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There is something irresistibly comforting about onions that have been slowly caramelized. They’re rich, sweet, and buttery – this caramelized onion dip takes that comfort and turns it into something you are going to want to eat straight from a spoon! This French Onion Dip recipe might be the best you’ve tasted – and possibly the best dip you’ll ever serve!
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Why You’ll Love French Onion Dip
A recipe for a homemade French Onion Dip just hits different! Yes, you can buy this at the store, and it is much faster to do that – but you will never have the same flavors as caramelizing those onions from scratch! You can make this a few days ahead too, which is awesome for company!
Prep Like a Pro
Caramelize Those Onions – Slow and steady wins! BUT…in a pinch, you can start them on high heat, add water as needed to prevent them from burning, and keep them covered. They’ll steam and soften much faster. Once the onions are soft and translucent, uncover the pan, lower the heat, and proceed with the caramelizing like usual. Let your caramelized onions cool before adding them to the rest of the dip.
Crispy Shallots – For the perfect crispy shallot, keep your oil around 350℉, hot but not smoking, and fry until they are a pale golden color.
Don’t Skip the Cool – Make sure your caramelized onions are fully cooled. Adding it to the food processor with everything may melt the cream cheese and ruin the consistency.
Taste and Adjust – Make sure you taste and adjust while making this French Onion Dip. Everyone has different preferences.
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🔥Chef Nadia’s Tip🔥
Taking the time to properly caramelize onions is always worth it – BUT – in a pinch, start them on high heat, add water as needed to prevent them from burning, and keep them covered. They’ll steam and soften much faster. Once the onions are soft and translucent, uncover the pan, lower the heat, and proceed with the caramelizing like usual.
Substitutions
- Shallots → You can use red onions if they are out of shallots.
- Sour Cream → It’ll be a bit tangier, but you can use greek yogurt instead.
- Vegan Swaps → You can very easily make this French Onion Dip vegan. Swap your cream cheese, sour cream, mayo and butter for your favorite vegan option, and everything else is good to go.
The Perfect Pairings
A Blue Cheese Dirty Martini would be delicious with this French Onion Dip. For your main and sides, Slow Roasted Boneless Prime Rib, Potato Puree and a crisp Arugula Fennel Salad are the way to go! Finish your night off with a Burnt Basque Cheesecake.
French Onion Dip: Questions Answered
You can make this a day or two ahead. Keep the dip in an airtight container in the fridge and store your fried shallots at room temperature.
You can. First I have to say – taking the time to properly caramelize onions is always worth it – BUT – in a pinch, start them on high heat, add water as needed to prevent them from burning, and keep them covered. They’ll steam and soften much faster. Once the onions are soft and translucent, uncover the pan, lower the heat, and proceed with the caramelizing like usual before making the rest of your dip.
No, it is vegetarian and with a few small changes, you can make it vegan. Swap your cream cheese, sour cream, mayo and butter for your favorite vegan option and everything else is good to go.
A food processor will give you the best texture, but if you don’t have one you can use a regular blender, immersion blender, or even a hand mixer in a pinch. It won’t be super smooth, but the French Onion Dip will still taste amazing.
French Onion Dip
Equipment
- 2 pans
- spider skimmer
- piping bag, or Ziploc bag
- platter
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 pinch salt
- 5-6 large shallots
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 3 tbsp mayo
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- black pepper, to taste + more for topping
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- salt
- chives, chopped, for topping
- toast or kettle chips, for dipping
Instructions
- On a cutting board, slice your onions and your shallots.
- Turn your stove to medium and preheat a pan for 2 minutes. Add a drizzle of oil and sliced onions. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add butter and a pinch of salt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. If they start to stick, deglaze with a splash of water. Let cool.
- In another pan, add the shallots and enough olive oil to coat. Keep your oil around 350℉, hot but not smoking and fry until they are a pale golden color. Remove with a spider strainer and transfer to a bowl.
- To a food processor, add the cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, black, pepper, lemon zest, agave, balsamic vinegar, caramelized onions and blend until smooth. Taste and season with salt as needed.
- Transfer your dip to a piping bag and pipe it onto a serving plate (or spread it evenly in a shallow bowl. Top that with crispy fried shallots, chives and more black pepper. Serve with toasted baguette or even some kettle chips and enjoy!
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is so good! Excellent depth of flavor. New party go-to!
That’s awesome Victoria! I’m so glad you love it! Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the above recipe – can you make this ahead of time and put in the freezer and prep only the crunchy shallots the same day?
Hi Konna,
I wouldn’t put the dip in the freezer. I can’t say for sure because I’ve never tried it, but I feel like the caramelized onions in the dip would get watery and the consistency would be ruined. If you are wanting to making this ahead, I would just make the dip a day or two ahead and store it in airtight container in the fridge. You can even leave it right in the piping bag and seal it. For the fried shallots, you can make them like 2 days ahead and just store them sealed at room temperature.
I made this dip for a belated Christmas party and paired it with aleppo chili & onion seasoned kettle chips and it was the first appetizer completely gone!! Everyone loved it! Will be making again.
Hey Reagan,
That’s so awesome, I love it! Thank you so much for this review!