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Several weeks ago, we were getting ready to take a car trip and I was packing snacks. I thought some French onion dip for our obligatory road trip carrot sticks would be a nice treat, but when I started looking at ingredients, every single brand contained MSG.
I was sad to walk out of the store with nothing, but MSG is kind of a big “no” in our family.
I’m usually a big fan of homemade ranch dressing or dill dip anyway, so I just rolled with it for that trip, but after that, I was curious, and continued looking at various different brands of French onion dip whenever I went shopping.
Without fail, they all contained MSG.
Sigh.
I think it was a blessing in disguise though, because I had to start making my own dip, and landed on a recipe that is out-of-this-world good!
A lot of the easy French onion dip recipes out there use just sour cream and mayonnaise, and they’re really good, but cream cheese takes it to a whole new level! Worth. Every. Calorie.
BUT, if you don’t want the entire calorie load of cream cheese, you can always substitute Neufchatel.
Easy French Onion Dip
Ingredients
- 1–2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons red bell pepper, chopped finely
- 1/4 – ½ cup water
- 1 cup sour cream
- 8 ounce of cream cheese
- 2–3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon salt ( or more to taste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Cook onion in oil until very soft and tender and slightly browned. Roughly 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and bell pepper, and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Set aside to let cool.
- Combine room temperature cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, salt, and Worcestershire sauce in food processer.
- Pulse until smooth, scraping down sides a few times and adding water as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Add onion mixture and pulse until everything is incorporated.
- Taste test, and add salt and/or Worcestershire sauce as needed.
- Refrigerate in a lidded container.
Enjoy!
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Audrey @ Unconventional Baker says
Argh, it’s so annoying that MSG makes its way into everything! Glad you were able to find a tasty workaround 😉
Glen Herbert says
MSG is bad for you is a wives tale.
★★★★★
gretchen | kumquat says
it’s been forever since i had that delicious stuff, but sounds like that’s a good thing considering all of the msg! hallelujah, you’ve brought it back onto my radar and in a version that is much better for us all…
Kristen says
Your dip sounds amazing, but I have read it three times and cannot see where you use the water. Is it to smooth it out? My brother is allergic to msg, so I try hard to avoid it. Homemade things always taste so much better anyway!
Elise says
Thanks so much for pointing out that flaw! It’s fixed now, with adding the water in step five. Basically, just add enough to make it your ideal “dip” consistency. 🙂
Kathleen says
Thanks so much for the recipe, I have often wanted an alternative to the packet soup mix. I will have to make this. I am also having fun eliminating baddies from recipes that impact my health.
vegetarianmamma (Cindy) says
Easy and tasty! Thanks for sharing!
-Cindy
Sharon says
I had similar disappointment when my boyfriend and my son both had to turn to gluten-free diets for health reasons. Onion Dip made with Lipton Onion Soup mix (and added shredded cheddar cheese) was a staple snack food condiment – but now it had to go.
I tried mixing several different things, but I just couldn’t get it right – there seemed to be no good replacement for the flavor that the barley gives it. Until I put in just a tad bit of white pepper.
1 container sour cream (standard size – 12 oz I think?)
1 tbsp dried minced onions
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
sometimes I add 1/4 tsp garlic powder too.
Shredded cheddar is always a nice addition too.
Emily says
This looks amazing! ! I can’t wait to try it. I gave up pre packaged Dips a long time ago avoiding MSG and gmos. And here is a solution…sent from above 🙂 thank you! I have has the munchies lately. This should solve that problem.
Meghann says
Do you know how much this recipe yields? I was just wondering since I was wanting to make it for a get together and need to see how much I need to make. Thanks for sharing!!!
Elise says
I makes just about 2 1/2 cups. 🙂
Meghann says
Thanks. This recipe is delicious! Made it the other day, and I have to tell you. It takes better the more it sits. Also, if I remove the mayo, would the recipe taste any different? My mom has this weird thing with mayo and wouldn’t eat it if it’s in there, but I don’t want change it if the taste would be way different.
Elise says
You could try leaving out the mayo, and thinning it out with milk if it’s too thick. It may result in a slightly less acid taste, and may need more salt added.
Catherine says
Hi There,
I am excited to try this! Any idea on how long this could last in the fridge?
Elise says
I would say up to a week. After that, I’m not sure.