French Onion Dip

French Onion Dip is one of my favorite foods on the planet. I’m talking the Lipton soup packet, mixed with an entire tub of sour cream, with heavily salted potato chips, ruining my dinner at family parties, etc. This homemade version completely tops the boxed stuff.

Low-and-slow caramelized onions are added to a mixture of sour cream and Greek yogurt along with some flavorful dried spices to create a dip almost identical in taste to the Lipton mix with the addition of real onions. From there, you can use any dipping vehicle you want to scoop up that goodness. It’s beyond delicious!

Ingredients needed to make French Onion Dip

The best part of this dip is that we use real onions to achieve the majority of that “french onion” flavor. They get caramelized slowly in butter, salt, and pepper, and add so much depth of flavor to this dip. I prefer to use yellow onions in this recipe, as their flavor enhances so much as they cook. Here’s everything you’ll need to make this dip:

Tools used to make French Onion Dip

French Onion Dip comes together quickly and using minimal kitchen equipment. You’ll need a cutting board, a sharp knife, a cast-iron or non-stick skillet, a large mixing bowl, a silicon scraper/spatula, and measuring cups and spoons. That’s it!

How to make French Onion Dip

The hardest part of making this French Onion Dip is slicing and caramelizing the onions. This takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes, depending on how deeply caramelized you’d like your onions to be. I tend to like mine with a slight bite left to them, so I’ll opt for the 20-25 minute range, but you can let yours go as long as you desire as long as they aren’t burning!

You’ll start by melting butter in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet and thinly slicing your onions. Add the onions to the skillet along with a pinch each of salt and pepper and cook them over low-medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and very fragrant, at least 20 minutes but up to 40 minutes. While the onions caramelize, you’ll mix together the sour cream, Greek yogurt, dried parsley, dried dill, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Once the onions are cooked, fold them into the dip, reserving about 1/8 cup to garnish on top of the dip. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl, then spoon the reserved onions over top of the dish. Serve with chips, pretzels, and freshly cut vegetables.

Looking for other delicious dips?

Try these recipes from The Ardent Cook!

Baked Goat Cheese with Herbed Orange Olives

Pomegranate Goat Cheese Guacamole

Muhammara-Style Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Recipe Ingredients

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 

¾ cup sour cream

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

¼ tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried parsley

½ tsp dried dill

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Recipe Instructions

  1. Heat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet over low-medium heat and melt the butter. Add the thinly sliced onions and stir to coat in the melted butter. Season with salt and pepper. Let cook, stirring frequently, for at least 20 minutes or up to 40 minutes, until caramelized. If the onions begin to burn or take on color too quickly, lower the heat.
  2. Once the onions have caramelized to your desired level, remove from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce.
  3. Meanwhile, make the rest of the dip. Combine sour cream, Greek yogurt, dried parsley, dried dill, garlic powder, and onion powder in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the caramelized onions, reserving about 1/8 cup as garnish.
  4. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl and spoon the reserved onions over the top. Serve with pretzels, chips, and fresh cut vegetables. Enjoy!

There may be affiliate links in this post! By purchasing a product I recommend, I may receive a small compensation. However, I only recommend products I love and use myself. Thank you for your continued support of The Ardent Cook, it does not go unnoticed.

The Ardent Prep: Chicken, Rice, and Caramelized Onions

Happy Easter everyone! I’m spending today with endless cups of coffee, a nature walk, and a free spiral-cut ham that we got on rewards from the grocery store (no shame here). One of the positives of this quarantine for me has been the opportunity to fully immerse myself in Spring and all that this season has to offer. I think Spring is often overlooked because of our desires to get out of the cold weather and move directly into summer, but it’s really one of my favorite seasons! I’m thankful for the opportunity to slow down a bit and watch the flowers bloom.

This meal prep series was inspired by feedback I got from you all on Instagram. The concept was to take a “base”, in this case chicken and rice, and come up with 3-4 quick, easy ways that you could change up that base throughout the week. While most of us do have more time now that we’re home, I think there is also a pressure to be even more productive than we would normally be in the office, and therefore meals get overlooked in exchange for a quick snack while you mute yourself on a conference call. The idea of this meal prep series is that you spend 30 minutes or so prepping your base, then an additional 15-20 minutes for each meal. I visualized a schedule that goes something like this:

Sunday: Prep base ingredients. Store in containers in fridge.

Monday: Make Chicken Cheesesteak Skillet for dinner. Store leftovers for lunch next day.

Tuesday: Make Turmeric Ginger Coconut Curry for dinner. Store leftovers for lunch next day.

Wednesday: Leftovers, if any.

Thursday: Make Caramelized Onion, Kale, and Goat Cheese Bowls with Homemade Balsamic Glaze. Store leftovers for lunch next day.

Friday: Leftovers, if any.

Alternatively, you could do your prep and make a meal all in one shot in the kitchen. It really just depends how you want to make this plan work for you. I will say that this isn’t a comprehensive, feed-your-entire-family-for-a-week meal plan. This is basic. You get roughly 2-3 adult-sized portions per meal, and if you live with boys, good luck making it last. However, if you live alone or with one other person, this is a pretty decent way to feed yourselves using simple, healthy ingredients with minimal effort during the work week. You can always feel free to bulk up these recipes even more by adding additional sides of vegetables or another side dish. The point of this recipe series if to provide a framework that is digestible, delicious, and open for interpretation!

The grocery list is provided to be used at the beginning of the week, with the assumption that you already have a few staples like olive oil, salt, pepper, and butter. You can certainly feel free to swap out any vegetables you don’t like, change up your protein, or use a grain alternative instead of the rice. Be mindful that your final product should be about 8 cups of whatever rice or rice alternative you are using, so take that into account when making a swap there! Seafood would be excellent in the Turmeric Ginger Coconut Curry or the Caramelized Onion, Kale, and Goat cheese bowls, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a swap for the Chicken Cheesesteak Skillet. Make this recipe your own and don’t be afraid to swap something interesting!

I hope you enjoy the first installment of The Ardent Prep. If this concept is well-received, I would love to make this a regular occurrence on the blog. Your feedback is always appreciated, and I’ve been loving seeing all of your recipe photos. It means the world! If you decide to make any of these recipes, don’t forget to share and tag me @theardentcook on Instagram!

Grocery List

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

1 knob fresh ginger, approximately 1 inch

1 head of garlic

1-2 large sweet onions 

2 Bell peppers, any color

1 medium jalapeno pepper

1-2 heads of broccoli

1-2 heads kale

¼ pound sliced White American cheese

1 4oz log Goat cheese

1 16oz can full-fat coconut milk

White rice (4 cups dry)

1 16oz bottle Balsamic vinegar 

Ground turmeric

Prep Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake chicken breasts with olive oil, salt, and pepper until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, approximately 30 minutes.
  2. Cook rice according to package instructions. If using a grain alternative, be sure that your final products yields close to 8 cups. Each recipe calls for approximately 2.5 cups of rice, give or take.
  3. While chicken and rice cook, melt 1 TBSP butter or other cooking fat in a medium skillet. Finely slice onion crosswise and add to the skillet along with a pinch of salt. Stir to coat onions in the butter, and saute over low heat until onions are slightly golden and resemble a jammy consistency, at least 20 minutes. Be careful not to cook onions any higher than low heat, at the risk of burning them.
  4. If choosing to make one of the meals at this point, continue with instructions for those recipes, linked below. Otherwise, store all ingredients in separate containers in the fridge and use according to recipe instructions throughout the week. Enjoy!

Chicken Cheesesteak Skillet

Turmeric Ginger Coconut Curry

Caramelized Onion, Kale, and Goat Cheese Bowls with Homemade Balsamic Glaze