A tasty base of cream cheese, cottage cheese and caramelized onions makes this homemade onion dip simply irresistible! Forget store-bought and make this easy onion dip at home, serve with your favourite chips and watch it disappear!

Close-up of a bowl of homemade onion dip garnished with caramelized onions and parsley.

Remember those caramelized onions I shared a little while back?

Today I’m sharing them in a homemade onion dip!

With it being the holiday season, it means lots of parties, getting together with friends, and impromptu visits. It’s always good to have an easy dip recipe in your back pocket, and this one always goes over so well!

Though this is an indulgent dip, it is lightened up somewhat with light cream cheese and cottage cheese instead of sour cream or mayo.

It has all the delicious flavours you love in an onion dip recipe. It’s creamy, flavourful and totally perfect with chips without being too heavy; feel me?

So ditch those store-bought packets of onion powder and make a delicious onion dip from scratch! Let’s make it!

How To Make Onion Dip

Full details are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:

Caramelize those onions! This is the longest part. After that, there’s not much to it!
In a food processor, combine cream cheese, cottage cheese, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
Process until smooth and combined.
Add caramelized onions and fresh parsley.
Pulse until incorporated. Tip: The reason why we pulse here is that we don’t want the onions totally blended up. You want some texture left.
Transfer the deliciously creamy caramelized onion dip to a serving dish and garnish with caramelized onions and parsley.

Collage of steps to make homemade onion dip.

Can I Caramelize Onions Ahead of Time?

Absolutely! Prep your onions a day (or two) ahead of time, properly store in an airtight container in the fridge and make the dip when ready.

Bowl of homemade onion dip next to some tortilla chips and onions.

Are Fried Onions the Same Thing?

No.

The thing about caramelized onions is that that are cooked low and slow.

What does that mean?

Tender onions.

Depth of flavour.

A lovely caramel colour.

A touch of sweetness.

Don’t get me wrong, fried onions are great! But caramelized onions work best in this dip.

Can I Serve as a Hot Onion Dip?

Absolutely! To serve as a hot onion dip, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the dip to an oven-safe dish (reserve any onion garnish and parsley for after) and bake for about 20 minutes or until heated through. After baking, garnish as desired.

Can I Make Without a Food Processor?

Yes!

If you don’t have a food processor, use a hand mixer along with a mixing bowl to blend everything together.

When it’s time to add the onions, chop them before mixing in.

Tips and Variations

Cottage cheese was used here to lighten things up a bit (versus using sour cream or mayo). Having said that, if you want to treat yourself, go ahead and use either of the latter.
You want your cream cheese softened so it blends up nice and creamy.
Crushed red pepper flakes were used for a touch of spice, but you can or replace with ground cayenne pepper to taste.
Caramelized onions were reserved for garnish. You can skip this if you like and just put them in the actual dip.
Use a homemade vegan worcestershire sauce if you want to keep this onion dip vegetarian. Alternatively, you can purchase a store-bought vegan or vegetarian variety.

Hand holding a tortilla chip that has been dipped in onion dip.

More Easy Dip Recipes

If you make this caramelized onion dip, be sure to leave a comment below!