Air Fryer Onions

Air Fryer Onions are the best way to make slightly crisp and caramelized onions! If you want a great way to make an easy side dish in less cooking time than other methods, this easy air fryer recipe is perfect. Forget about a blooming onion, and make this instead.

What I love about this simple onion recipe is that you only need sliced onions and a few other simple ingredients. It's my favorite recipe to make and pair with meat entrees like steak, chicken, and pork chops. Not only does it take less oil than frying, but you don't have to coat the onions in flour, either.

A lot of times, you'll have onion recipes that need flour to get that golden brown coloring, but not this cooking process. It's like combining crispy onions with sautéed onions and making one of the best recipes and flavors.

Speaking of simple air fryer recipes, be sure to check out my Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans for another simple side dish option. Both would be simple and great to pair with any dish. 

Ingredients

For the full recipe, be sure to scroll to the recipe card below.

Onion - You can use sweet Vidalia onions, red onions, yellow onions, white onions, or any type of onions that you want.

Oil - You only need a little oil to make this simple dish.

Salt & Black Pepper - For flavor.

How to make Air Fryer Onions

Step One: Start by preheating the air fryer to 400 degrees.

Step Two: Slice the onions into thick slices.

Toss the onion slices in the oil and then season with salt and pepper.

Step Three: Put the onion into the air fryer basket and cook for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Variations

Use different types of onions - Sweet onions are always a good onion of choice, but you can easily use other types of onions as well. That's the great thing about this fried onions recipe.

Add seasonings - Salt and pepper are great, but you can easily add more flavors to add other tastes. Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and any other options are all great on this delicious air fryer recipe.

Add a crispy crust - If you want to make these more like homemade onion rings that are crunchy, you can coat the onions in panko breadcrumbs before cooking them.

Change the onion shape - Thin slices work great for this recipe, but you can also get that crispy texture by cooking onion petals, onion wedges, or thin slices as well. You will need to adjust the cooking time.

Common Questions

Can I use a flour mixture?

You can always use an egg and flour mixture to coat the onions and then fry them to make air fryer onion rings, but that adds gluten and takes more ingredients, so I choose to leave them out of this recipe.

I like the crispy texture that I get by using a bit of olive oil (or avocado oil) and then frying them up. Not having the large onion coated in an egg mixture or flour mixture keeps them light and crispy, and delicious.

How do I cook onions to crispy perfection?

Air frying is the key to making this crispy onion rings! The cooking oil paired with the hot air of the fryer is all that it takes to make this dish with great flavor.

Be sure that you're not overloading the air fryer basket, and do your best to add the onions so that they're in a single layer as well.

Why are my onions not crispy?

If the onion mixture didn't get a bit crispy and golden brown, then you might have put too many into the air fryer basket. These aren't going to be crunchy in texture, but the hot air should add a little bit of crispiness to them so you can eat and enjoy them.

Just pay attention to the cooking time, and don't forget that you can always cook them for an extra minute or so if you feel like you want them to be a bit crisper or caramelized. You can control the outcome easily. 

How do I serve crispy onion rings?

Not only can you eat these just like they are, but they make the perfect topping, too. I like adding these sauteed onions to the tops of salads, or they're a great garnish on steak, hot dogs, and pork chops, also.

Eating air fry onions like this also means that you can pair them with your favorite dipping sauce, too! It comes down to your personal preference and also depends on the number of onions that you're going to make.