screw top lid and shake until emulsified.
7. Drizzle grilled onions with vinaigrette and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with a knife.

Tips 

• I like to serve the blooming onions with other grilled vegetables. The vinaigrette is not to be missed. It makes enough for a large veggie platter. 
• Don’t feel limited to only use 3 onions. You can make as many or as little blooming onions as you’d like. 
• Larger onions will need slightly more time to boil. 
• If onions make you cry, you can cut them next to a gas burner with the flame on (be careful not to burn your cutting board) or you can light a candle next to your cutting board. Either of these methods will help burn off the gases onions release.  

Substitutions 

I usually have a sub for everything, but I don’t know what other vegetable you can cut that would have the same effect as an onion.  That said, you can use this vinaigrette on any grilled or roasted vegetables!

Other recipes you may like 

*Grilled Vegetables with Romesco Sauce 

*Grilled Vegetables with Lemon-Basil Dressing

*Chopped Grilled Vegetable Salad 

If you give this grilled blooming onion recipe a try, snap a pic and tag @pamelasalzman so I can see your beautiful creations. I also really appreciate readers taking the time to leave a rating and review! Subscribe for free to my site for the latest recipes,  updates and things I’m loving lately.  If you enjoy this recipe, I taught it last year in my online class!  Give me an hour a month, and I’ll make you a better, healthier cook!