French Onion Dip made from scratch will knock your socks off. It’s worth making because you will never, ever get this flavour in store bought dip! Not from the most expensive gourmet store in town, and certainly not in those tubs at the grocery store. It’s seriously incredible!
Homemade French Onion Dip
Confession time: I’ve made shortcut French Onion Dip using a packet of French Onion Soup mix many, many times…. and in fact, here’s the recipe!
BUT a REAL Homemade French Onion Dip, made from scratch by making your own caramelised onion trumps the shortcut soup mix version 10 times over.
Thank you Ina Garten!
I will never give up the packet soup mix French Onion Dip. It’s an 80’s thing, it’s an Aussie thing, and it’s a nostalgic thing.
But if you want a French Onion Dip that’s elevated to incredible status, make this Homemade French Onion Dip from scratch!
The BEST chips to serve with French Onion Dip are plain crinkle cut potato chips. It’s the classic way it’s served in the US – try it once and you’ll be converted for life!
French Onion Dip gets its name from French Onion Soup, with the flavour base of both being caramelised onion.
What French Onion Dip is made of
Here’s what you need for this recipe. Just a note on a few of the items:
The dip base is cream cheese (tang + richness), mayonnaise (flavour + fat) and sour cream (tang + reduces richness a bit);
Less butter – as much as I love Ina Garten, I often find myself cutting down the fat she uses in her recipes quite substantially. This is one such example. The original recipe called for 4 tablespoons of butter AND 1/4 cup of oil. I swear, this does NOT need that much – way too rich! I made it with 3 tablespoons of butter, no oil, which is plenty; and
Hint of spice – adds a touch of extra flavour and warmth to the dip!
How to make it
And here’s how to make it. The key flavour base is the caramelised onions. It will take a good 20 to 25 minutes and it can’t be hurried otherwise the onions just burn instead of turning golden and sweet!
What homemade French Onion Dip tastes like
It’s a creamy dip, a gorgeous soft creamy texture rather than the rock-hard dips you get from the grocery store where your chips break every time you try to scoop some up.
The caramelised onion infuses it with beautiful flavour that’s savoury with natural sweetness – there’s no sugar in this recipe, it’s all from the natural caramelisation of the onion!
It’s great on the day it’s made, but it’s even better the next day once the flavours have had time to meld together even more!
How long can you keep homemade French Onion Dip?
I’ve kept it for 4 to 5 days and it was 100% perfect, no flavour loss at all.
How to serve French Onion Dip
Hands down, the BEST thing to dip in Onion Dip is plain crinkle cut potato crisps. This is an American thing that hasn’t yet made it across the waters.
And it might sound strange to some people, dunking potato crisps in dip.
But trust me. For French Onion Dip, plain potato crisps are the BEST. Better than corn chips, better than crackers, better than bread. It beats ’em all! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Note: typo in video! Says “paprika” instead of “cayenne pepper”. Though actually, you could totally use paprika instead!
More dip recipes
This Snack Monster has shared plenty of dip recipes!!!
Guacamole (done right!) or Avocado Hummus Dip
Retro Soup Mix 2 Minute French Onion Dip
Hot Corn Dip – you’ll love the flavour in this creamy, bubbly dip!
Smoked Salmon Dip (flavour you can’t buy in tubs!)
See all Dip Recipes
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Homemade French Onion Dip
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 1/2 cups diced onions (2 to 3 onions) (brown, yellow or white)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 4 oz / 120 g cream cheese (cold), cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat is best, but you can use low fat or even yoghurt)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a fry pan over medium heat.
- Add the onions, salt, pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be sweet and golden. Remove from stove and allow to cool.
- Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayo in a bowl, mix until smooth (use microwave in 10 sec bursts if needed to assist)
- Add the caramelised onions. Mix until just combined. Refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow flavours to develope, overnight is better!
- Serve at room temperature, garnished with chopped chives if desired. Best served with crinkle cut plain potato chips!
Recipe Notes:
a) Original recipe called for 4 tbsp butter + 1/4 cup oil. I reduced it to just 3 tbsp of butter. This is very rich as it is – you don’t need any more!
b) Original recipe also called for 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. I found this too rich so I reduced it to 1/4 cup.
c) Original recipe said to beat the cream cheese (at room temperature) with the mayonnaise and sour cream using a stand mixer. I tried this once and it is a bit fluffy at first but then it becomes denser after refrigerating it. So I make this by softening the cream cheese or even heating the cream cheese very gently in the microwave if necessary then simply stirring it with the other ingredients. Works perfectly, it’s creamy and lump free (other than the onions of course!)
d) I added onion powder as an optional extra because I like the extra kick of onion flavour.
e) Original recipe called for 1 tsp of salt. I find this slightly too salty so I reduced it to 3/4 tsp. 3. Nutrition per serving assuming 8 servings.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2015. Updated with new photos, brand new video, process step photos and of course the most important thing – new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
No onion dip for Dozer – onion is bad for dogs! How about some carrot instead?? 😂 (He looks so keen, he hasn’t gotten a sniff of what it is yet!!)
And from the first time I published this recipe:
Dozer assuming his usual position while I shot the dip. Patiently waiting for a big dollop to land on the ground. Didn’t happen. Never will – onion is bad for dogs!!
Hi Nagi
this is seriously so delicious. I made it for a friends early Christmas get together snack and OMG, making again Christmas Day. And the best bit, because you cook the onion for quite a while – no after effects of the quicker french onion dip!!! Winner winner french onion snack! Thank you
I’ve been eating this or a variant with plain crinkle cut potato chips for over 40 years in NZ and Australia.
I made this and used whipped cream cheese as that’s what I had on hand. It was an easy to mix with mayo and sour cream. Also added about a tsp of Worcestershire sauce for added color to the onions and depth of flavor! Yum!
Made this yesterday for a party. I tasted it when it was done and I thought it needed salt. I wish I had listened to your tip and waited to let the flavors meld together. Made it too salty. I added some additional sour cream to it and it seemed to help. I was amazed that everyone thought I had used dried onion soup mix. Today, I just had to try what I reserved for me and it’s even better today.
This is a keeper. I do like your version. It tastes rich, but not overpowering.
Thanks so much for sharing. I love reading and trying your recipes.
Just made this today for a party tonight. I should have listened to your advice and wait together the flavors meld. When I first put together, it needed salt, so I added more… bad idea. Chilled a couple of hours and guess what? Too salty. I’m hoping that adding some sour cream to it will balance that out a little.
But other than that, it’s a keeper. Thank yiu so much for sharing the recipe.
Great recipe!! Thank you!! It tastes so much better than the Lipton. I did change it just a tad. I didn’t have Cheyenne so I used chili powder, and I chopped 1 jalapeño and sautéed it with the onions. I will be making this again and make this my go to for parties.
Have bought your latest book n saw you on Sunrise n yes Absolutely LOVE a hard cover book.
Totally addicted!! I have made it 4 times already in the last month & I keep craving it more. I live in South Korea so it’s hard to find dip like this here in a jar so I resorted to making it myself. I will never buy a jar of this again because making this recipe is the best ever!!! ❤️
I made it first time 2 weeks ago for my son’s graduation party. It was a hit. The best dip ever. I served it in home made bread bowl. I’m making it again for tomorrow. I added little bit of garlic powder, as some people suggested. I think it ads some extra flavor.
Just made this for a birthday party tomorrow! Man!!! I’m hoping that 1/4 t of cayenne calms down!!!
Hi! can we use the frozen diced onion instead of chopping fresh onion??
We did, and it was amazingly good!
Great recipe! I didn’t have any onion powder so added some scallions (white and some green). Also added in some minced and granulated garlic. Used 100K cayenne, which gave the dip some high octane! Also, I used a bit less of the mayo and cream cheese, uping the sour cream a bit. Maybe a little too hot for some but I enjoyed every chip dipping!
Nice to find someone else who scales back on Ina’s heavy hand! Bravo!
The spicy version you make sounds like the bomb David!! YUM!!!! N x
Would olive oil mayo work in this recipe? Thanks! I love your recipes!
Yes I think it would Kristi, as long as you like the flavour of the mayo. N x
This is my boyfriend & I’s go-to item to bring to any get together, as everybody loves when we bring it. We tweak it a little by substituting the onion powder with minced garlic added near the end of cooking so it doesn’t burn. We also double it and there is never any left over!
I will never use my good old standby of Lipton onion soup and sour cream again. Super easy and super delicious. It will be on the superbowl snack list for sure.
YES!!! N x
I made this dip last week as a test run before our visitors arrive next week. OMG! It was so easy to make and was delicious! Yes, will DEFINITELY be making this again next week!
Thanks Nagi, ANOTHER great recipe of yours! 🙂
I love this recipe, made many times.
I was wondering if it would work in a cob loaf?
Yes it would Chloe! N x
My sister and I made this recipe today. We loved it! It was so good. Thank you for the recipe!
Since when is dipping chips not an Aussie thing 😂. I thought it was the done thing. It is in my house anyway. Looking forward to having this for Christmas but will swap out the cayenne for paprika. Love your recipes ❤️
Worth the effort to make from scratch!