Caramelized onions are one of my favorite flavors EVER, so even though you can make a quick French Onion Dip made with just a packet of onion soup mix and sour cream, you know I’m going to try to make it from scratch instead! And this homemade French Onion Dip recipe is surprisingly easy! It only takes a few ingredients and it really lets the flavor of those caramelized onions shine. This dip is creamy, tangy, sweet, savory, and perfect for all your crunchy chips and crackers. Plus, it also makes an ah-maz-ing sandwich and burger spread, so even if you’re not a chip and dip person, you still need to try it!
What Is French Onion Dip?
French Onion Dip is a creamy and tangy dip for chips, crackers, vegetables, and more that has a flavor profile similar to French Onion Soup. The quick way to make French Onion Dip is to simply stir a packet of onion soup mix into a container of sour cream, but if you’re looking for more of a “from scratch” approach with that slow caramelized flavor, we’ve got you covered. And while caramelizing the onions does take a little bit of time, you don’t need many more ingredients to turn them into a really stellar dip!
Ingredients for French Onion Dip
Here’s what you’ll need to make a homemade French Onion Dip from scratch:
- Onions: I just used plain ol’ yellow onions here, but if you want to get fancy you can go for a sweet onion like Vidalia or a Maui onion.
- Butter: Butter makes the recipe extra rich and gives a slightly nutty flavor to the caramelized onions.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese is the rich and tangy base for the dip.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream lightens up the cream cheese just a touch and makes the dip much softer and dippable.
- Worcestershire sauce: This gives the dip a savory note, similar to French onion soup.
- Seasoning: I kept the seasonings simple so the flavor of the onions could shine through. All you’ll need is a bit of garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You can experiment with adding beef bouillon, but I found this to overwhelm the flavor of the dish, totally masking the delicately sweet flavor of the onions.
How to Serve French Onion Dip
French onion dip is classically served with potato chips, but it’s great for so much more! You can use it for crackers, on a vegetable platter (in place of ranch dip), or as a spread on sandwiches, wraps, or burgers. Try pairing this dip on a sandwich with thinly sliced roast beef, a slice of Swiss cheese, and spring mix. You won’t be disappointed! Or slather it onto a burger with some sautéed mushrooms. YES PLEASE.
How Long Does it Keep?
Homemade French Onion Dip will stay good in the refrigerator for about four to five days, but is not a good candidate for freezing. If your French Onion Dip has been in the refrigerator for a few days, make sure to give it a good stir before enjoying.
French Onion Dip
Servings 6 (¼ cup each)Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. yellow onions (about 2 medium) ($0.50)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature ($1.10)
- 1 cup sour cream ($1.00)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.07)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
Instructions
- Dice the onions and place them in a skillet with the butter.
- Cook the onions over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, allowing them to soften and then slowly brown. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes, or until they achieve a deep copper brown color and jammy texture. If the skillet dries out too much as the onions cook, lower the heat slightly and add a tablespoon or two of water. On the flip side, if the onions are taking too long to cook, increase the heat slightly.
- Meanwhile, stir together the cream cheese, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl until smooth and evenly combined.
- Once the onions are fully caramelized, stir them into the dip.
- Allow the dip to sit for about 15 minutes for the flavors to blend, then taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Serve with your favorite chips or spread onto a sandwich and enjoy!
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Nutrition
How to Make French Onion Dip – Step by Step Photos
Dice 1/2 pound of yellow onions (about two medium onions), then add them to a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter.
Cook the onions over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, allowing them to soften and then slowly brown. If the skillet gets too dry as the onions cook, turn the heat down slightly and add a tablespoon or two of water to the skillet to help dissolve the browned bits off of the bottom of the skillet. Or, if the onions are taking a very long time to cook down, you can increase the heat slightly.
When the onions are fully caramelized they should look like this—deep copper brown, translucent, and jammy in texture. The caramelization process should take about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine 4oz. room temperature cream cheese, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper, and ¼ tsp salt in a bowl, stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Add the caramelized onions to the dip and stir to combine.
Allow the dip to sit for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, then taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Serve with your favorite crunchy chips and enjoy!
I’m so excited to try this recipe! I can’t have Worcestershire sauce because I’m allergic to the anchovy in it. Normally I sub in an equal amount of soy sauce in a recipe. But this isn’t cooked (this part of the recipe). What would you suggest? Sub with soy sauce (or other suggestion) or just leave it out? Thanks!
There are varieties that don’t have anchovies. Kroger has their own brand that doesn’t have anchovies. There are others that are vegan.
Is it 1/2 pound or 1 pound of onions? The ingredients list and the photo instructions say two different things.
It’s a half pound! Just updated the typo.
The ingredients call for 1/2 pound of onions while the instructions call for one pound. Please clarify.
It’s a half pound! Just updated the typo. Thanks for letting us know!
I love recipes like this and I’ve not even tried it yet. There is something so comforting about having Budget Bytes in my “back pocket” whenever I need a recipe for almost anything.