Here’s a classic dip that deserves to make a comeback. Commercial versions of French onion dip are loaded with preservatives and homemade versions often call for dry onion soup mix. Hogwash! Here’s a natural version of onion dip, a.k.a. California dip, with the main ingredient as it should be: onions! Vegan cream cheese, yogurt, and a few seasonings add everything else you need for this classic dip. Serve it with potato chips, pita chips, cut veggies, or anything else that needs a little sumpin’ sumpin. Or try spreading it on sandwiches!
Ingredients
4 onions
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) dry white wine
2 Tbsp white miso paste
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
Small bunch of parsley
Small bunch of chives
1 1/4 cups (300 g) plain unflavored vegan yogurt, at room temperature
8 3/4 ounces (250 g) vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce, such as Henderson’s
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºc (fan).
Peel the onions then slice in half. Slice each half into roughly 1/4-inch (1/2 cm) crescents and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the oil, wine, miso, salt, sugar and black pepper, then use your hands to massage everything together. Get those onions good and coated.
Transfer the onions and any residual goo to a medium roasting tray. Crush the unpeeled garlic with the side of a knife, then add it to the tray, still in the skins. Cover the tray with tin foil and bake for 20 mins.
Remove from the oven, remove the tin foil, stir everything, then return to the oven and bake uncovered for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully.
While the onions cool, finely chop the parsley and chives, adding them to a food processor. Add the yogurt, cream cheese, and Worcestershire, then process until smooth.
Set aside about 3 Tbsp of the cooled onions, and add the rest of the onions to the food processor mixture. Squeeze the soft, roasted garlic cloves out of their skins into the food processor as well. Pulse a few times until blended but not completely smooth. Transfer to a bowl or container, cover, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Serve cool or at room temperature in a wide bowl topped with the remaining roasted onions (and some chopped chives if you have any left). Dip in with your favorite dippers!
To make sure the onions don’t caramelise too quickly, I like to cover the roasting tin with foil for the first half of the oven time. After this, I remove the foil and return to the oven, to give the onions plenty of colour.
Vegan cream cheese tends to split if processed while still cold. When you make this recipe, take the vegan cream cheese out of the fridge at least 4 hours before you intend to use it.
I like my dip to have a mixture of chunky onions and even bigger slices of onion. If you like this texture too, pulse the dip a few times but don’t blend smooth. Top with some reserved roasted onions right before serving. Add some chopped chives too!
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @wickedkitchenfood on Instagram and hashtag it #wickedkitchen.
