Slow cooker caramelized onion bacon dip – Slow cooker caramelized onions, cream cheese, sour cream, and of course bacon come together in this addictive party dip. It’s an easy, crowd-pleasing app that comes together quickly (once your onions are done)!
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This recipe is magical because you don’t have to stand over a stove as your onions cook and get all jammy and delicious. It’s mostly hands-off! In fact, it’s so easy you’re going to want to make it today!
It was good when we first made this dip, but we made two changes that made it otherworldly!
First, Sarah said, “what if I could make the caramelized onions in the slow cooker?” So, we headed over to google and found out that was already a thing.
Slow cooking is the way to go, but there are a few things that you need to know to make them all thick and jammy and sweet. Without these added tips, your onions will be watery and lacking in flavor. We’ll explain below.
Secondly, we added cream cheese to give the dip more body to stick to your chips. Also, the cream cheese made the dip a little tastier.
Follow along as we show you how we whipped up this perfect make-ahead party food.
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- Hot Honey Butter Tater Tots
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Ingredients
There are but a few ingredients in this recipe. Below is an image and a text list of all of the ingredients needed to make this ridiculously simple caramelized onion dip.
- Yellow Onions
- Bacon
- Cream Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Chicken Stock
- Salt
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Caramelized Onion Bacon Dip
The first thing you need to do is gather all of your ingredients. Then you will need to slice your onions. We used a mandoline slicer for a quicker process.
But, be warned, both Sarah and I cut ourselves using this convenient kitchen tool. So, if you use one, make sure to wear cut-resistant gloves.
Add the onions and chicken stock to the slow cooker.
After 8 or 9 hours, your caramelized onions should look similar to the image you see below. As you can see there’s still a considerable amount of liquid still in the pot.
Next, you will need to remove the slow cooker top and cook for another three to five hours. At this point, your caramelized onions will taste sweet, delicious, and have a thick consistency. They should look similar to the image below.
Finally, grab a bowl and combine the caramelized onions, cream cheese, sour cream, bacon, and refrigerate overnight for best results. This dip will taste better as the flavors are allowed to comingle.
Hint: We tested this recipe in two slow cookers. While both were delicious, we found that our instant pot slow cooker function produced better-caramelized onions.
How Far In Advance Can I Make This Dip
This slow cooker caramelized onion bacon dip will taste much better when you let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. But it will still taste great even days later.
I’d say you could make it up to two days in advance to be in the sweet spot zone for maximum flavor and freshness.
Variations
There are certainly different ways to make this dip your own. By using the caramelized onions as the base. Below are a few ideas to get you started:
- Add a little heat – jalapeno peppers would add a nice little kick if you like spicy foods.
- Beer – Use beer instead of the chicken stock to add a different flavor.
- Shredded Cheese – cheddar cheese would be delicious in this recipe as well. What if you added both shredded cheese and jalpenos? Jalapeno popper caramelized onion dip…?
- Chives or scallions – we topped our slow cooker caramelized onion dip with chives for an added colorful presentantion and flavor.
Equipment
You could make this recipe without special equipment by following our previous recipe. But it requires more active cooking time with results that aren’t any better (in fact, we think this recipe is better). So, if you want to make this recipe in the easiest way possible, you should use the following equipment:
- Slow Cooker – the instant pot slow cooker function works best.
- Mandoline Slicer
Storage
Your slow cooker caramelized onion bacon dip will last up to 4 days in the fridge (unless you eat it all before then). Some say that you can freeze the prepared dip and the caramelized onions. But we wouldn’t freeze either as the taste and texture will be less desirable.
Top Tip
Slicing and dicing onions can definitely get you in your feelings. So to stop your eyes from watering (as much), place the onions in the freezer for 15 minutes before slicing. Doing so lessens the gas that gets into the air and irritates your eyes. It works!
Slow Cooker Caramelized Onion Bacon Dip Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker
- 1 Mandoline Slicer optional (wear cut-resistant gloves if you use a mandoline slicer)
Ingredients
- 4 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
- 2-3 Pds Yellow Onions Thinly Sliced
- 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
- 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter Melted
- 12 Oz Sour Cream
- 8 Oz Cream Cheese Softened
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Thinly slice all the onions and place them in the slow cooker bowl. Add the melted butter and chicken stock. Cook on low heat for 10 hours.
- Put the bacon slices in a medium size pan and cook on medium-high heat. Cook until crispy for about 5-7 minutes. Then remove the cooked bacon and place it on a plate lined with a paper towel and set it aside.
- In a medium bowl mix the sour cream and cream cheese. Add in the cooled caramelized onions.
- Roughly chop the bacon, saving a few pieces to add on top after mixing the rest in. Finally, add salt to taste. Sprinkle the top of the dip with the bacon pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- Tip for cutting onions: remove the peel and freeze the onions for 15 minutes then chop them. This helps prevent your eyes from watering. You can also use a mandolin if you have one to speed up the cutting process.
- The onions can also be cooked in an instant pot using the slow cooker setting.
- If you want a more jam-like consistency then remove the lid after 9 hrs and continue to cook for another 3-5 hours.
- You can make the onions a day in advance. Once cooked just put them in an air-tight container in the fridge they will taste even better in the dip.
- We recommend making this dip in advance for a few hours or even overnight.
- This dip is good with crackers, crostini, chopped vegetables, or anything you would like to serve with it. We used thin pretzels, potato chips, and crostini.
Nutrition
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