Ninja air fryer onions are the bomb! To top on hamburgers, caramelized, serve as a side dish or add meat and make fajitas for dinner. Perfectly tender with a wallop of flavor. If you loved making air fryer frozen onion rings this is a game changer too.

Air fryer onions being cooked to perfection, with sliced onions turning golden brown in the air fryer basket.

Ready for some of the most amazing air fryer onions around? Here they are!! The great burger topping with a wallop of flavor. One of our favorite easy air fryer recipes we make almost every single week.

I mean this is probably the cheapest recipe ever, and adds the most flavor at the same time. Use any type you want from yellow to white or even red. They are the best burger topping ever you can actually make sweeter similar to how to caramelize onions.

I mean what don’t I use these babies for? Always in my fridge to dice or slice and give every recipe not only added flavor but texture too. Air fry longer for more tender and char or just a bit to soften slightly, up to you. Give them a whirl and let us know what you think.

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Ninja Foodi Onions

Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.

It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.

A close-up photo of a hand pulling out the basket of an open air fryer on a light-colored surface. The interior of the air fryer basket is empty and features a mesh design, perfect for cooking your favorite dishes like bang bang shrimp. The edge of the air fryer has a latch mechanism for securing the basket.
Three yellow onions sit in front of a black air fryer, perfect for making crispy air fryer onions, with a colorful cloth adding a pop of color to the left.

What Types of Onions to Use

Yellow is the most common, they are often referred to as all-purpose onions. You can bake, smoke, saute, or dice them up and add them to things like meatloaf. I choose those most often myself to make these fried onions the healthy way.

Helpful Tips

Note that when you slice the onion they need to all be the same width (or as close to it as possible). The thinner they are the softer and browner they will get in a shorter amount of time. Thicker seems better in our opinion as they do shrink a bit.

You can see here how large we made them. Then you’ll want to pick each large piece up and separate them so each piece can get coated with olive oil and seasonings. Throw these into a bowl and get the rest of your items out. Preheating your air fryer is always a good idea to make them golden brown at the end. 5 minutes will do the trick.

How Long to Air Fry Onions

Using the amount I suggest below, yellow or white, they will take about 15 minutes. If you have 2 rather large sizes you may need to add more than advised below in my recipe card. And there are a bunch of varieties and colors out there, red onions will take a bit longer since they are firmer in nature so when cooking onions of this variety you’d need to increase the timing to about 20 minutes still flipping often.

Slices of white onion on a cutting board next to a knife, ready to be transformed into crispy air fryer onions.
A bowl filled with raw sliced onions is shown with text above that reads, "Air fryer onions: Crispy and delicious!
A close-up image of sliced onions in a white bowl, seasoned with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper after being perfectly crisped in the air fryer.

How to Season

To clarify what I mean by them glistening in the bowl, you can see what I mean here ensuring every piece is coated with oil. This coating also helps the seasonings to stick well, and to soften nicely. To add flavor I like to add some Old Bay, garlic powder and/or salt and pepper.

We make these thinly sliced onions for on top of our Instant Pot hamburgers all the time. These are not coated with anything like a blooming onion or onion rings are. They are naked essentially and meant to be a side dish or topping.

Breaded Onions in Air Fryer (Option)

If you want to make the crispy onions, like the crunchy kind, follow our crispy fried onions recipe. Those are lightly battered so you will get more of an onion ring texture of sorts.

A close-up of air fryer onions inside a basket. The text at the top reads "Air Fryer onions that rock!" The onions are lightly browned and look ready to eat.

What would you use air fryer onion for or with? Our favorite is atop burgers but or when making air fryer fajitas. There are so many other ideas out there though.

Ready for more onion recipes? If you haven’t made air fryer frozen onion rings yet they come out amazing! Way crispier than in the oven you don’t even need to spritz them to get that deep fried crunch. Pair with ranch and fry sauce for dipping sauces, they’re a fun snack.

Air fryer onions being cooked to perfection, with sliced onions turning golden brown in the air fryer basket.
5 from 3 votes

Air Fryer Onions Recipe

By Justine
Ninja air fryer onions are the bomb! To top on hamburgers, serve as a side dish or add meat and make fajitas for dinner. Perfectly tender with a wallop of flavor.
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • 1 air fryer

Ingredients 

  • 2-3 medium onions, sliced
  • 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
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Instructions 

  • Slice onions. The thinner they are the more tender they will become.
  • Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
  • Put onions in a bowl and pour olive oil on top. Sprinkle on all seasonings and stir together. Onions should be shiny with oil, if you add more you may need a bit more oil.
  • Pour them into your air fryer basket and shut. Cook at 400 degrees F for 15 min. total, flipping them every 5 minutes or until they are as tender/browned as you'd like.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 2oz, Calories: 35kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 437mg, Potassium: 40mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!

About Justine

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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9 Comments

  1. GAME CHANGER!! MY house smells so good I used one big yellow onion added olive oil, salt and pepper and cooked them at 400 for 11 minutes. These are going on cheeseburgers tonight. Thank you thank you thank you!

  2. Okay. I made these onions and added them to a chilli recipe. Oh. My. God. I tossed in some garlic (I couldn’t help myself) and then put all of it into the partially cooked chilli and let it all simmer. I’ll never eat out again. Thanks for this! 💕

  3. Can these air fryer onions be made ahead of time for steak sandwiches and then just warmed up in the frying pan with the starks?

    1. Earlier in the day, probably. Texture will be a bit different as they sit, cool down, and then reheat.

  4. Can’t wait to try these! Do you think I could add (or do alone) mushrooms? And if so would I cook for the same time and temp? My kid loves mushroom Turkey burgers!