This vegan caramelized spring onion dip paired with colorful crudité makes the perfect vegan appetizer. Super creamy without any added dairy, this onion dip is packed with flavor thanks to caramelized spring onions, green garlic, and fresh dill. A quick blend with vegan mayo and brings everything together.
Nothing says spring has sprung like the appearance of spring onions and green garlic at the farmers market! I brought home some beautiful spring bulb onions and green garlic from the farms I work with last week and knew I wanted to pair them together in a flavorful dip. This creamy vegan dip relies on caramelized onions for the sweet and savory flavor base. Lemon juice lends a bit of tanginess to balance everything out. Dill adds a lovely herbal note, and vegan mayo makes it creamy and thick. Since there was a veritable rainbow of spring produce in season, I served my onion dip with colorful and crunchy crudité (i.e. raw veggies). This dip is also wonderful with chips, crackers, or as a sandwich spread!
Spring Onions versus Regular Storage Onions
If you’ve been to a farmers market or well-stocked grocery store in the spring, you’ve probably seen a couple of different iterations of “spring onions”. Like green garlic, spring onions are simply immature bulb onions. They’re typically harvested as a way to thin out an onion crop as the bulbs begin to form and get bigger. Sometimes, spring onions will be sold in bunches with the greens attached when the bulbs are still pretty small. Other times, you might find them close in size to a standard storage onion but without the papery skin (like you see here). In order for newly harvested onions to have a papery skin, they have to be cured after harvesting. I’ve tested this recipes with both types of onions and each yields delicious results!
Tips for Making Perfect Caramelized Onions
Since this recipe relies heavily on caramelized onions for flavor, here are my tips for achieving the perfect ones every time:
- Be patient! Caramelizing onions, especially to a golden brown color takes time. The more onions in your pan, the longer it will take. Since we’re using two onions here, it will take between 40-50 minutes. I know it seems like a long time, but it’s so worth it for the flavor!
- It might seem more intuitive to dice your onions into small pieces in order to caramelize them faster, but that will make it a little easier for them to burn. Instead, cut your onion in half, then slice each of those halves into roughly 1/8-inch thick slices. Check out the photos below for reference.
- Stir the onions every 2-3 minutes to ensure they caramelize evenly.
- Use a splash of water to de-glaze the pan when there are darker brown bits stuck to it. Do this by adding a couple of tablespoons of water to the pan, then use a wooden spoon to scrape up those brown bits and stir them into the onions.
- No matter what you’ve been told, you DO NOT need to add sugar to the pan. Onions have plenty of naturally occurring sugars. Being patient and spending the time to caramelize them properly will yield sweet and savory onions.
Using Green Garlic and Substitutions
You might have noticed that this recipe has “green garlic” in it. Green garlic is simply immature garlic. If you’re curious what it looks like, you can see it in the photos above! Since it’s immature, it hasn’t had a chance to fully develop the cloves and its papery skin. So, you can use the entire bulb and a good portion of the stalk without having to worry about peeling it! Green garlic is common in the spring while mature garlic is typically harvested in the warmer summer months. If you can’t find green garlic, you’ll simply use 2 cloves of regular garlic in its place in the recipe.
Enjoying Your Caramelized Spring Onion Dip
I enjoyed this dip with raw cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and kohlrabi since they were in season at the time. You can also pair this onion dip with chips (ruffled potato chips are my favorite!) or crackers. Or, try it as a sandwich spread with some avocado and sprouts.
Caramelized Spring Onion Dip with Green Garlic & Dill (vegan)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan caramelized spring onion dip paired with colorful crudité makes the perfect vegan appetizer. Super creamy without any added dairy, this onion dip is packed with flavor thanks to caramelized spring onions, green garlic, and fresh dill. A quick blend with vegan mayo and brings everything together.
Ingredients
- 6–8 spring onions, or 2 medium onions
- 1 bulb green garlic, or 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt, to taste
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
- optional for serving: raw spring veggies such as carrots, radishes, kohlrabi, and cucumbers
Instructions
Set a large skillet over medium heat. While the pan heats up, prepare your onions and garlic. If you’re using small spring onions, remove and discard the root end Then cut the bulb and green tops into 1/8-inch thick slices. If you’re using larger onions, remove the papery outer skin if present, then slice off and discard the root end. Cut each onion in half, then slice each half into pieces that are roughly 1/8-inch thick. For the green garlic, remove the root end. Remove any tough or dried out parts of the upper green portion and discard them. Finely chop the green garlic stalk and bulb. If you’re using garlic cloves, give them a rough chop.
Add the olive oil to your heated skillet. Add the sliced onions along with a pinch of sea salt. Cook the onions over medium heat, stirring every 2-3 minutes. Once the onions are translucent, add the chopped green garlic. If you notice any brown bits accumulating on the bottom of your skillet, add a couple of tablespoons of water and scrape them up with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the onions and green garlic until they are golden brown and evenly caramelized. This will take approximately 40-50 minutes total.
Once the onions and green garlic are ready, remove the skillet from the heat. Allow them to cool for about 5-10 minutes so they aren’t piping hot. Using either a regular blender or an immersion blender, blend together the caramelized onions and green garlic with the lemon juice, dill, nutritional yeast, and vegan mayo. Blend until the dip is mostly smooth and thick. Taste and add salt to season as needed.
If you’d like to serve your dip with crudité, cut your preferred veggies into manageable pieces. Put the dip in a bowl and arrange everything on a platter around it.
Keep leftover dip in a sealed container in the fridge. Make sure to enjoy it within a week!
Notes
- If you don’t have fresh dill, you can use 2-3 teaspoons of dried dill in its place.
- If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan, you can use an equal amount of regular mayonnaise. For a tangier version, use Greek yogurt or sour cream in place of the mayonnaise.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40-50 minutes
- Category: appetizer
I used Greek yogurt, and the extra tang was just right for this recipe. I’ll definitely make it again.
Yum! What a great substitute! 🙂