This is the perfect time of year to be experimenting with cold and light food. Easy items that you can store in the fridge and eat over a few days as the mood takes you. Dips are great for outdoor eating. You can put a selection of homemade dips on the table on any occasion, along with some bread or tortilla chips to scoop them up. You guests will always be grateful.
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This caramelised onion dip is a good example of a chilled and creamy dip. Make it the day before your planned meal (or even the morning of) and you’ll have something special to serve up, all chilled and ready to go. I’ve kept my onions thinly sliced, but you can chop them if you would prefer to not have stringy onions in the final dish (my wife prefers to have them chopped). As with a lot of dips, this one is very easy to make, requires little effort and will keep up to 5 days in the fridge.
Caramelised Red Onion Dip
Ingredients
Gluten-free.
Ingredients:
For the Fried Onions:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium red onions peeled, halved and sliced very thinly (or chopped if you prefer)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp sugar
For the Dip:
- 1 x 200g pack of vegan cream cheese close to room temperature is better for blending
- 240 g vegan plain yoghurt I use Greek style
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- A good pinch of salt
- A dash of ground black pepper
- 1 garlic clove minced or finely grated in a microplane
Instructions
- To fry the onions, heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onions for about 10 minutes, until they are starting to brown. Add the salt, pepper and sugar and fry for another 5 minutes or so, until they are soft, dark and caramelised (if they start to brown too much you can add a splash of cold water to the pan). Once the onions are ready. Take them off the heat and allow to fully cool.
- Make the rest of the dip while the onions are cooling. Blend the cream cheese and the yoghurt together in a bowl using a hand whisk (you can use electric if preferred). Get it as lump-free as possible, which is easier with the room-temperature cream cheese.
- Now add the rest of the dip ingredients and stir in until fully blended.
- Add the fried onions when they are fully cooled. Mix together, then cover and store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
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