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:
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The dip base is cream cheese (tang + richness), mayonnaise (flavour + fat) and sour cream (tang + reduces richness a bit);
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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
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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!!!
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Guacamole (done right!) or Avocado Hummus Dip
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Retro Soup Mix 2 Minute French Onion Dip
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Hot Corn Dip – you’ll love the flavour in this creamy, bubbly dip!
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Smoked Salmon Dip (flavour you can’t buy in tubs!)
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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!!
I started to eat a store bought French onion dip I thought it was awful it’s now in the garbage and thought surely Nagi can have better AND YOU DO,IT IS DELICIOUS although next time I will reduce the cayenne
Love this recipe! We omitted mayo, only because we don’t like mayo. Turned out amazing! Thank you for your guidance with this awesome recipe.
I have been making the soup mix version for ‘centuries’, but tried out this version on the family recently. Don’t think we can go back to the old method. I am currently making a double batch of onions for the next family gathering. Sooo goood!
You nailed it!! My son found your recipe and it has become the most requested family recipe. As a huge Barefoot Contessa fan (all her cookbooks reside in my library), I was skeptical at first. Many years ago I made her version but wasn’t as impressed as I have been with the tweaks you made to the original. Not sure mine will come out as good as my son’s, but I’m sure my guests will enjoy just the same!
Well done and thanks for sharing!
Do not add 3/4 tsp of salt!!! That’s way way way too much, and I like salt!! Sadly, I didn’t question the salt amount, and I ended up coughing and unable to eat it because of too much salt. I would have tried diluting it by adding more cream cheese, etc, but I didn’t have anymore. Sad face! I would say start with none (because the mayo may bring enough salt into the equation) but if you need to add some salt for taste, add 1/4 tsp or maybe even less. Such a small volume of dip probably doesn’t need more than that.
I haven’t tried this yet but have a question. In your ingredients list, you have Cayenne. But in the video, you have paprika instead. Which is it? I am sure it depends on taste but I have never heard of spicy french onion
Hi there Kevin. This edit is at the top of the video under Watch How to Make It
“Note: typo in video! Says “paprika” instead of “cayenne pepper”. Though actually, you could totally use paprika instead!”
Thank you. So easy to make and absolutely delicious. This, and your Atlantic salmon dip are my favorites to take to parties.
I found it hard to achieve a smooth consistency with the mayo, cream cheese mixture. I think if the cream cheese were microwaved to soften up first before adding the mayo and sour cream, it would have been more successful and easier to execute.
I love itttt. Everybody I made it for said it’s sweet in a good way and the cayenne gives it a kick that makes you keep coming back for more. I wouldn’t add any salt at all. I didn’t and people said it was salty. I would add the salt after you’ve tasted it with your chips since most chips are already salty.
We make this dip nearly weekly. Simple and so much good! I recently bought some French Onion dip from the grocery store and we all could barely eat it. We’ve been spoiled with this Greta homemade version!
Can I use Miracle Whip in place of whole egg Mayo?
Totally gonna make this! It seems delicious!
Chips and dip has been a thing in Denmark since forever 🙂 so its totally not just an american thing.
Yeah, I’ve made that soup mix version of onion dip, too, but this recipe is so worth making! I love Ina, too, but your recipe is plenty rich and tasty! I will make this one again and again, I’m sure!
This is fantastic, just love it – prefer crackers to chips for dipping, but maybe that’s just me; great with veggie crudités too. Just one small thing – your comment on Ina Garten’s amount of butter – only Oz uses a 20ml tablespoon, in the rest of the world a tablespoon is 15ml, so actually her 4 Tbsp is your 3 Tbsp! I share my favourite recipes with family members around the world (with due acknowledgement to the source) and in each one I put the mls in brackets after the Tbsp measurement just to make sure they get it right! My only problem is that, living 1800m altitude means I have to adjust quantity/timing when baking!
Deliciously sweet and savory! I had several Vidalia onions I needed to use before our road/camping trip. Diced the onions very small and caramelized in unsalted butter with just a dash of cayenne pepper and Hawaiian sea salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I cubed the cream cheese and left it in a medium size bowl to get to room temp before I began preparing the onions. While the onions were cooling, I thoroughly mixed the cream cheese with the sour cream and mayo (no need to microwave) and then popped it in the fridge. Let the cooked onions cool for about an hour or so and then added them to the creamy mixture. Refrigerated overnight, stirred well the next morning, put in a disposable container, ate it with baked chips and OMG!!!! Perfect snack for our trip and I’ll definitely be making this again for a crowd pleasing appetizer, or just for myself 😉
Thank you!
First time making. So good! I cut my onion pieces larger than a dice. Next time will cut them smaller. (1/4 inch)
I cut back on the Cayenne but next time I won’t. I will make sure the cream cheese is good and softened before trying to add it to the sour cream/mayo. I ended up having to do 4 or 5 10-second passes in my 900-watt micro to get the mixture to smooth out by whisking.
I used Diamond Kosher, which has less sodium than Morton’s,..for the salt (3/4 teaspoon of table salt would be too salty!) It was spot on for saltiness. I also added some MSG,…(about 1/4 teaspoon) which took it over the top. I will add minced garlic to the onions next time at the end of cooking.
I’ve made this twice and it’s heavenly good! Very easy and so addictive!
Made this dip for a resident of a nursing home. She ate it with crackers but I used it on a bagel. Loved this recipe. The only thing I changed was Hungarian Paprika for cayenne.
Never saw a recipe that said “whole egg mayo”. Interesting.
What type of onion powder do you add and how much I can’t see it in the recipe?