7 Popular Outback Steakhouse Appetizers, Ranked

The Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse chain is famous for its Bloomin' Onion appetizer and rightfully so — it's delicious and unique. However, the menu also includes a collection of other appetizers that are sure to pique some interest. If you've ever wondered how the appetizers stack up against each other, I've got you covered.

I went to Outback Steakhouse with a couple of friends and ordered seven of the most popular appetizers. After tasting them all, we ranked them based on flavor, texture, appearance, value, and more. Hopefully, what we learned will ensure you don't have to waste any room in your stomach on something sub-par when it would be better filled with the house specialty: steak, which Outback Steakhouse cooks in a simple yet effective way. A closer look at my methodology can be found at the end of this story, but we can worry about that later. For now, let's dive into the yummy taste-testing results and see which dishes came out on top and which ones were not so lucky.

Considering Outback is among the popular steakhouse chains in the U.S., you'd think this Australian-themed restaurant's take on an appetizer called Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie would be worth your while. However, my taste-testing accomplices and I found the exact opposite to be true. Not only was it the worst appetizer we sampled, but also it was so bad one of my friends started to wonder whether we'd gotten a bad batch. Yikes!

The Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie appetizer consisted of eight shrimp served on a half loaf of the house bread. While the bread was pretty good, you get that for free with every meal, so it's not much of a draw. As far as the shrimp was concerned, it was flavored with garlic and some kind of Cajun seasoning. But it was almost like the sauce that came on the side didn't go with the shrimp — at least not very well. It might be improved with a squeeze of lemon, but as is, the ingredients don't come together to form a cohesive dish. Compared to the other shrimp appetizers, which all ranked much higher, it simply didn't measure up.

In addition to the off-putting flavor and overall lackluster appeal, the Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie costs $16.49 (plus tax), so it's one of the most expensive options on the starters menu (the other shrimp appetizers share the same price). Needless to say, I recommend skipping this one.

The Sydney Shrooms may have been the cheapest appetizer I ordered from Outback Steakhouse (it only costs $10.49 plus tax), but that wasn't enough to earn it a spot higher than second-to-last in my ranking. Admittedly, the breading was pretty tasty — it's the same one the restaurant uses on the Bloomin' Onion — but the overall texture was not very appealing.

My main issue with this appetizer was how slimy and soft the mushrooms were. Who's to say whether or not Outback commits any common mushroom mistakes, like rushing the cooking process or something else, but the texture was far from ideal. In its favor, I could tell that this dish was put together in-house, so it's not the typical frozen product you get at a sports bar or somewhere similar. I also liked the spicy ranch dipping sauce served on the side, and you get a good amount of mushrooms. Still, the slimy texture was a big turn-off for me and my taste-testing friends. The uber-crispy breading wasn't enough to turn the tide.

In the end, the Sydney Shrooms were not all bad, like the Grilled Shrimp on the Barbie was, but still, you should feel good about skipping over this appetizer. I know I won't be ordering it again.

Outback Steakhouse's 3 Cheese Steak Dip is a classic case of the menu picture not living up to the dish you get served. In the photo, it looks like you get actual slices of steak piled on top of queso, but when this appetizer arrived at our table, the meat looked more ground. So, even before diving in for a taste, it wasn't off to a good start. It's a shame, too, because this is a new appetizer (it's not even on the full menu yet — it's still on the specials sheet).

As suspected, the meat didn't win me and my friends over when the taste-testing began. The queso itself had a great texture and a good amount of tomatoes and green onions in it, though, and that did a lot for the overall flavor. However, the cheese itself tasted like a bland, melted Velveeta or something similar. One of the most common mistakes you can make when creating cheese sauce, queso included, is using only one type of cheese. And guess what? I'm fairly certain Outback committed this unfortunate blunder despite the appetizer's name. Even so, it's melted cheese, so who am I kidding? It's tasty and far from bad. It's just pretty one-dimensional.

The tortilla strips served alongside the 3 Cheese Steak Dip may have been the best part of the dish. Not only did we get plenty of them, but they were also deliciously salty and crispy — just like a good tortilla chip should be.

Some people think the Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp is one of the dishes you should avoid ordering from Outback Steakhouse, but if you like uber-crispy shrimp with an infusion of sweetness, something tells me you will disagree. My friends and I sure do. It may not be a go-to pick for us moving forward, but the textures are phenomenal, and it's certainly miles ahead of the lower-ranking appetizers we have already discussed. Let me tell you why.

For starters, the shrimp in this appetizer are perfectly coated with breading and fried to crispy perfection — and yes, there's plenty of coconut chunks included. Plus, the accompanying aroma is enough to draw you in. In fact, one of my taste-testing accomplices revealed that they didn't really like shrimp but after tasting one, said they would absolutely eat the Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp. In my opinion, that says quite a lot about the execution. Nicely done, Outback! I loved the orange marmalade horseradish sauce served alongside this appetizer as well. It was sweet, tangy, chunky, and, to put it plainly, just yummy.

To top it all off, the Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp had some eye-catching appeal, so it just looked appetizing. The one drawback that really stood out was that we only got eight shrimp for $16.49 plus tax. Still, it makes a solid choice. Unless, of course, sweet shrimp dishes aren't something you enjoy.

The Kookaburra Wings from Outback Steakhouse earned a firm top-three ranking from me and my team. At $16.49 an order plus tax, it may be one of the most expensive appetizers offered, but the flavor and perceived quality were enough to blow us out of the park.

The Kookaburra Wings come in mild, medium, and hot flavors. We opted for the mild because one of my friends is sensitive to heat. They thought the sauce was spot-on, but I could have taken a bit more heat. Still, it was pretty on-point for a mild wing sauce. I will say that there wasn't a ton of sauce; the wings had more of a dry rub going for them, but the flavor was undeniably there. It packed lots of pepper and some tanginess, but not so much that it took over.

We ordered both ranch and blue cheese dressing for dipping. Why choose, right? The blue cheese dressing was pretty tasty, and it had a good amount of blue cheese crumbles in it. The ranch was just run-of-the-mill, though. It didn't do anything wrong; it was just basic ranch. Still, overall, the Kookaburra Wings were more than solid. If you order according to your heat tolerance, something tells me you won't be let down. In fact, this is the one appetizer we didn't have to box up. My friends ate them all before that became a possibility.

Finally, it's time for Outback's famous Bloomin' Onion to make its debut, and I have to say, second place is not too shabby. Actually, I almost gave it the coveted No. 1 spot, but the appetizer that managed to earn the title had this one beat, though only by a hair.

Even if you've never been to an Outback Steakhouse, the chances are slim that you do not know what a Bloomin' Onion is. Not only has the chain advertised it heavily for many years, but it's also downright delicious. And when a dish is this tasty, word gets around. What makes the Bloomin' Onion so special? Well, the onion is sliced to a deliciously thin texture, coated in flavorful breading, and deep-fried to perfection. Plus, it looks stunning, and you get plenty of it. It's kind of a sight to behold. The taste and texture are out of this world, too.

The Bloomin' Onion is served with horseradish aioli for dipping, but honestly, the onion is good enough to eat without it. Even so, the sauce is pretty tasty, and it has a nice bite, thanks to the horseradish. The main reason the Bloomin' Onion didn't lock down the first-place position is that once I started to pull onion pieces from the center and bottom, it got pretty greasy and soggy. That's okay, though. There was so much of the dish that there were more than enough perfectly crispy chunks for me and my two friends to enjoy. Yum!

Extra, extra! Read all about it: The Bloomin' Fried Shrimp managed to clench the No. 1 spot for the best Outback Steakhouse appetizer we tried. Essentially popcorn shrimp with a unique twist, this appetizer features the same delicately textured and perfectly flavored batter found on the Bloomin' Onion, so it's definitely super tasty. The shrimp are top-notch too — and that's saying something since I live in a landlocked state.

What impressed me and my taste-testing friends the most about the Bloomin' Fried Shrimp is that the shrimp remained super juicy and tender. Considering deep-fried shrimp can easily dry out and shrink, it is hard to pull this off, so we were pretty impressed. A nice amount of horseradish aioli (also served with the Bloomin' Onion) was drizzled over the top too, further elevating the texture and flavor. Some extra aioli was served on the side for good measure as well. Perfect.

The Bloomin' Fried Shrimp costs $16.49 plus tax, but we got quite a few shrimp, so no love was lost there either. Honestly, there wasn't a single complaint at my table. Altogether, the batter and shrimp on this dish came together to form a drool-worthy dish perfect for starting any Outback Steakhouse meal.

The only way to rank Outback Steakhouse's popular appetizers with any kind of authority was to try them all, so that's exactly what a couple of my friends and I did. After happily enjoying a massive lunchtime meal, I had to come up with some criteria to determine my ranking. After all, I wasn't comparing apples to apples or oranges to oranges. So, while the appetizers varied quite a bit, I relied on flavor, texture, presentation, price, and overall quality to sort them into an appropriate spot on my list. The appetizers with the boldest flavors, an eye-catching appearance, mass appeal, and a delicious combination of textures came out on top. A couple of dishes got knocked down a spot or two due to a higher price tag, but flavor and texture were prioritized above all.

The next time you are near the Australian-themed restaurant chain and decide to grab a meal — which could easily be soon since there are very few states without an Outback — stick to the top three or four appetizers on my list, and you can forget about buyer's remorse.