Ina’s Stovetop Onion Dip

The bloggers of I Heart Cooking Clubs have begun creating Ina Garten’s recipes. I’m looking forward to it, to be honest. I’m starting with this simple stovetop onion dip that is so much better than store bought you’ll want keep caramelized onions on hand so you can prepare it anytime!

It’s really simple to make caramelize onions on the stovetop. Aside from the a short period over high heat, once the temperature is reduced the onions only need an occasional stir and time to cool before adding the other ingredients.

This is an excellent base for other creamy dips. For example you could add some bacon or spinach to change things up a bit.

Ina uses sour cream in her recipe. I have difficulty finding it here in Spain. Once in awhile I’ll come across crème fraîche but for the most part I’ll substitute plain Greek yogurt. I had a small container ready to go and forgot to put it in. To be honest, the dip was fine albeit more of a spread than a dip. (UPDATE: the next time I made this I was able to find sour cream. It adds quite a bit of creaminess that makes it easier to dip a chip.) The onions I used yielded just under two cups which is a good amount for Rick and I. You can easily double or even triple the recipe for a party setting.

I served my dip with fresh vegetables the first day, spread it on Wasa bread the second and stirred it into freshly steamed broccoli on the third. There’s enough left for another little snack. In fact, I think it’s calling me…

Ina's Stovetop Onion Dip

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Servings: 2 cups

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

• 2 large yellow or white onions sliced into half moons
• 4 tablespoons butter 1/2 stick
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• generous pinch red pepper flakes
• 3 - 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pull the cream cheese and mayo out of the fridge and set on the counter while you prep and cook the onions.
• Heat the butter and oil in the bottom of medium skillet along with a pinch of red pepper flakes.
• Add the onions and saute over high heat until they soften and begin to change to a golden color, about 7 minutes..
• Reduce the heat to low and season with salt and pepper. (feel free to add garlic or other seasonings).
• Give the onions a stir every now and then while you continue to cook them over low heat for another 20 minutes or so. They should deepen in color and smell really fragrant.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• When cool, beat the cream cheese, mayonnaise and lemon juice together in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
• Stir in the onions.
• Adjust the seasonings to taste.

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Onions were the featured ingredient for this week’s I Heart Cooking Club challenge. I chose an Ina recipe, but we’re free to choose from any of the featured chefs. Follow the link above to see what the other bloggers have made…it’s sure to be good!