Outback's Bloomin' Onion Spin-Offs, Ranked

We're not sure exactly when a battered, deep-fried onion became synonymous with steak from Down Under, but no fans of the Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse are complaining. In fact, the Australian-themed restaurant chain sells over 8 million of these flaky, crunchy appetizers each year.

You can certainly attempt to make a homemade version of Outback's Bloomin Onion, though it might be a little too much breading and deep-frying in our own kitchens for our taste. It can also require a significant selection from your spice rack: One of the reasons these onions are so delicious is because of the seasoned flour that coats each onion petal before it's fried to golden perfection. The recipe for the coating and the accompanying Bloom sauce are top-secret, and we have it on good authority that the breading alone uses 17 different spices. If you're craving that tried and true Bloomin' Onion flavor, it's perhaps best left to the steakhouse experts.

Given the popularity of the classic appetizer, it's no surprise that Outback would start slinging spin-offs throughout the rest of its menu. We found four current riffs on the flavors of the original onion, and the chain is known to add seasonal options as well. We set out to try each one and see how they stack up against the old favorite — and against each other. Here are Outback's current spin-offs on the Bloomin' Onion, ranked from worst to best.

We'll start out by stating the somewhat obvious: If you like the seasoning on the Bloomin' Onion, you probably can't go too wrong with any of the Bloomin' Onion spin-offs. They all mimic the flavor or texture (or both) of the original, but to varying degrees of success. Though this Bloomin' Chicken Sandwich entree had some highlights, it was our least favorite of the onion homages.

The sandwich wasn't a total disaster: It remained juicy inside the breading (we ordered it fried, though you can have it grilled, too), which can be difficult to do when you're mass-producing chicken sandwiches. The bun texture paired with the chicken and the fresh toppings like house-made pickles and lettuce had good contrast in each bite. The Bloom sauce, which comes drizzled on the sandwich, added a kick of extra flavor.

The major downfall here was that the piece of chicken was on the thinner side, which meant the ratio of breading to chicken tasted unbalanced. The seasoning overwhelmed the flavor of the chicken itself, so it felt like we were eating fried food — literally any fried food could have been a placeholder here — inside a bun with decent toppings. If we ordered this again, we'd likely try the grilled version to see if the fried component was the major culprit.

What's not to like when you combine seafood and Bloomin' Onion batter? We ordered these Bloomin' Fried Shrimp as an entree even though they're billed as an appetizer. We can see why Outback suggests sharing; without lighter sides for some variety, these golden brown beauties can start to feel a little heavy after just a few. They also seemed to be the saltiest tasting out of the dishes we tried, contrasting the sweeter natural flavors of the shrimp.

That said, these shrimp were perfectly tender on the inside, and expertly fried for the satisfying crunch you know and love from the original onion coating. The end result was a crisp, succulent bite, which paired well with the accompanying Bloom sauce. There was also some sauce drizzled over the top, though you would definitely want to dip them in extra sauce to cut some of the fried flavor.

If we ordered these again, we would plan to share the plate as intended in the appetizer round, and likely choose between these or the onion. Otherwise, the apps feel entirely too heavy, and we'd fill up on spiced breading before our entrees even arrived. As a side note, the shrimp was the only leftover food we took home. If you crisp them in a toaster oven (or equivalent), they reheat fairly well without becoming soggy or rubbery.

Outback calls this entree its "twist on fried chicken," and it's not hard to see why. A boneless chicken breast is battered in the Bloomin' Onion seasoning and fried to golden perfection, then served with Bloom sauce on the side and drizzled on top. When our entree arrived, the portion of chicken appeared very large. It looked to be a single (but very sizeable) chicken breast that was butterflied to maintain a fairly even thickness throughout. That resulted in an evenly cooked entree that remained juicy and flavorful.

The chicken is a good complementary protein for the Bloomin' Onion batter in this case, since the portion is much larger than in the chicken sandwich. The spices in the seasoning are exactly what you expect from an onion spin-off and go well with the chicken. The outside was perfectly crisp while the meat remained tender. This Outback entree comes with your choice of two sides, which also gives you the opportunity to dip extra foods like Aussie fries or a vegetable medley into the Bloom sauce. For the amount of food you get with this entree and the quality of the main event, this felt like a great value despite it being the most expensive on our list of spin-offs.

Of all the Bloomin' Onion spin-offs, The Bloomin' Burger was by far our favorite. It consisted of a thick burger patty cooked to order and topped with gooey American cheese, fresh toppings like house-made pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, then capped off with Bloomin' Onion petals and, of course, Bloom sauce.

The burger is the perfect vehicle for pairing with the Bloomin' Onion petals, in our opinion, because the savory beef complements the onion seasoning and contrasts the slight sweetness from the onion itself. The Bloom sauce is a welcome creamy element to the party, and the other standard burger toppings lend a crisp freshness that add to the well-balanced result. It's a towering mouthful of food, but it's a great one each time.

Unlike the other spin-offs, the burger patty isn't coated in the Bloomin' Onion breading. Burgers aren't a light meal on their own either, but the generous portion of fried onions on top gives it that extra pop of flavor without overwhelming the dish. This entree comes standard with a side of fries, or you can upgrade to options like a side salad for an extra fee. If you're in the mood for a classic burger meal with a little bit of an Outback twist, this menu item should be ordered as-is, and enjoyed thoroughly. In fact, one of the diners at our table gave this entree a 9 out of 10 rating. Pretty high praise indeed.

We arrived at Outback with one objective: to immerse ourselves in Bloomin' Onion goodness. With the spin-off menu items, we certainly accomplished that. Each item tasted at least in part like the famous onion appetizer, even if some of them were a little overwhelming. The dishes that celebrated those flavors the best were the chicken entree and the burger, which offered a good balance between the distinctive spices in the Bloomin' seasoning and other elements on the plate.

We also got a free Bloomin' Onion for the table as our appetizer (more on how to do that in a minute), and we likely wouldn't pair Bloomin' appetizers with entrees in the future. All of them can be delicious in their own ways, but when we had more than one Bloomin' dish in the meal, it started to feel a bit heavy and one-note in terms of flavor. We'd likely opt either for the standard onion and other menu items, or branch out to a new appetizer (gasp!) to try one of the Bloomin' entree variations.

Regardless of which Bloomin' Onion dish you order, plan to hydrate since the seasoning is very salty. A standard Bloomin' Onion contains 4,930 milligrams of sodium — more than double the recommended 2,300 milligrams per day recommended for adults by the FDA. The entrees were in the 700 to 1,140 milligram range, and the shrimp appetizer clocked in at a whopping 5,830 milligrams of sodium. Waters up, everyone!

When we were scouring the Outback menu ahead of time for the Bloomin' Onion spin-offs, the site promoted its dining rewards membership very heavily. That can sometimes be annoying, but in this case the tradeoff is that new rewards members get a free Bloomin' Onion appetizer, without any previous purchase required.

Diners simply sign up for the rewards program ahead of time and input basic contact information (like a phone number), then their account is linked to rewards for all of the Bloomin' brands. (Outback really capitalized on that popularity, huh?) Outback's sister restaurants include Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's Italian Grill, and Fleming's. Once you set up your account, you'll get a text or email that verifies you're eligible for a free Bloomin' Onion the next time you visit Outback. The server will take your phone number before preparing the check, and the appetizer is comped for you.

We tried this out to test the process, and it was incredibly seamless. You'll also start earning points based on your orders for future money off your tab, though that won't score you free appetizers every time. You'll need to spend roughly $70 before accumulating enough points for $5 off your future bills. Points expire after six months, and rewards expire 90 days after qualifying for them. But if you prefer your steak from Down Under and are a frequent visitor, even more Bloomin' Onions (and their spin-offs) can be in your future.

To taste and rank the Bloomin' Onion spin-offs, we visited an Outback Steakhouse for dinner on a weeknight, so the kitchen would be busy but not slammed. We felt that would allow us to get a good picture of the service and the quality of the food we ordered, compared to a busy weekend service. We tried the food in the restaurant rather than getting takeout so the dishes were freshly prepared.

To identify the spin-offs, we chose dishes that included at least one major characteristic of the famous fried onions. (Outback makes this easy because all of them had "Bloomin'" in the name.) We also ordered the must-try original Bloomin' Onion to refresh our memories on the flavor and texture of the OG appetizer — and to test out those free dining rewards. Though the rankings were completed by one person, we took into account the opinions of the three other adults who were at the table.

The heaviest focus was on the flavor of each dish, though value, texture, and appearance were all smaller components in the rankings as well. We frankly excluded nutritional value from the rankings, since all of these dishes were fried. Bloomin' Onions and their spin-off friends won't win any nutritional awards, but we'll be back again for the taste and craveability.