Swap the store-bought spice packets in place of this fast and oh-so-fresh recipe for Homemade Sour Cream and Onion Dip.

Few things are more satisfying to me in the kitchen than recreating a store-bought classic from scratch. While some things are inevitably just better when bought versus made (hello, puff pastry!), sour cream and onion dip belongs on the other side of the spectrum. Homemade is absolutely, undeniably, totally worth the (minimal) effort.

I’ve recreated the classic soup mix-turned-dip with just six simple ingredients, and it all begins with slowly caramelized onions that make up the majority of the fresh flavor of this recipe.

This wasn’t one of the recipes that I nailed on attempt #1. I knew it had to be identical, if not better, than the packet alternative, so I took on the laborious task of eating seasoned sour cream by the spoonful until this recipe was perfect.

An ingredient in the list below might surprise you…

Did you catch it? Soy sauce! It adds the perfect amount of salty, rich flavor to balance out the sweetness of the onions. Best of all, this homemade sour cream and onion dip can be whipped up a day in the advance and stashed in the fridge to give the flavors even more time to mingle before you commence your dipping and dunking with chips (homemade are are insane indulgence), crudité or perhaps just a spoon!

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