5.0 from 36 votes
Caramelized Onion Dip
Baked Caramelized Onion Dip will spoil you for any other hot appetizers, trust me!
Prep Time
1 hr 10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
1 hr 35 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 252 kcal
Course:
Appetizer
Cuisine:
American
Ingredients
- 3 large yellow onions
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp (or a touch more) cognac
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese (about 6 ounces)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme crush with your fingers as you add it
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the onions. I chop one of them. I halve the next, and thinly slice. I quarter the last one, and thinly slice. This gives me a nice variety of texture in the finished dip and avoids the 'stringly onion' syndrome that can happen with classic onion dip :)
- Melt the butter and oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven and add the onions. Cook them until they start to soften, stirring often. About 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and brown sugar to the pan and stir well.
- Now you'll continue to cook the onions, uncovered, over medium heat, for as long as it takes to caramelize them: this will be about an hour. You'll want to stir every so often. The key here is that you don't want them to brown right away, you want them to soften and lose their moisture. The heat should be high enough to cook them, but not so high that they're browning on the bottom of the pan (this will happen at the very end of the caramelization process.) The onions will release moisture first, then SLOWLY turn from golden to brown. Your nose will tell you when it's close. (See tips in the post for more details.)
- When the onions have reduced way down and have turnd a nice deep golden brown, you can deglaze the pan with the cognac. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan at this point and remove from the heat to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Put the mayo, sour cream, cheeses, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper into a bowl and blend. Fold in the cooled onions.
- Spread into a gratin dish, cast iron skillet, or other oven safe baking dish.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the dip is bubbling and golden on top. The baking time will vary depending on the size of your dish.
- Serve hot with thin slices of baquette that have been toasted. Reheat, if necessary, in a low oven, or reheat smaller portions briefly in the microwave.
Cup of Yum
Nutrition Information
Serving
1serving
Calories
252kcal
(13%)
Carbohydrates
8g
(3%)
Protein
10g
(20%)
Fat
20g
(31%)
Saturated Fat
8g
(40%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
4g
Monounsaturated Fat
6g
Trans Fat
0.1g
Cholesterol
44mg
(15%)
Sodium
928mg
(39%)
Potassium
133mg
(4%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
4g
(8%)
Vitamin A
387IU
(8%)
Vitamin C
4mg
(4%)
Calcium
330mg
(33%)
Iron
0.3mg
(2%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 8servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 252
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1serving | |
| Calories | 252kcal | 13% |
| Carbohydrates | 8g | 3% |
| Protein | 10g | 20% |
| Fat | 20g | 31% |
| Saturated Fat | 8g | 40% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 4g | 24% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Trans Fat | 0.1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 44mg | 15% |
| Sodium | 928mg | 39% |
| Potassium | 133mg | 3% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 387IU | 8% |
| Vitamin C | 4mg | 4% |
| Calcium | 330mg | 33% |
| Iron | 0.3mg | 2% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.