Smoked Onion Dip

Wow. I’ve always been a fan of Vidalia onions. I load up on them while they are available (for a short time) here in Indiana. I often grill them, but smoking them was a bit new to me. It’s certainly easy to do. Just cut them in half and toss them on the smoker for an hour or so until they’re as smoky as you want them. Done.

This recipe takes those wonderful smoked sweet onions and makes them into a fantastic dip. A bit of smoky flavor, a little onion bite, and lots of creamy goodness. It’s a thicker dip, so don’t reach for some wimpy thin chips that aren’t going to handle the load. I used bagel chips. The combination was perfect.

Smoked Onion Dip

I smoked the onions on my Weber Smokey Mountain smoker since I already had it going, cooking some pork belly for bacon. The onions only take a little while to cook, freeing up the smoker for other good things.

Smoked Onions

This recipe comes from The Elk, a bar/restaurant in Spokane, Washington. The original version is used as a dipping sauce for chicken. I decided to use it as a chip dip. And what goes great with smoked onion dip? Yep, you guess it. Smoked potato chips.

I recently discovered Blue Plate mayonnaise, which I think is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.

Also try my grilled (or smoked) queso dip.

Smoked Onion Dip
Print Pin
4 from 1 vote

Smoked Onion Dip

This recipe takes those wonderful smoked sweet onions and makes them into a fantastic dip. A bit of smoky flavor, a little onion bite, and lots of creamy goodness. 
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword dip, onion, smoked
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings 16
Calories 479kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Place onion halves on a smoker and smoke at 225 F for 1-2 hours or until the desired smokiness is achieved (Just cut a piece off and try it. It’s delicious!)
  • Let onions cool then chop roughly and place into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
  • In a large bowl combine the pureed onions and the remaining ingredients, adding more salt if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 479kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 859mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 248IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Vidalia Onion Dip

I ended up with leftover Vidalia onion after I made bacon wrapped Sriracha onion rings the other day. Vidalia onions are a great thing. A marvelous thing. While they are in season I grab as many as I can, and use them in everything. Like this fantastic Vidalia onion dip. This dip may look like any other dip but it isn’t. Sure, it’s got cheese. And some creamy mayo. But it’s the onion that makes it something special and something different.

Vidalia Onion Dip

Since it was just my wife and I, I scaled this recipe for Vidalia onion dip way back. But, that’s easy to do since the ratio of ingredients is as easy as it gets: 1-to-1-to-1-to-1.

For a little twist, caramelize the onions in a bit of oil first.

Vidalia Onion Dip
Print Pin
4 from 1 vote

Vidalia Onion Dip

Vidalia onions are a great thing. A marvelous thing. While they are in season I grab as many as I can, and use them in everything. Like this fantastic Vidalia onion dip. 
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword dip, onion
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6 cups
Calories 792kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Vidalia onion chopped
  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 2 cups Swiss cheese shredded
  • 2 cups Parmesan cheese grated
  • pinch cayenne to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325 F.
  • Spray a 2 quart baking dish with non-stick spray.
  • Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and pour into the baking dish.
  • Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour or until bubble hot and lightly browned on top.
  • Serve with crackers or salty pretzels.

Nutrition

Calories: 792kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 75g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 1082mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 608IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 696mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Bacon-Wrapped Sriracha Onion Rings

These bacon-wrapped Sriracha onion rings are absolutely crazy good. The Sriracha caramelizes a bit as the bacon crisps over a sweet Vidalia onion, leaving you with a fantastic sweet heat. I’m a huge fan of Vidalias, always snatching up as many as I can while they are in season. And who doesn’t like Sriracha and bacon? It’s like having everything you ever dreamed of in one bite.

Bacon-Wrapped Sriracha Onion Rings

There are a few variations of these out on the web, but I settled on this one because it’s pretty straightforward. I’ve seen some recipes that like to sprinkle the rings in brown sugar before cooking. I’m pretty sure you’ll end up with a sticky mess on the grill if you do.

You can also make these in an oven. Just place the rings onto baking racks over baking sheets that are lined with aluminum foil and bake at 350 F (keeping an eye on them as they cook).

The key to these is to cut your onion rings thick (at least 1/2″), and use good, well-shaped thin sliced bacon. I use Indiana Kitchen brand bacon because the slices are generally all nice and rectangular. You don’t want a skinny piece of bacon that’ll shrink up and fall off your onion ring!Keep the leftover inner onion rings and make a fantastic Vidalia onion dip.

Bacon-Wrapped Sriracha Onion Rings
Print Pin
5 from 1 vote

Bacon Wrapped Sriracha Onion Rings

These bacon-wrapped Sriracha onion rings are absolutely crazy good. The Sriracha caramelizes a bit as the bacon crisps over a sweet onion, leaving you with a fantastic sweet heat.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword bacon, onion rings, spicy
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 620kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

For the rings

  • 2 large sweet onions
  • Sriracha
  • 8 slices bacon

For the dipping sauce

Instructions

  • Fire up your grill for indirect cooking, around 300-350 degrees F. These will take about 30 minutes, but maybe as long as an hour to cook depending on your grill temperature.
  • Cut the onions into 1/2″ rings.
  • Push out the inner rings, leaving the last two outer rings still together as one. Do not separate them.
  • Squeeze some Sriracha into a bowl that’s just big enough to fit an onion ring.
  • Place the ring into the sauce. Using your fingers, spread the sauce all over the ring. Flip the onion and repeat. Get it coated, but not drenched.
  • Wrap bacon around the rings. Don’t wrap too tightly since the bacon will shrink. Don’t wrap it too loose or it’ll fall off.
  • Brush (or just use your fingers) more Sriracha on the outside of the bacon.
  • Place the rings on your grill over indirect heat.
  • Grill the rings until the bacon just starts to crisp. Gently flip them (I used a grill spatula) and cook another 10-15 minutes. Remove to a baking sheet and let firm up a bit.
  • Serve with dipping sauce.

For the dipping sauce

  • Whisk together all ingredients except the milk.
  • If the mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk, whisk, and add more as needed if it is still too thick.

Nutrition

Calories: 620kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 660mg | Potassium: 304mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 59IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.