Bacon Onion Dip

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Bacon onion dip is the hit of any party. Everyone will love this updated classic.

I’m one of those people whose childhood years was well defined by the books that I read at the time.

One series that was particularly influential in elementary school was the Sleepover Friends series. Did anyone else read this book? Essentially the four girls constantly wrote letters to each other and also had a weekly sleepover that rotated among the houses.

Through Sleepover Friends I learned of things like avocado face masks, edible sugared flowers and bacon onion dip.

Every week one of the girls (the one obsessed with food, of course) would make bacon onion dip for the sleepover. I don’t remember how many times I made my own version of this when I was a kid.

Back then I used onion soup mix and bacon bits (and nixed the olives the book character added). It worked just fine for my refined pre-teen tastes, but since then I’ve refined the recipe to use freshly cooked bacon and pan-sautéed onions.

While the dip does take a bit of extra time this way, the results are worth it. I always love bringing recipes like roasted veggie dip to parties. They’re perfect to make ahead of time for any occasion, so if you have a party coming up add this one to the menu.

Be careful to not position yourself near the bowl at the buffet, or your entire meal might end up being chips and dip. Not that I would have ever done that.

How to sauté onions

For this bacon onion dip I cook the onions low and slow, using the rendered bacon fat.

Slice the onion into half-moons and add them to the fat, stirring to coat completely. You can cut them smaller before cooking if you like, as you will chop them later. I prefer to cook the onion when it is in larger pieces.

The heat needs to be at about medium low here to cook the onions. They should be nicely softened without any burned or crispy bits, so frequent stirring is important.

You can cook them to caramelized if you like, but I admit I am impatient and never make it that long. Caramelization takes almost an hour; these onions cook for 20 minutes.

How to make bacon onion dip

While the bacon and onion cook, set out the cream cheese so it softens. The bacon and onion both get chopped into small pieces.

Mix together the cream cheese and sour cream before adding the bacon and onion. Since cream cheese is thick, this will help the ingredients blend completely and prevent any chunks of cream cheese within.

Stir in the bacon and onion until really well mixed. You likely don’t need salt here thanks to the salt in the bacon. Also keep in mind what you’ll be serving the dish with. Salted potato chips means less salt in the dip!

I also add green onion to my dip for a sharper flavor and contrast to the sweetness of the sautéed onions. Save some of the chopped green onion to garnish the top of the dip just before serving.

This dip is on the thicker side, so remove it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. It’s also excellent served warm; just heat it in an ovenproof dish for 20 minutes at 350°F.

Serve with ridged potato chips, pretzels, or veggies.