Sauces & Condiments French

Caramel’s French Onion Dip

Onions are browned down with mushroom and beef broth until they go sweet, dark and gloriously jammy, then folded into sour cream and yogurt. This is French onion dip after it quit the powdered packet, grew opinions, and started paying property tax.

Caramel’s French Onion Dip

What It Is

Onions are browned down with mushroom and beef broth until they go sweet, dark and gloriously jammy, then folded into sour cream and yogurt. This is French onion dip after it quit the powdered packet, grew opinions, and started paying property tax.

Origin

French onion dip is an American party-food classic inspired by French onion soup. This version skips the soup-mix packet and actually makes the onions do some labour.

Fun Fact

Onions brown because heat drives both caramelization and Maillard reactions. Translation: patience turns angry raw onion into sweet brown magic.

Prep
15 min
Cook
35 min
Total
50 min
Servings
12 tbsps
(halve it if it's just you and today has been a lot)
Difficulty
easy
Gluten-Free Nut-Free
Diet
Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free
Away Mission
45 min walk
(about one moderately tense turbolift ride)
#caramel-s-french-onion-dip #french #sauce #spoon-and-scribble

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups chopped onions
  • 1½ cups mushroom broth
  • 10 oz low-sodium beef broth
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1¾ cups sour cream
  • ⅓ cup plain non-fat yogurt

Steps

  1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown.
  2. Add mushroom and beef broth, scrape up the browned bits and simmer until the liquid is nearly gone.
  3. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the onions are deeply golden.
  4. Stir in onion powder and vinegar and cook until the vinegar has evaporated. Cool about 20 minutes.
  5. Mix sour cream and yogurt, fold in the onion mixture and chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

You Might Also Like

Chunky Cherry Compote Chunky Cherry Compote Sauces & Condiments · French Sarah’s Famous Hollandaise Sauce Sarah’s Famous Hollandaise Sauce Sauces & Condiments · French Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce Sauces & Condiments · French

Notes

Do not rush the onions. If they are pale and crunchy, you have not made French onion dip. You have made onion yogurt with confidence issues.

Nutrition Facts
Per 2 tbsp
Calories 210
Burning this off: two laps of avoiding small talk at a family gathering.
% Daily Value*
Fat 8.0 g 11%
Saturated + Trans 4.5 g 23%
Cholesterol 20 mg
Sodium 30 mg 1%
Carbohydrate 32.0 g
Fibre 1.0 g 4%
Sugars 29.0 g 29%
Protein 2.5 g
Potassium 230 mg 5%
Calcium 60 mg 5%
Iron 0.3 mg 2%
*5% or less is a little, 15% or more is a lot. Sodium levels calculated in a country with universal healthcare — and it's free, so don't worry about it too much.
A genuinely respectable nutrition profile. No red flags here — go ahead and feel a little smug about it.

Substitutions

Vegetable broth can replace mushroom broth if that's not on hand. Regular beef broth works instead of low-sodium, just season more carefully at the end. Any sweet or yellow onion works here, this recipe genuinely doesn't discriminate.

Storage

Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The flavour actually deepens overnight, so don't feel rushed to serve it same-day.

Freezing

Freezing is usually unnecessary for a small batch of sauce. If you do freeze it, use small portions and expect creamy or emulsified sauces to need a good whisk after thawing.