This is one of the easiest Air Fryer Onion Bhaji recipes you’ll ever make—crispy, golden. It's so simple, you'll almost feels like cheating! These no-fry, healthier Onion Bhajis make a delicious side dish or starter to serve with your Indian fakeaway meals. (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Here’s how I make them step by step in my kitchen—video instructions included!
We love perfectly crispy Onion Bhaji, and they’re super easy to make at home. I really wonder—why would you even order a takeaway? The deep-fried ones are, of course, super delicious—crispy and golden, no doubt. But the air fryer version is equally good! It’s the perfect alternative when you want to enjoy onion bhajis without deep frying at all.
My secret to crispy Air fryer onion bhajis are two ingredients - chickpea flour and rice flour. And a little patience to allow the bhaji batter to rest.
I have made this recipe for Onion Chickpeas fritters in my Instant Pot Airfryer Vortex 6 in 1. Since it has a nonstick tray as opposed to the wire mesh-like one in the Philips Viva Airfryer, I didn’t need baking paper to line it.
Jump to:
- Why make this Air fryer Onion Bhaji ( Onion Pakora )
- What is Onion Bhaji?
- Ingredients
- Optional add ins
- How to make Air fryer Onion Bhajis? Step by Step
- Tips to make Crispy Onion Pakora in the Air fryer
- Serving Suggestions
- Storing leftovers
- Recipe FAQ's
- More Easy Air fryer Side Dish Recipes You'll Love
- Air fryer Onion Bhaji recipe
Why make this Air fryer Onion Bhaji ( Onion Pakora )
- Air-fried, not deep-fried! – Enjoy crispy, tasty bhajis without the guilt! Once you start, I can bet you won’t be able to stop with one.
- Vegan & Gluten-Free – Perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions.
- Cost-effective – Made with simple pantry ingredients, it’s budget-friendly too.
- Low-oil snack – Uses only 2-2.5 teaspoon of oil
- Easy and mess-free – Mix everything in one bowl, cook in the air fryer, and skip the greasy mess of deep frying.
- Quick to make – Minimal prep and cleanup make it a breeze.
- Make ahead & reheat – They reheat beautifully in the air fryer, making them perfect for meal prep.
- Versatile – Serve as a starter, side, or even with Punjabi Kadhi Pakora.
- Weight Watchers & Slimming world-friendly – Satisfy cravings with this light, low-oil version that the whole family will love!
What is Onion Bhaji?
Onion Bhaji is a popular restaurant and takeaway favorite in the UK. It is a deep-fried crispy onion fritters Indian appetizer served with tamarind chutney and coriander mint chutney. The batter is made with chickpea flour (gram flour), ground spice powders, coriander leaves, and very little water.
However, in India, Onion Bhaji is also known as Onion Pakora, Onion Pakoda, Vengayam Bajji, and Kanda Bhajji. This delicious crispy snack is often served with Indian Masala Chai or a cup of strong filter coffee in the Indian subcontinent.
Keep in mind - The Air fryer Onion Bhaji and Deep Fried Onion Bhaji have different textures due to the nature of cooking and the limited amount of oil in the recipe.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below.
- Red Onions: Swap for brown or white onion, but adjust the water quantity.
- Rice Flour: It adds crispiness. No rice flour? That’s okay! Swap with cornflour. I still prefer rice flour though.
- Ginger: Add 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger not ginger powder. Garlic tends to be overpowering, so I skip it.
- Chilli: For a kick of heat, add in a diced green chilli or some red chilli powder
- Flour: Stick to gram flour(chickpea flour)—plain flour won’t work that well. They are easily available in the Asian Isle in supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and ASDA.
Optional add ins
- Cashews: Consider adding chopped cashews for a tasty crunch.
- Spices: Add garam masala for extra flavor, or cumin/ajwain seeds if you like.
- Veggies: Mix in spinach, grated carrot, or grated potato to make mixed veg pakoras.
- Baking Soda/Powder: No need for either! I never use them for making onion pakoras.
How to make Air fryer Onion Bhajis? Step by Step
Step 1. Simply mix all the ingredients (not water) and let it rest for 20 minutes. This allows the onions to release their moisture.
Step 2. After resting, give the mixture a good squeeze with clean hands. If it still seems dry, add some water. Start with 1 tablespoon of water at a time and mix, until you get a clumpy mixture. Then mix in a teaspoon of oil.
Step 3. Preheat your air fryer to 200°C, arrange small lumps of the batter in the air fryer basket. Then brush with a little oil or use an oil spray.
Step 4. Air fry for 10-12 minutes until the onion bhajis are golden and crisp.
Tips to make Crispy Onion Pakora in the Air fryer
- Preheat the Air fryer. This step is essential to replicate the temperature of the cooking oil.
- Do not slice the Onion too thick. Thinner the better!
- The pakora batter must not be too wet. Allowing the onion to rest in the flour is an important step. Onion will leave its water when it's rested with flour, so do not be tempted to add a lot of water to make the batter.
- Rice Flour. Adding the rice flour to the chickpea flour batter will make super crispy pakora bhaji.
- The second batch will cook slightly quicker than the first as the air fryer has been cooking for a while.
- Brushing a layer of oil is necessary for this bhaji recipe, otherwise, they will turn out dry.
- Do not overcrowd the Bhaji in the air fryer basket.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve Air fryer Onion Bhaji along with Green Chutney or Tamarind Sauce as a perfect starter or snack. You can also tuck these crispy bhajis into wraps for a quick and tasty midweek meal.
- For a curry night, pair them with Coriander Garlic Naan bread, Dal Tarka, Coconut Chickpea Curry, Veg Korma, and Cucumber Raita. It’s the ultimate addition to a homemade fakeaway feast!
- Great to to also serve with Whole Wheat Chapatis, Chana Masala, and Rogan Josh, then you need to try this recipe. This Air fryer version of our Onion Pakora is also great for Kadhi Pakora too.
Storing leftovers
If you have any left, store in air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the air fryer until crispy and serve hot.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can! Once the onion bhajis have cooled, transfer them to freezer-safe bags and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw them in the microwave or overnight in the fridge. Then, pop them back into the air fryer and cook until thoroughly heated.
It's super simple! I actually have a recipe specifically for making air fryer frozen onion bhajis—check it out!
To reheat the bhajis stored in the fridge, place them back into the air fryer bakset and cook at 180C for 3-4 minutes until thoroughly heated.
Authentic Onion Bhaji recipe is vegan. There is no need to use egg to make the fritters. Batter is made with onion, chickpea flour, rice flour, spices and water and then deep fried or air fried to golden perfection.
More Easy Air fryer Side Dish Recipes You'll Love
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Ingredients
- 2 medium red onions sliced thin
- 1 cup gram flour / chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoon Rice Flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon Ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Chilli powder
- ¼ cup coriander leaves
- Salt to taste
- 1 - 3 teaspoon water as needed
- 2 - 2½ teaspoon Oil
Instructions
- MIX THE INGREDIENTS - Add all the dry ingredients - flour, spices, salt, onion, and coriander leaves.
- Mix them with clean hands and allow them to sit for at least 20 minutes ( or longer - up to 1 hour )
- ONION BHAJI BATTER - After 20 minutes, squeeze the onions with your hands to release the water. Combine the mixture together to form a thick batter. If you feel the batter is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water at a time until the batter coats the onions well. Add one teaspoon of oil and mix.If you feel, during the process of frying the batter has gone a bit watery, you can add 1-2 teaspoon of gram flour too.
- AIR FRY ONION BHAJI - Preheat the Air fryer to 400F / 200C for 10 minutes. Brush the air fryer basket with oil. Add small lumps of the fritter batter into a basket without touching each other. Brush a little oil on the top. Air fry for 10- 12 minutes, rotating at halftime. Brush again with a little oil.
- Air fry until evenly brown and crispy. Check if they’re cooked inside and the bhaji is not wet. Transfer to a serving plate.
- SERVE - Serve immediately with your favorite coriander chutney, ketchup, tamarind chutney, or raita.
Video
Notes
Sandhya's Expert Tips to make Onion Bhajis in the Air fryer
- Preheat the Air Fryer. This step is essential to replicate the temperature of the cooking oil to make crispy bhajis.
- Do not slice the Onion too thick. Thinner the better!
- The pakora batter must not be too wet. Allowing the onion to rest in the flour is an important step. Onion will leave its water when it's rested with flour, so do not be tempted to add a lot of water to make the batter.
- Rice Flour. Adding the rice flour to the chickpea flour batter will make super crispy pakora bhaji.
- The second batch will cook slightly quicker than the first as the air fryer has been cooking for a while.
- Brushing a layer of oil is necessary for this bhaji recipe, otherwise, they will turn out dry.
- Do not overcrowd the Bhaji in the air fryer basket.
- Allow the bhaji batter to rest. The longer you leave the onions to rest in the dry flour, the lesser water you will need. Also, the cooking time will also be lesser.
Etta says
Sandhya, this air fryer onion bhaji recipe looks absolutely fantastic!
I've been following your blog for years and always appreciate your creative, healthy takes on classic dishes. I tried a similar air fryer pakora recipe a while back, but it
never quite got that perfect crispiness – I'm definitely
trying your method this weekend! I can't wait to see how it turns out.
Larry says
I'm not a natural cook, I need to follow a recipe. These came out very well, tasty and crisp. Will make again.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Absolutely delighted to know Larry!
Scott Bryant says
I've made plenty of bhaji's over the years and this one is so easy to make and with a few added extras tasted amazing.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
So pleased to know Scott! How did you customise the bhajis - would love to know your way too!
Abigail says
I cannot find rice flour- Internet suggests substituting with cornstarch. Do you think that could work for this recipe?
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Hi Abigail, If you can't find rice flour, you can sub it for corn starch. Rice flour lends crispiness to the pakoras.
Yasir says
I have made a few times, great recipe! Only change is I use yellow onions as the red are too sweet for my liking. I also tried frying them as in the other recipe - I have to say the fried ones are much different in taste and texture, but usually i will air fry. I think the nutritional information should be adjusted, the air fry is much lower in fat then written in the description.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Hi Yasir,So glad you enjoy our air fryer onion bhaji! Thank you for taking time in reviewing the recipe.
Regarding the nutritional info, let me look into it now and amend if required. I usually feed it into the nutritional calculator and share the info as is.
Henry Thomas says
Can not wait to try the bhajis, awaiting my next delivery to get some gram! Many thanks.
amanda wilkins says
Thank you for this great recipe! I have coeliac disease so this healthy, gluten free recipe is fab! I had to really reduce my frying times though, not sure if it’s my air fryer.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
So glad you love the air fryer onion bhaji. Yes air frying time has to do by any large with air fryer models. May I know which one do you have?
Mandy says
Looking forward to making this recipe. Please could I ask what the gram flour is in grams?
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Hi Mandy, 1 cup chickpea flour is about 92grams. Hope you enjoy making the air fryer onion bhaji.
Hayley says
Yes. it would be really great if you could put your recipes in metric for the rest of the world. I just came across your site and the recipes look great but adjusting from cups is always tricky for anyone outside the US. Also old fashioned UK cup measurements from prewar were different sized to US ones which complicates things even further.
Sandhya Hariharan says
Absolutely, Haley! Thanks for your feedback. I’m working on adding metric measurements to my recipes. In India, we often cook by feel, but I want to make it easier for everyone to follow. Metric conversions coming soon!
Susan Washington says
Yum. Just got an air fryer and definitely will have to try this.
Sumit Kumar says
This looks delicious, will definitely try.
Mark Putland says
Just tried these in my new air fryer,
Came out lovely, I sprayed a little oil on as they were a little dry, probably me with to much flour
Will definitely do these again as they won't last very long.
Thanks
Mark
Sandhya's Kitchen says
So happy with your maiden attempt at these Air fryer Onion Bhaji!! Glad you loved it... simply easy peasy!
Chris says
For me, came out really dry and not really edible. It's not at all clear from the instructions if you're supposed to add oil to the mixture or not? It felt like it needed it.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Hi Chris, The instructions are pretty clear. As in step 4, it is mentioned when to brush the oil over the onion bhaji mixture. I believe you have missed the steps when trying it.
Also this recipe is a guide on how I make it. If you like to add oil to your bhaji, please feel free to add it to the mixture.
Clair Woods-Brown says
Instructions are perfectly clear, no oil in batter but brush with oil. Thanks for the recipe.
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Thank you Clair!
Erin Hennessy says
Do you know if these would these freeze and reheat well?
Sandhya's Kitchen says
Hi Erin, I have not tried freezing them. However I do not see why cannot be freezed. Reheating them should be pretty straight forward. Pop them back in the air fryer and cook as desired.
Leslie says
Freeze mine and they are perfectly fine