Caramelized French Onion Dip is a creamy appetizer with sweet and savory browned onions folded into a cream cheese and sour cream base. Serve this with fresh vegetables, crackers, or your favorite chips. It’s the ultimate starter for parties, celebrations, or holiday gatherings.
What is Caramelized French Onion Dip?
Caramelized french onion dip is a sour cream and cream cheese-based dip that contains caramelized onions flavored with white wine, beef bouillon, and fresh herbs. Most people serve French onion dip with chips, but I love to serve it with a fresh vegetable platter or crudités.
The addition of beef bouillon makes this a “french onion” dip. It is a play on the comforting french onion soup, but in snacking form. Caramelized onions add a sweetness and umami flavor to this dip, making it a must for your next party or gathering.
What Do I Need to Make it?
Caramelized french onion dip is made with unsalted butter, diced yellow onions, minced garlic, kosher salt, brown sugar, beef bouillon, dry white wine, cream cheese, parsley, thyme, and sour cream.
You also need a skillet for caramelizing the onions and an electric hand mixer for blending the dip together.
Can I Replace the Yellow Onions in This Dip?
Start by melting the unsalted butter over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. Add the diced yellow onions and garlic to the pan once the butter is melted and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they start to sweat.
You can replace the yellow onions in this recipe with white onions for a bolder flavor; however, avoid using red (or purple) onions, shallots, or sweet onions, like Vidalias. Red onions and shallots are too mild in flavor for this dip, and Vidalias are too sweet and will offset the balance of flavor in the end.
How Long Does it Take to Caramelize the Onions?
It takes at least 45 minutes to properly caramelize onions. Anyone that tells you differently is lying to you.
Sprinkle the kosher salt over the surface of the onions and garlic in the pan. The salt draws out the water in both ingredients to begin caramelizing them. Continue to sauté the onions, frequently stirring, for an additional 10 minutes.
Stir the brown sugar into the onions and continue to sauté them over medium heat for 10 minutes. This is when you’ll see the caramelization process beginning. The onions take on a deeper yellow, almost golden, color, and the pan becomes drier.
It’s important to continue stirring the onions in the pan because you don’t want them to sit too long and burn.
Can I Omit the Wine?
Add the beef bouillon and white wine to the pan. Use your spoon to deglaze the sides of the pan to scrape up the brown bits.
Choose a dry white wine, like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio. Again, the more sweetness you add from things like wine or the onion, the more the dip’s flavor will be off. You can also replace the wine in this recipe if you abstain from alcohol. Replace it with beef stock, chicken stock, or water.
Stir the bouillon into the onions to break it up and melt it. Decrease the heat to medium-low and continue to cook down the onions for 20 minutes. Stir the onions frequently to avoid scorching them.
Can I Make This Caramelized French Onion Dip Without Beef Bouillon?
To make a vegetarian french onion dip, replace the beef bouillon with roasted vegetable bouillon or plain vegetable bouillon.
After 20 minutes of cooking, the onions will be very brown, sticky, and sweet. As you can see, the volume of onions we began with no longer takes up most of the pan. This is what properly caramelized onions look like.
Allow the caramelized onions to cool completely. You can do this at room temperature or transfer them to a food storage container and refrigerate them until cold. Likewise, you can caramelize the onions a day or two in advance and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
How Far Ahead Can I Make the Caramelized French Onion Dip?
Caramelized french onion dip tastes better when it is made ahead; as a result, I recommend preparing it at least a day before you plan to serve it. You can prepare onion dip up to two days ahead of when you plan to serve it, in fact.
Once the caramelized onions are completely cool, use an electric hand mixer to blend them with the cream cheese, parsley, and thyme. Fresh herbs are best, but you can replace them with dried herbs if that’s all you have. Blend these ingredients until the mixture is chunky but well-mixed.
Can I Use a Substitute for the Sour Cream?
Use a spoon or a rubber spatula to stir the sour cream into the cream cheese-onion mixture until well combined.
You can replace the sour cream in this recipe with plain Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, or crème fraîche.
How Long Does Caramelized French Onion Dip Have to Chill?
Lastly, transfer the dip to a serving bowl once it’s all mixed together. Refrigerate caramelized french onion dip for at least 30 minutes before you serve it. This gives the flavors of all the ingredients time to meld together and also chill to the proper temperature it needs to be served at.
You can chill the prepared dip for up to 48 hours before you serve it if you’d like.
What Can I Serve This Dip With?
Transfer the dip to a serving bowl, if you haven’t already, and set it out with your favorite dip accoutrements.
Serve caramelized french onion dip with assorted fresh vegetables, chips, toasted baguette slices, or tostones.
How Do I Store Leftovers?
It’s always best to only portion out the amount of dip you plan to serve. Store caramelized french onion dip in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days after making it. Discard any french onion dip that you dipped into. Because the risk of cross-contamination from the food that was touched by hands and dipped into the onion dip is too high, the chance of saving it isn’t worth it.
You can always divide the caramelized french onion dip and serve half. As the dip is eaten, just replenish it with the rest of the dip.
Discard any dairy-based dip that sat at room temperature for more than 3 hours.
Can I Freeze Caramelized French Onion Dip?
You can freeze the caramelized french onion dip for up to 3 months. Freezing this dip might change the texture and decrease the oniony flavor, but it’s helpful if you have a busy week. Thaw the frozen caramelized french onion dip in the fridge overnight, then use an electric hand mixer to blend it back together again.
This Caramelized French Onion Dip is always a hit at my parties, and I know the same will be true for you. Be sure to pin this to your dips board. Let me know in the comments below if you made it and what you think of it when you do, too.
Caramelized French Onion Dip
at Sense & EdibilityEquipment
- 12-inch skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 large yellow onions peeled and diced (6 cups or 765 grams)
- 2 cloves garlic minced (1 tablespoon)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 grams) kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) dry white wine (Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1/2 tablespoon (12 grams) beef bouillon
- 8 ounces (226 grams) cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons, chopped (9 grams) flat leaf (Italian) parsley or 1 tablespoon (1 gram) dried parsley flakes
- 10 stems thyme leaves stems removed (1 tablespoon or 3 grams) or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- 16 ounces (454 grams) sour cream
Instructions
Caramelize the Onions (May Be Done 1 Day Ahead)
- Melt the unsalted butter over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. Add the diced yellow onions and garlic to the pan once the butter is melted and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they start to sweat.
- Sprinkle the kosher salt over the surface of the onions and garlic in the pan. Continue to sauté the onions, frequently stirring, for an additional 10 minutes.
- Stir the brown sugar into the onions and continue to sauté them over medium heat for 10 minutes. The onions will have taken on a deeper yellow, almost golden, color at this point.
- Add the beef bouillon and white wine to the pan. Use your spoon to deglaze the sides of the pan by scraping up the brown bits. Stir the bouillon into the onions to break it up and melt it. Decrease the heat to medium-low and continue to cook down the onions for 20 minutes, frequently stirring the onions to avoid scorching them.
Cool the Caramelized Onions
- After 20 minutes of cooking, the onions will be very brown, sticky, and sweet. Remove the pan from the stove and allow the caramelized onions to cool completely. You can do this at room temperature or transfer them to a food storage container and refrigerate them until cold.
Finish the Caramelized French Onion Dip
- Once the caramelized onions are completely cool, add them to a 4-quart mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer set on low speed to blend them with the cream cheese, parsley, and thyme. Blend these ingredients until the mixture is chunky but well-mixed.
- Scrape down the beaters and the bowl, then use a spoon or a rubber spatula to stir the sour cream into the cream cheese-onion mixture until well combined. Refrigerate the caramelized french onion dip for at least 30 minutes to chill it completely and allow the flavors to marry.
- Transfer all or half of the dip to a serving bowl, and set it out with your favorite dip accoutrements, such as: assorted fresh vegetables, chips, toasted baguette slices, or tostones.Discard any dip that was left at room temperature for more than 3 hours.
Notes
Swaps and Substitutions:
- You can replace the yellow onions in this recipe with white onions; however, avoid using red (or purple) onions, shallots, or sweet onions, like Vidalias.
- You can swap the white wine with beef stock, chicken stock, or water.
- Replace the beef bouillon paste with 1 cube of dried beef bouillon. Add 1 tablespoon of water to the pan with the wine.
- To make a vegetarian french onion dip, replace the beef bouillon with roasted vegetable bouillon or plain vegetable bouillon.
- You can swap the cream cheese in this recipe with Neufchatel or cottage cheese, but you'll need to puree the cottage cheese until smooth first.
- Replace the sour cream in this recipe with plain Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, or crème fraîche.
Tips and Techniques:
- You can caramelize the onions a day or two in advance and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
- Caramelized french onion dip tastes better when it is made ahead. Preparing it at least a day before you plan to serve it is recommended.
- Portion out the amount of dip you plan to serve. Discard any french onion dip that you dipped into since there's an increased risk of cross-contamination with it.
- You can divide the caramelized french onion dip and serve half. Replenish the dip as needed.
Storage Instructions:
- You can chill the prepared dip for up to 48 hours before you serve it if you'd like.
- Store caramelized french onion dip in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days after making it.
Freezer Instructions:
- Freezing this dip might change the texture and decrease the oniony flavor, but it's helpful if you have a busy week.
- Transfer the caramelized french onion dip to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Thaw the frozen caramelized french onion dip in the fridge overnight.
- Blend the dip with an electric hand mixer to blend it until smooth.