This easy warm Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Dip has all the best parts of French onion soup: caramelized onions, melted gruyere cheese, and warm bread. This hot onion and cheese dip is made with just a handful of ingredients in a cast iron skillet.
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Ingredient Notes
- Gruyere cheese: gruyere cheese is incredibly flavorful and melts beautifully.
- Onions: yellow onions work great for this dip! Caramelized onions take a good amount of patience but their sweet and savory flavor are totally worth it.
- Sherry: be sure to pick up a dry sherry and not sherry vinegar which can be a common mistake if you haven't cooked with it before.
- Garlic: the garlic cloves get sliced before getting baked. Since this dip goes under the broiler, sliced garlic works better than minced garlic to prevent burning.
- Thyme: The fresh thyme leaves add a delicious herbal flavor.
How to make cheese onion dip
To make this cheese and onion dip, simply caramelize sliced onions in some butter and sherry. Then, top them with chopped Gruyere cheese, garlic, and thyme. Finally, pop it in the oven and set it to broil. It is the easiest appetizer but so special!
Prep ahead tips
- The onions can be caramelized up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- You can cube the gruyere cheese several days in advance and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can slice the garlic and chop the thyme the morning of and keep those in the fridge as well.
- When you are ready to enjoy, reheat the onions slightly on the stovetop and then top with the cheese, garlic, and thyme and broil.
Tip for bringing this to someone's house: I brought this appetizer to a friend's house for dinner and caramelized the onions before heading over and kept them in the cast iron skillet. I put the cheese, garlic, and thyme in a container and simply topped the onions with them when I got there and used their broiler for a few minutes to heat the dip and bread. Everyone loved it!
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Serving Suggestions
Serve this dip with a warm baguette. Cover a baguette in foil and pop it in the oven a few minutes before the dip goes in to warm it up. When the dip is ready, serve with big pieces of bread for guests to tear apart and dip straight into the cast iron skillet. Serve the dip straight from the oven in the cast-iron skillet.
What should I serve with this dip?
There is nothing like a hot cheesy appetizer during the winter. I'd recommend serving it with a good glass of wine or cranberry gin fizz cocktail. For dinner, I'd go full comfort-food mode and pair it with my easy homemade meatballs.
More warm cheese dips you'll love
If you make this cheesy caramelized onion and gruyere dip, I'd love nothing more than to hear what you think in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Dip
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1.5 medium yellow onions sliced
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon sherry
- 1 lb gruyere cheese cut into ½ inch cubes
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
- 1 baguette warmed
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler to high.
- Heat a large cast-iron skillet on medium heat and melt the butter. Add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt and stir frequently for 10 minutes, or until onions are softened and just begin to caramelize.
- Turn the heat down to low. Add the sherry to the onions and stir to coat the onions. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes, or until onions are caramelized, stirring every couple of minutes and checking to make sure the onions are not burning.
- Take the onions off the heat. Evenly disperse the gruyere, garlic, and thyme on top of the onions. Broil for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve immediately with a warmed baguette.
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Kelly Burns says
This French onion dip looks amazing !!! Can you please make it for Sunday night? Yummy!🥰
Debra LaTourette says
Made this for an appetizer for Christmas Day AND it was a ‘hit’!!! And I do not cook 🤣
Caitlin from CC's Table says
Oh that makes me so happy! I am so glad everyone loved it! Thank you so much for the sweet comment!
Debra LaTourette says
Making this fantastic appetizer again this Sunday for a family gathering. Warm & comforting tastes for a cold day during the Christmas holidays!
Caitlin Charlton says
Thank you so much, Debra! I'm so glad you love it! I agree, perfect for cold winter days. Happy holidays!