Vegan French Onion Dip

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This vegan French onion dip is rich, creamy, and packed with savory flavor! Made with caramelized onions in a silky dairy-free cashew base, it’s great with chips, but good enough to eat with a spoon.

This vegan onion dip is the best onion dip I’ve ever eaten. And let me tell you: this girl has eaten her share of onion dips!

Onion dip was a favorite of mine as a kid. I kind of lost my taste for it as an adult — most onion dips are kind of overpowering and artificial tasting. But this vegan French onion dip is another story — the flavor is perfectly savory with a touch of sweet, while the texture is creamy and smooth.

Let’s talk about how it’s made!

Jump to:

• What You’ll Need
• How to Make Vegan Onion Dip
• Vegan Onion Dip Tips & FAQ
• More Vegan Dips
• Vegan French Onion Dip

What You’ll Need

• Onions. You’ll need lots of them! A pound, to be exact. Plain old yellow onions will do.
• Olive oil. You can substitute another high-heat oil if you’d like.
• Organic sugar. Make sure it’s organic to keep the recipe vegan
• Raw cashews.
• Garlic.
• Dried thyme.
• Balsamic vinegar. Quality matters here. You want the vinegar to be thick and syrupy, with a bit of sweetness to it.
• Raw cashews. It’s important that they’re raw. Using roasted cashews will give you something that tastes more like cashew butter than onion dip! They also need to be soaked in water for 4 to 8 hours to soften up.
• Non-dairy milk. Use something unflavored and unsweetened.
• Silken tofu.
• Lemon juice.
• Vegan Worcestershire sauce. Annie’s and Edward & Sons brands are both vegan.
• Onion powder.
• Salt & pepper.
• Fresh chives. These are optional, but they make a great topping.

How to Make Vegan Onion Dip

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe!

Caramelize the Onions

• Slice your onions super thin and place them in a skillet with the olive oil and a pinch of sugar.
• Give the onions a stir to distribute the ingredients, then place the skillet over low to medium-low heat.
• Slowly cook the onions, giving them a stir every so often. They’ll gradually soften and brown. Be patient! The whole process can take about an hour.
• Now raise the heat just a bit and add the garlic and thyme. Cook everything for a minute, then add the balsamic vinegar. Stir it in and cook everything for just a minute more, until most of the liquid reduces.

Blend the Dip

• Drain your soaked cashews and place them into a blender or food processor bowl, along with the non-dairy milk. Blend the cashews and milk to a smooth paste.
• Add the tofu, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and onion powder. Blend everything again until the mixture is smooth. It should be about as thick as sour cream.
• Add the caramelized onions, reserving a few for topping if you’d like.
• Blend everything again until the onions are finely chopped up and incorporated into the mixture. Now season the mixture with salt and pepper before giving it one final blend.

Serve

• Spoon your vegan French onion dip into a bowl and garnish it with a few caramelized onions. I like to top mine with some fresh chives as well! Serve with chips.

Vegan Onion Dip Tips & FAQ

• Is this dip gluten-free? It is!
• Shelf life & storage: Vegan French onion dip will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 4 days.
• Does your dip taste like it’s missing something? It’s probably salt. Onion dip has a lot of salt in it, so don’t be shy!
• Did you forget to soak your cashews? Try boiling them in water for 15 minutes. They won’t blend up quite as smooth as if you’d soaked them.
• The caramelized onions can be made ahead of time. Store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for 3 months.