Homemade French Onion Dip.
YOU GUYS. This dip. There are no words.
Except that there will probably be about 700 of them by the time I get finished with this. Hashtag wordy girl problems.
Ew. Sorry.
So. Growing up, Mother Lovett was the queen of dips. My mom was not far behind. And we are not talking homemade dips. Like the dips in plastic tubs from the grocery stored adorned with delicious labels such as horseradish bacon, blue cheese, ranch and French onion. There were often three flavors open at any given time, one of which was probably expired (ML said it was cool though – this is the woman who had an unused bottle of soy sauce that expired in 1979… in 2008) and quite the array of chips stocked away in a kitchen cabinet. It wasn’t a trip to grandma’s unless chips and dip could be found on the counter! Duh. The late 80s and early 90s were made for chips, dip (was I allowed to say “heluva” on the dip container since it included a BAD WORD), figuring out how to have my own babysitter’s club without actually babysitting and kicking back in my jelly shoes.
2015 is all about chips, (homemade) dip, wishing I had that babysitter’s club years ago since I’m clueless and now have an actual baby and trying to figure out WTF people are doing in jelly shoes today. At least flat jelly shoes.
Now jelly heels? I can get behind.
Most normal people would serve stunningly vibrant, fresh and crisp vegetables with a rich dip like this. Like gorgeous purples and pinks and greens and oranges and… and…
Um no.
I made some herby buttery baguettes! They’re dreamy. Addictive. It’s super hard to not eat four of them before they make their dip debut. Take said bread. Spread it with softened butter mixed with herbs and sea salt and broil until toasty. The butter kind of browns too. Try not to eat entire loaf. If you find it impossible, we are kindred spirits.
This is not my first trip into onion dip territory. I’ve made a full greek yogurt version before (complete with Mother Lovett’s dip obsession) and happen to make it often. And it’s great. It is exactly as it sounds – a delicious greek yogurt dip with caramelized onions.
But this.
This is DIFFERENT.
I caramelized these onions for an eternity. Or for like two hours. Actually, four hours, but who is counting? Besides me. I’m counting.
It only takes two, for sure – if you want to go the extra two, it just means more delicious sugar and caramel flavor. I went the extra two by accident. By exhaustion accident. And after all that business, the super high maintenance caramelization process, you’re going to puree the heck out of the onions. The HECK. It’s like onion syrup. But in a good way.
And then you will puree cream cheese and yogurt and fabulous things that translate to so much flavor. Oh mylanta. It’s ridiculous.
Now, I really, really loved that butternut goat cheese dip I made a few weeks ago. I really love this white pizza dip. This honey blue cheese fig dip knocks it out of the park.
Buuuuut I might venture to say that this French onion dip is my favorite dips out of all the dips. It is seriously PACKED with flavor. It’s thick and rich and creamy and tastes like all sorts of delicious nostalgia. You can make it the day before – in fact, it gets better once it sits over night. It’s cold, so it will be awesome all summer. And spring. And every season.
You can use it on a spread for sandwiches. I might have done that. I might have done that on a freaking veggie sandwich.
In other words, this dip has super powers.
Homemade French Onion Dip
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 sweet onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 ounces (1 block) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt, I recommend at least 2%, prefer whole
- for topping, optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly snipped chives
toasty baguettes
- 1 baguette, sliced
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or skillet over low heat and add the olive oil and butter. Stir in the chopped onions, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Cover and cook until the onions are deeply golden and caramely, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring every ten minutes or so. If at any point the onions are burning, your heat is too high. Once the onions are golden and caramelized, stir in the brown sugar and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic, cooking for another minute, then turn off the heat.
- Place the caramelized onions in a food processor and blend until pureed. Add in the cream cheese and blend until creamy. Add in the yogurt and blend again until combined. Taste and season additionally if desired. Scoop the dip into a bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerating at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Take the dip out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. While that is happening, heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add the olive oil and butter. Throw in the sliced onions and salt, stirring to coat. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the brown sugar and cook for another 10 minutes until deeply golden. If at any time the onions and sugar are burning, reduce your heat.
- Stir the caramelized sliced onions and chives into the dip before serving.
toasty baguettes
- Preheat the broiler in your oven. Place the sliced bread on a baking sheet. In a bowl, stir together the butter, basil, oregano, garlic powder and salt. Spread it on each baguette. Set the sheet under the broiler and cook until just golden and toast – about 2 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on the bread the entire time as it can burn quickly! Serve with the bread, along with some veggies, chips or pretzels.
Notes
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You could maybe mistake this for french onion ice cream? Okay too far. Too far.
73 Comments on “Homemade French Onion Dip.”
I made this dip for a bbq we had last weekend. I used sweet onions per the recipe, and left out all of the sugar. i also used 0% greek yogurt, because that’s what i had on hand. otherwise i followed the recipe exactly. to others looking to make this, i’d say it’s probably pretty easy to sub for yellow onions, and just follow the recipe, keeping the sugar.
i let my onions caramelize for at least 3 hours while i was doing other prep for the party the night before. they never really got particularly dark, but they turned a golden color and got really soupy. I find the dip to be almost too sweet, even without any sugar at all (its perfect with a salty dipper like a potato chip, plain bread i found didn’t cut the sweet enough) , so i’m really glad i left it out. it tastes amazing though. like seriously amazing. i also didn’t do the topping. i just made the dip. i think the topping would be awesome though, again, i’d still probably leave out the sugar. this is a winner. and so easy. i was able to get loads of other stuff done while the onions did their thing, then it was like two second to whip it all together in the food processor.
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I am obsessed with this dip! I have made it THREE times since you posted this recipe! The first time was with strawberry onions. It turned out very sweet. The next two times were with regular sweet onions. All three times, it’s been really soupy so I have to drain the onions. Not a big deal, but they def don’t get caramelized. I took the latest batch to a Memorial Day BBQ on Monday. Almost no one ate it! I mean, more for my obsession, but WTH people??? And at work, I offer homemade onion dip and people make faces like I’m offering them candied crickets on a stick or something! And they say they don’t like onions??? Who doesn’t like onions??? I need new coworkers clearly! LOL
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So sad to say this is the first one of your recipes I did not like! I made it for a party we had at our house and when I tried it, it was SO sweet I didn’t even serve it to our guests. Even without the topping it was as sweet as frosting. IMHO the onions are sweet enough on themselves and the brown sugar is overkill.
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Best onion dip. I do leave out / use less sugar than the recipe calls for. Besides that, it is always a winner. Make ahead dish for sure
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We are in the middle of a major kitchen remodel. I love this recipe and just bought a TON of onions to make this. But before I could, we unplugged the stove and moved it into the middle of the kitchen until we finish the walls and put new flooring in (at least a few weeks). Can I make this in a slow cooker? Or use the saute mode on my Instant Pot? Or freeze the onions and pull them out when I’m ready for them? Thanks. :D
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