I am not a vegan but I am lactose intolerant and a lifelong onion dip lover. When I asked one of my vegan friends (actually my sister) whether they had any good vegan sour cream and onion dip recipes, they told me that sadly, none were as good as the OG Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix and a container of sour cream. For the uninitiated, classic sour cream and onion dip is just a pint of any full-fat sour cream mixed with one packet of Lipton’s French Onion Soup mix. Sometimes chives if you are fancy. My sister had tried every type of vegan sour cream on the market paired with the soup mix and they were all missing something. Some were just too sweet or coconut-y to be reminiscent of the original recipe’s taste.
So, being me, I could not rest until I had achieved a SC+O dip SO GOOD that it would bring a tear to your eye and make you ask the maker at least 5 times if they are SURE there is 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘺 in this recipe. I first debuted this dip at an all-girl’s camping trip where half the attendees were vegan. This dip was a HUGE hit. The vegans were desperately making sure this was absolutely, 100% vegan (it is), and the non-vegans could not believe that they actually liked something vegan.
How to Make Vegan Sour Cream and Onion Dip
Anyway, if you want to dip your toe into the vegan world, this is the recipe for you. To be totally honest, most vegans are a little skewed in their reviews of certain plant-based products and their taste. Sorry, Becky, but this tempeh loaf does not taste just like chicken. It just doesn’t!
I’m not going to lie to you to get you to try something vegan and it irritates me when I try bad vegan products. I’d rather just not eat it. I have the same feeling about Coke/Diet Coke. Anyone who says the diet version tastes just like regular is a LIAR!! I’d rather just drink regular or nothing, you know?
Back to the dip. One of the easiest and most effective tricks is to let the dip chill overnight before you eat it. It’s a well known fact in the culinary world that certain dishes benefit from an overnight rest. What kinds of dishes? Usually dishes with spices, onion and concentrated ingredients. The soup mix has dehydrated powdered ingredients in it. When you add it to the dip, your tongue might only taste 10-15% of the flavor in the mix. When it sits overnight, the powders can melt and fuse with the rest of the dip, fully activating for maximum flavor.
Cooking Dairy Free
Another thing I have noticed about most plant-based dairy products is they have an unnerving sweetness from whatever coconut fat they used to replace the cow fat. A heavy hand with salt and pepper can overcome that weird sweetness. The caramelized onions replace it with the mellow, brown type of sweetness we expect from this type of dish. This is also why I chose to mix plant-based sour cream and cream cheese. The plant-based sour cream doesn’t have the fat/richness that cow’s sour cream would. So, we have to supplement for that to achieve the right texture.
Last note: letting the cream cheese and sour cream soften a bit before mixing. This helps to achieve a totally smooth and uniform texture.
ideas to use up your dip
-Spread it on a sandwich
-Use it as a base on homemade pizza
-Put it on a baked potato
-Let me know if you think of more!
Vegan Sour Cream and Onion Dip
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Cast iron or stainless steel skillet
Ingredients
- 8 oz Vegan Cream Cheese I like Kite Hill
- 8 oz Vegan Sour Cream
- 1 yellow onion or Vidalia sweet onion
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 packet Lipton's French Onion Soup Mix
- 3 Tbsp finely chopped chives
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Remove cream cheese and sour cream from refrigerator and let come up room temperature.
- In a cast iron or stainless steel pan, cook onions in oil until caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add Lipton's soup mix, chives, garlic powder and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Fold in caramelized onions. Adjust salt to taste.
- Let chill for one hour or preferably overnight. This helps the flavors meld and become more pronounced. Serve with chips or sliced veggies.
