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Lovers of French Onion Soup will LOVE this Vegan French Onion Dip – aka the vegan dip to beat all vegan dips! Caramelized onions mixed with a tofu base make for delectable caramelized onion dip for parties and gameday! 
Here’s the vegan party snack to beat all party snacks! Vegan French Onion Dip – lovers of my vegan French Onion Soup will LOVE this dip made with homemade caramelized onions.
Now, caramelizing onions can be incredibly tedious and requires watching the pan for half an hour. In this Instant Pot French Onion Dip recipe, the caramelization part is completely hands-off! We let the onions slowly caramelize in your Instant Pot. And the best thing – there’s zero risk of burnt onions in the end. You can make the caramelized onion on stove top or bake them. See recipe notes for instructions.
This restaurant-style dip pairs perfectly with fresh veggie sticks, breadsticks, or your favorite homemade or store-bought crackers for easy entertaining.
Using my fool-proof method, the onions will cook at low heat and caramelize and get perfectly jammy and delicious! If you love how these turn out and want to use these for more recipes than just French Onion Dip, you can use these over hummus/ avodado toast or cream cheese toasts, add them to top your favorite pasta, etc.
French onion dips usually require cream cheese and/or yogurt as a base. In this vegan version, we blitz tofu with dairy-free yogurt.
More vegan Dips and appetizers:
Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe 30 Mins!
Pizza Dip with Vegan Mozzarella Cream Herbed Mushrooms
French Onion Dip
Ingredients
For the caramelized onions:
- 1 large yellow onion, ,thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter, or use oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
For the cream dip:
- 3 oz firm tofu
- 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast or use 1 teaspoon yellow miso
- 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons of the caramelized onions
- green onion, pepper flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Make the caramelized onion in the Instant pot: (see recipe notes for stovetop instructions). Add 3 cups of water to your inner pot then use a large flat insert and add the onion. Keep them less than two layers thick otherwise the onions won’t caramelize. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to coat the onions really well. If some onions are still dry add some more vegan melted butter. Close the inner pan with either foil or the lid that comes with it.
- Then use a trivet and lower it into the inner pot. Close the instant pot lid and pressure cook for 1 hour. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then quick release. Open the lid and check on the onions. They should be cooked and somewhat caramelized. Remove the pan and the trivet . The onions should have caramelized. If there’s a lot of moisture, transfer to a skillet to cook for 2-3 mins to evaporate a bit.
- To make the cream dip, add the tofu, yogurt, 2-3 tablespoons of caramelized onions, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, and Worcestershire sauce to a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth. Taste and adjust salt and flavor.
- Adjust more tang by adding a little bit of lime juice and process again. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the remaining caramelized onions (swirl some of the onions into the dip). Top with pepper flakes and green onions and serve with crackers, toasted bread, veggies, etc.
Video
Notes
To make the caramelized onion on Stovetop: Add onion, salt, sugar, vegan butter to a skillet and cook over medium heat for 14-16 mins. Stir occasionally and deglaze with splashes of broth if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the onion are caramelized to preference. (10-25 mins). If they keep drying out quickly, partially cover the pan and continue. Stir well occasionally to avoid burning and even cooking. To make the caramelized onions in a baking dish: Add all the ingredients under onion in a greased baking dish and spread. Use a dish that fits the onions so they don’t have too much space between them. Cover with parchment and bake at 385 deg F for 35-50 mins. Stir once in between. Add splashes of broth if drying out too much
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients:
- for the caramelized onions, I use yellow onions to keep the color nice and golden
- we season the onions with garlic, thyme, leaves, and pepper
- balsamic vinegar and sugar provide the perfect mixture of sweetness and tanginess
- the onions slowly caramelize in vegan butter
- For the cream dip we blend tofu with non-dairy yogurt
- for that savory-cheesy flavor we add a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, and nutritional yeast or miso
Tips:
- To make this dip soy-free, use 3/4 cup of soaked cashews. or use more of the yogurt (about 3/4 cup) plus 2-3 tablespoons of soaked seeds such as hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds. Process and use. Omit the Worcestershire sauce.
- For extra tanginess and extra creaminess, you can add some vegan cream cheese to this dip
How to make Vegan French Onion Dip:
Add 3 cups of water to your inner pot then use a large flat insert and add the yellow onion. You don’t want it to be more than two layers thick otherwise the onions won’t caramelize.
Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to coat the onions really well.
If some onions are still dry add some more vegan melted butter. Close the inner pan with either foil or the lid that comes with it.
Then use a trivet and lower it into the inner pot. Close the instant pot lid and pressure cook for one hour. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes then quick release.
Open the lid and check on the onions. They should be cooked and somewhat caramelized. Remove the pan and the trivet. The onions should have caramelized.
If there’s a lot of moisture, transfer to a skillet to cook for 2-3 mins to evaporate a bit.
To make the cream dip, add the tofu, yogurt, 2-3 tablespoons of caramelized onions, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, and Worcestershire sauce to a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth. Taste and adjust salt and flavor.
Add more tang by adding a little bit of lime juice and process again. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the caramelized onions (swirl some of the onions into the dip).
Top with pepper flakes and green onions and serve with crackers, toasted bread, veggies, etc.
To make the caramelized onion on Stovetop:
Add onion, salt, sugar, vegan butter to a skillet and cook over medium heat for 14-16 mins. Stir occasionally and deglaze with splashes of broth if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the onion are caramelized to preference. (10-25 mins). If they keep drying out quickly, partially cover the pan and continue. Stir well occasionally to avoid burning and even cooking.
To make the caramelized onions in a baking dish: Add all the ingredients under onion in a greased baking dish and spread. Use a dish that fits the onions so they don’t have too much space between them. Cover with parchment and bake at 385 deg F for 35-50 mins. Stir once in between. Add splashes of broth if drying out too much
Storage
Store in a closed container in the fridge for upto 4 days.
Does this recipe use firm tofu or silken tofu? In the recipe ingredients it says FIRM tofu, but in the instructions it says SILKEN?… ” In this vegan version, we blitz silken tofu with dairy-free yogurt”. Can you please confirm which is correct as I suspect the texture will end up different depending which one is used. Thank you ! I can’t wait to make this for a Xmas party.
Firm tofu
Incredible recipe!
This ended up being everyone’s favorite at lunch today and it was easy to see why. Low complexity on the cooking scale, but it packed a ton of flavor. I was eating it with plain cucumbers, chips and bread. By the end I’d just scrape up the sauce on it’s own, that’s how delicious this was! Between the four of us it was gone by the end, plus we had other dishes to eat. I’ll double this recipe next time just to be sure, I feel it would keep well. I did add some more salt and used extra onions, mostly preference though.
Awesome
What can I substitute for the vegan yogurt?
A non-dairy sour cream would be the closest replacement.