Homemade French Onion Dip

Chip dip recipes are a staple for parties and game day. This old time favorite French Onion Dip is made from scratch (no packet of dried onions here!) but it tastes just like the original. Dip in!

I’m not a huge fan of potato chips. I can take them or leave them. I never get stuck near a bowl of chips and find myself unable to leave…unless…unless…unless…there’s French Onion Dip there! Eek! Then I’m stuck. I cannot leave. I put dip-drenched chip after dip-drenched chip into my mouth and can’t stop.

Why is French Onion Dip so addictive to me. It’s partly because it was always available at parties when I was a kid. And there’s the creamy sour cream. I’m a sucker for sour cream. And the sweet onion flavor. And the salt. Oh god, the salt.

Last week I was craving that amazingly addictive dip but I didn’t have the requisite packet of French Onion Soup powdered mix that is usually used to make it (here’s the classic recipe in case you do have a packet and are ready to go). So I found myself wondering if I could get the same flavors from scratch, without the packet. I thought about what I remember about the flavors and went to it.

I wanted some sweet, caramelized onion flavor, and also a bit of harsher, hot onion flavor. And salt.

I tried a couple of different things but here’s what tasted most like the original.

I caramelized two large onions by sauteing them slowly over low heat for a long time, about 20 minutes. You want them really soft, squishy and brown. Note that sometimes people add sugar at the beginning of caramelizing onions to speed up the process, or they use sweet onions, like Vidalias, to make the result sweeter. I advise against both here. You want a tiny bit of sweetness from caramelizing the onions but you don’t want it too sweet. Use regular cooking onions and don’t add sugar.

From here, it’s as easy as can be. You mix together 1 and 1/2 cups of sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. It’s the garlic and onion powders that give the hotter/stronger onion flavor to the dip so don’t skip them. Then add in your cooked onions. Taste to see if you want more salt. Then start drenching those chips!

Homemade French Onion Dip

• Author: Christine Pittman
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 2 cups 1x

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Chip dip recipes are a staple for parties and game day. This old time favorite French Onion Dip is made from scratch (no packet of dried onions here!) but it tastes just like the original. Dip in!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium-large regular cooking onions, chopped (approximately 2 cups once chopped)
• 1 and 1/2 cups sour cream (light and fat free sour cream work here if that’s what you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat warm the olive oil. Add the chopped onions. Cook and stir until softened but not darkening, about 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally while letting them cook until soft and brown and squishy, about 20-25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine sour cream, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
3. Once cooked, add onions to sour cream mixture. Stir to combine. Taste. Add more salt if desired.