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Whether you’re looking to eat a little healthier, or just make meals faster, the air fryer can be such a big help! I have shared more than 100 air fryer recipes here now, many designed to just save a little time, or effort, versus using the oven. These air fryer onions are super simple, as you might expect, and take next to no time or effort!
What I love about making onions in the air fryer is that you can get either a grilled onions type of onion OR a crispy onion, depending on the time and temperature that you cook things at.
Onions are a fairly good source of Vitamin C, folate, Vitamin B6 AND potassium, which is great, especially as they taste so good on slightly less healthy foods!
This recipe requires minimal ingredients, and minimal time & is so easy. If you’ve got a large air fryer, such as a Ninja Foodi, then you can even just cook these at the bottom, underneath the air fryer basket itself, with pretty good results.
Ingredients for making caramelised onions in the air fryer:
1 white onion
1 tablespoon of oil (I like to use avocado oil as olive oil isn’t good to use at higher temperatures)
1/8 teaspoon of white sugar
How to make air fryer onions:
Chop off both ends of your onion and peel away the skin.
Cut the onion in half.
Slice each half into semi-circle shapes, around 1/2 cm thick.
Lightly dress the onions with your oil. Don’t add the sugar yet.
Lay the onions in the air fryer basket, or underneath if you’re cooking other items at the same time.
Cook at 150C (300F) for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Add the sugar and mix well to ensure all the onions have a little coating.
Cook at 150C (300F) for another 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.
If you want grilled caramelised style onions then you can remove them now.
If you want very crispy onions then you can continue cooking for another 4-5 minutes, at 150C (300F), until they are super crispy.
Can you air fryer onions and peppers?
Yes, absolutely! Air fryer onions are so delicious, and simple, and you can just add in your chunks of pepper at the same time.
I love to add onions and peppers to air fryer chicken fajitas when I make those too, and it’s so convenient to just throw them in midway through. Anything I can air fry is a winner for me, as I’m often pottering around in the kitchen, around my children, and love the convenience of the air fryer just sitting on the worktop!
Are fried onions unhealthy?
These golden brown onions are definitely a healthier way to fry onions. You do still need a little bit of oil, to help them cook well, but the different between frying onions and air fried onions is a significant amount of calories, 100s typically!
If you’re looking to enjoy the foods that you love, but eat a little healthier, then the air fryer, and air fried foods in general, is a big help with that!
Can you air fry onions with no oil?
You can, however, they do catch a lot, and burn very quickly. I find the cooking a lot less uneven too. If you don’t want to use a tablespoon of oil then I’d recommend a couple of sprays of spray oil, avocado oil or similar, just to try to reduce the chance of the onions burning!
What type of onion works for air fryer onions?
Personally I like to use white/yellow onions as I find they work best. You can use red onions too, if that’s what you have to hand, but they don’t have the same sweetness for caramelised onions in my opinion.
What meals to serve air fryer onions with?
We love these onions, either grilled or crispy, and they work with a variety of dinners. Sausages with air fried mashed potatoes. These work great in my onion gravy, or even alongside.
Toad in the hole, air fryer hunters chicken, air fryer brats, on the top of a moroccan lamb burger or even just in an air fryer grilled cheese. Yum!
Want to try some of my other air fryer recipes while you’re here?
- Air fryer sausages
- Air fryer apple crumble
- Air fryer parsnips recipe (honey glazed)
- Air fryer whole chicken
- Air fryer carrots and parsnips
- Air fryer turkey bacon
- Air fryer English muffins
- Air fryer sausage patties
- Air fryer frozen yorkshire puddings
- Air fryer potato skins
These are my favourite air fryer accessories:
Something to note about air fryer recipes is that all air fryers have different sizes, depths and as such the cooking times can vary. All air fryer recipes on this website are intended as a guide, and not a guarantee that the timings will be perfect. Enjoy!
How to cook onions in the air fryer:
Air fryer onions
Crispy or grilled onions in the air fryer.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 1/8 teaspoon of white sugar
Instructions
-
Chop off both ends of your onion and peel away the skin.
-
Cut the onion in half.
-
Slice each half into semi-circle shapes, around 1/2 cm thick.
-
Lightly dress the onions with your oil. Don’t add the sugar yet.
-
Lay the onions in the air fryer basket, or underneath if you’re cooking other items at the same time.
-
Cook at 150C (300F) for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
-
Add the sugar and mix well to ensure all the onions have a little coating.
-
Cook at 150C (300F) for another 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.
-
If you want grilled caramelised style onions then you can remove them now.
-
If you want very crispy onions then you can continue cooking for another 4-5 minutes, at 150C (300F), until they are super crispy.
Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.
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