French Onion Dip
French onion dip or California dip is an American dip typically made with a base of sour cream and flavored with minced onion, and usually served with potato chips as chips and dip. It is also served with snack crackers and crudités. It is not French cuisine; it is called "French" because it is made with dehydrated French onion soup mix.
Popular in the 1950s for entertaining. The Lipton Company, whose dry onion soup mix is the basis of California Dip, doesn't claim to have invented it. That distinction belongs to an anyonymous California cook, who blended sour cream with the soup mix back in 1954--two years after it hit the market. Word of the new dip spread through Los Angeles faster than a canyon fire, newspapers printed the recipe, onion soup mix sales soared, and Lipton executives, a continent away in New Jersey, were ecstatic. They tracked down the recipe, perfected it, and beginning in 1958, printed it on every box of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix. It is still a popular dip.
Home-made versions are usually made with caramelized onions.
How to Carmelize Onions
While you can start the cooking process at medium heat, low and slow is the name of the game when it comes to caramelizing onions. Once your onions begin to soften and take on a golden hue, you'll want to reduce the heat from medium to medium-low or even low for the remainder of the cooking process. The sugars in the onions require time and gentle heat to caramelize; cooking them over high heat will take you straight to burnt. Cook until the onions are a deep, golden brown.
If the onions stick to the bottom of the pan, deglaze with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or wine. The flavor of balsamic vinegar complements the onions perfectly. Not only will deglazing pull up tasty sticky bits, it will add even more flavor to your caramelized onions. For the recipe below, you can deglaze with a little water with a boullion cube dissolved in it. Onion soup mix packages contain boullion.
Faith's recipe for French Onion Dip
I created a recipe based on those below and others I have seen online. It was very flavorful as soon as it was made and did not need to refrigerate for a day as some reviewers have said of other recipes. The key to making it flavorful is to not simply cook the onions, but carmelize them to a darker brown. I will use this recipe next time.
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup onion, chopped fairly fine (about the size you want the onion in your dip)
sprinkling of salt
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 beef bouillon cube dissoved in 1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 oz. cream cheese, bring to room temperature so it softens
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Melt the butter in a metal saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sprinkle with salt. Once they have softened and just started to brown, turn the heat down. They should cook slowly at this point so they do not burn. Continue to cook, stirring every so often, until they are browned and caramelized. This will take some time. Add the minced garlic and let cook for another minute or two until you no longer see raw pieces of garlic. Add the bouillon cube dissolved in water and cook down to evaporate the liquid. Turn off the heat. Use a rubber spatula and scoop the onions into a bowl to cool.
In a mixing bowl, beat the sour cream, cream cheese and Worcestershire sauce together using an electric hand mixer. Beat in the onions. Refrigerate to cool the dip. Serve with ripple cut potato chips.
Makes about 1 cup dip
Original French Onion Dip (Lipton Soup Mix)
1 pt. dairy sour cream
1 envelope Lipton French onion soup mix
Mix and chill for 1/2 hour. Traditionally served with ruffled potato chips. Also good with crudittes for dipping.
Make your own Onion Soup Mix
Alton Brown's Onion Dip
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onions
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
In a saute pan over medium heat add oil, heat and add onions and salt. Cook the onions until they are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and then add the cooled onions. Refrigerate and stir again before serving.
Makes 2 1/2 cups
Pan-Fried Onion Dip
Recipe Courtesy of Ina Garten
2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. (You will have about 3 cups of onions.) Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.
Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings.
Serve at room temperature.
Yield: 2 cups
Rachael Ray's French Onion Dip
FMM: I have not tried this but would not put the thyme in, and several reviewers agreed. They did not like the thyme. Also, several said the dip was too thick and would cut back on the cream cheese. Others said it was bland after making it, but that it gained a lot of flavor in the frig overnight.
1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium onions, quartered lengthwise then very thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cube beef bouillon
1/2 cup water
Black pepper
1 teaspoon ground thyme [omit]
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened in microwave for 20 seconds on high
Pinch salt, optional
2 tablespoons chopped chives, 5 to 6 blades
Place a medium skillet over medium to medium high heat and add the extra-virgin olive oil and the butter. Melt butter into oil then add onions and garlic cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bouillon cube to the pan with 1/2 cup water and cook until it "melts" coats onions, stirring frequently, 3 minutes. Season the onions with pepper, thyme and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to quick-cool a bit.
In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream and softened creamed cheese using a rubber spatula. Stir in the onion mixture until completely combined, add salt if necessary and adjust your seasonings. Serve at room temperature or chill. Garnish with chives.
Yield: 6 servings
