All of my pals know one thing about me: if there’s a party with chips and dip, I’ll bring French onion dip. Always. It’s ideal for snacking at a party, camping, or a casual backyard barbecue, and I’d rather have it than chips and salsa any day. I’ve enjoyed it for as long as I can remember, so I’ve had plenty of time to form ideas on the subject. Here they are: I, for whatever reason, dislike the stuff that comes pre-made in a jar or tub.

I enjoy when you create it from a mix. I prefer two particular brands. And I believe it works best with both sour cream and mayonnaise. I know what I appreciate about French Onion Dip, but I wondered if I could easily create it myself. I’ve made from scratch versions with slowly caramelized onions previously, but this is different.

This is a substitute for the beautiful spice package dip, created using ingredients you probably already have in your cupboard, and it tastes just as good. The beauty of this is that you can make it whenever you feel like it, even if you don’t have a package of onion dip mix handy. That is not a problem anymore! Provided you have dried minced onions in your spice closet, you can prepare French Onion Dip whenever you want.

The dried onion provides the most of the taste here, along with some other ingredients that we’ll discuss shortly. You’ll need a quarter cup of it, but it’s easy to keep on hand at all times. (Also adaptable – it’s a terrific way to add onion taste to other meals when you don’t want to cut a fresh onion!)You’ll be mixing those dried onions with sour cream and mayonnaise (I wouldn’t have it any other way), but you can experiment with the proportions.

I used two cups of sour cream and a half cup of mayo, but you may go half and half or increase the mayo to one cup depending on your preferred creamy-tangy ratio. The remaining components include onion powder, dried parsley, paprika, celery salt, and Worcestershire sauce.Start with one tablespoon of Worcestershire, then taste and add more if necessary.

The Worcestershire adds a richer “French Onion” flavor, and you can alter the amount depending on how rich you want it. (I prefer around two tablespoons.) An hour or two of chilling softens the dried onion and brings all of the flavors together, so don’t expect to eat this right away, no matter how much you’d like to.