Homemade French Onion Dip Recipe
Updated Mar 07, 2026
Easy French Onion Dip recipe with deeply caramelized onions mixed into sour cream with garlic, chives, and lemon juice. Great with potato chips.
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Homemade French Onion Dip is soo good!
I’ve always had a soft spot for French onion dip, especially with potato chips. It’s the kind of thing I’ll keep going back to without really thinking about it.
My French onion dip recipe starts with slowly caramelized onions, which makes a big difference compared to the packet versions. Once the onions cool, they get mixed into sour cream with garlic, chives, and a little lemon juice. It’s simple, but it’s the kind of dip that disappears quickly once the chips come out.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
French Onion Dip Ingredients
- Caramelized onion base: Olive oil, yellow onion, and garlic. The onion is the most important part of this dip, so take your time cooking it. You want it deeply golden and jammy, not just soft. If the onions start sticking while cooking, add a splash of water to loosen the pan and keep them from burning. Add the garlic during the last minute so it doesn’t scorch. For help, see my tips on how to caramelize onions.
- Creamy base: Sour cream is the base of the dip and keeps it thick and tangy. Full-fat sour cream gives the best texture. If you want it a little lighter, you can replace half or all with plain Full-Fat Greek yogurt.
- Fresh mix-ins: Chives and lemon juice. Finely chop the chives so they distribute evenly through the dip. Use fresh lemon juice rather than bottled so the flavor stays bright.
- Seasoning: Salt & black pepper. Add the salt after mixing everything together since the caramelized onions already bring some natural sweetness and depth.
- For serving: Potato chips. Thick-cut or ridged potato chips hold up best for dipping. You can also serve this with sliced vegetables if you want something lighter.
How to Make French Onion Dip
French Onion Dip Recipe
French Onion Dip made with caramelized onions, sour cream, garlic, and fresh chives. Simple homemade dip served with potato chips or fresh vegetables.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Potato chips for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a sauté pan on medium high heat. Add the onions to the pan.
- Stir periodically for 10 minutes, allowing them to color.
- Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and continue to cook until evenly caramelized, about 15 more minutes. If the onions start to stick to the pan, add a couple tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan. When there is one minute left, add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
- Transfer the caramelized onions to a medium bowl and allow to cool. Add the sour cream, chives, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix and serve immediately or chill for up to 24 hours before serving. Serve with your favorite potato chips or veggies.
Notes
My Top Tip: Be sure to fully caramelize the onions. This creates the deep flavor for the dip, so have a little patience. It could take up to 45 minutes. Grab my tips for how to caramelize onions for the full rundown.
Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 3-4 days in the fridge.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g, Calories: 125kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Sodium: 129mg, Potassium: 81mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 282IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 48mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Tips
- Add water if you prefer a runnier dip. Once you have mixed the ingredients together, add a tablespoon of water at a time until you get the consistency you want. I prefer the thickness of it without water though.
- Let the onions fully cool before mixing them with the sour cream. If the onions are still warm, the cream can split.
Comments
This was absolutely delicious! I didn’t add the garlic, because I’m not a big fan of it; I used yogurt instead of the cream cheese as it’s difficult to find here in Japan. With that being said the flavor is very rich and I’m surprised it took me to find this recipe, but this is going into my rotation from here on out! Thanks, for sharing this!!
So happy you liked it! Love the tweaks you made. Thanks, Anthony!!
Great healthy alternative to fatty French onion dip. With cucumbers or chips, yum!
Yay! That combos sounds so good!
So good!! Used vegan sour cream and added jalapeños for a little kick. This is my family’s new favorite dip!
That sounds like a delicious addition! Yay!!
Excellent dip for my birthday 🥳 party 🎈
That’s perfect! Happy Birthday, Shirin!
Made this last night and WOW! YUM! Super simple and super good. I added a few dashes of Worcestershire to amp up the flavor even a little more. I will definitely make this again… like soon!
I’m so happy to hear that! Worcestershire sounds like a delicious addition!
I made this last night and it was delicious!! Instead of using 1 cup of sour cream I used 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and it tasted great. I would just recommend letting the dip sit for at least 30 minutes before eating, to let the flavors incorporate. I will definitely make this again!
I love that to give a tangier flavor, as well as some added protein with less calories! Great tip.
I happen to try this recipe, it tasted amazinggg…
My family n I have been making yogurt dips since a long time and I thoroughly loved the texture and flavour of this one. And the fact that it’s so simple to make 🙂
You just need some basic ingredients which are usually available at home.
N that’s it 🙂
I had this with fresh cut veggies and also with some freshly baked garlic bread sticks. It was yummm!!!
Yay! So glad you liked it! Thank you 🙂