After publishing my low FODMAP caramelised onion recipe, I was immediately thrilled by all the new recipes that could stem from it. I have a wealth of ideas in my back pocket, but let’s focus on the recipe at hand: low FODMAP French onion dip.

Low FODMAP French onion dip

Name: Low FODMAP French onion dip
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 batch caramelised pickled onion (see notes for the recipe); 125 g (1/2 cup)* low FODMAP mayonnaise (see notes); 250 g (1 cup)* lactose free sour cream, Greek yoghurt or cream cheese (see notes); 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped chives (to taste); Seasoning (to taste); Lemon juice (to taste (only if needed)); 1 spring onion green (finely chopped (optional)); 5-10 ml (1-2 teaspoons) garlic infused oil; 1 clove pickled garlic (see notes crushed); Pinch of asafoetida powder; Maple syrup (to taste (only if needed))

This low FODMAP French onion dip uses pickled onions that have been caramelised. Monash lists pickled onions as low FODMAP in 60g serves, which gives us some delicious onion goodness for the dip.

The pickled onions are rinsed, dried and then caramelised with oil and maple syrup. After 20-30 minutes, your pickled onion will be golden brown, caramelised heaven.

Next, we add the cooled and chopped caramelised onion to a creamy lactose free dairy base. In go some chopped chives and an (optional) clove of pickled garlic and there you have it!

A delicious low FODMAP French onion dip that is full of delicious onion flavour without the FODMAP content.

An aerial image of a small white ceramic bowl filled with low FODMAP caramelised onion. The bowl sits atop a medium reddy grey backdrop and two sunlit glasses of water sit in the top left corner of the image, creating light and shadow patterns across the onions

FODMAP notes for your low FODMAP French onion dip

This recipe uses 1 quantity of my caramelised pickled onion recipe. This is 180g of pickled onion, designed to serve 3 at 60g each.

Chives are a low FODMAP ingredient and a great way to add a subtle background note of extra onion flavour.

Pickled garlic is low FODMAP in 3g serves and remains so in serves of up to 30g (pending your own tolerance). Monash hasn’t yet specified if pickled onion contains fructose as its FODMAP like pickled garlic does. However, the entry for cocktail onions is listed as high fructose, so one would assume larger onions are the same.

All this to say, adding pickled garlic might be fructose overkill. This is also depends on what you intend to serve with your dip. Assess your own tolerance and omit the garlic if fructose is a concern for you. This is absolutely an optional ingredient!

I have tested this recipe with a number of different lactose free dairy products – a sour cream and mayo combo, a mayo and cream cheese combo and a Greek yoghurt and mayo combo. I will go into the ins and outs of dairy options below.

In the meantime, make sure you choose lactose free products (lactose free sour cream or lactose free thick yoghurt) to keep this dip low FODMAP.

Mayonnaise is low FODMAP in 40g serves, depending on the ingredients added. Kewpie mayonnaise is low FODMAP in up to 500g serves. Normally I’d suggest this as an option, but I find that Kewpie is tangier than regular mayo. Because we are using pickled onions, we want less tang to compensate.

An aerial image of a speckled ceramic bowl filled with low FODMAP French Onion Dip. The dip has been topped with lots of chopped chives and some crinkled cut chips sit in the top right corner of the bowl. The bowl sits atop a medium grey backdrop and extra bowls and glasses of water surround the bowl of dip.

Notes on the mayonnaise

I actually tested this recipe using Hellman’s vegan mayonnaise, mainly because I like vegan mayo. Hellman’s doesn’t have any high FODMAP ingredients, which makes it a good option.

As discussed above, mayo is low FODMAP in 40g serves. Monash doesn’t specify an upper limit. I theorise that the 40g serve has more to do with what is deemed ‘one serve’ as opposed to any FODMAP. I suspect it would be difficult for Monash to state that ‘mayo is low FODMAP’ when so many brands contain different ingredients (some of which are high FODMAP).

Although Kewpie is low FODMAP in up to 500g serves, I don’t recommend it here. Kewpie is quite tangy, I feel, and we want to minimise tang to counteract the tanginess from the pickled onions. As such, we’re looking for a mayonnaise without too much acidity.

An aerial image of a white speckled ceramic bowl filled with low FODMAP French Onion Dip. The dip is topped with chopped chives and a crinkle cut chip dips into the top left corner

A quick breakdown on the dairy ratio

I wanted to discuss this quickly because I think it’s important for people who want to customise the recipe.

There is a lot of variation on the dairy used (and in what proportions) for French Onion Dip when you look at recipes online. Most of them, however, skew their ratio in favour of the dairy component as opposed to the mayonnaise.

You can experiment with the dairy you prefer (lactose free sour cream, lactose free Greek yoghurt or lactose free cream cheese) here. I do recommend keeping the mayonnaise as the lower percentage ingredient, whatever you choose.

Why? For starters, mayonnaise isn’t generally thick enough to hold a thick dip like this. More than that, though, is the fact that mayonnaise has more of a tangy flavour than sour cream or Greek yoghurt (if only by a bit). Because our pickled onions already have a bit of tang, we want to balance out the acidity with a more creamy ingredient.

Realistically, you can experiment with any sort of dairy in any component. Below are the combinations I have tried:

Mayonnaise and Greek yoghurt (I could tell it was Greek yoghurt, but it was still nice)
Mayonnaise and Sour cream (I used both regular and my lactose free sour cream recipe which you can find here)
Mayonnaise and cream cheese (I liked this version, but I don’t recommend adding the garlic infused oil as it makes the creamy element prone to splitting). Another note with this option is that the cream cheese needs to be truly room temperature and I would recommend using hand beaters to combine it.

A macro close up image of a crinkle cut chip dipping into some low FODMAP French Onion Dip

Recipe tips for the caramelised onion

The cut of your onion will depend on whether you are making your own pickles or if they are store bought. If you make your own pickled onion, you get to slice the onion the way you like. If you buy them, you have to work with what you have.
If you are buying pickled onion, make sure it doesn’t contain any high FODMAP ingredients.
Whatever cut of onion you choose, I recommend chopping them for this recipe. I found that chopped onion dispersed more evenly through the dip than rings of onion. It’s also just easier to scoop up some dip without onion rings dragging you down.
Whatever you end up with, make sure the onion pieces are thin and small. This will give maximum caramelisation and flavour.
Currently, I would say that quick pickles are not appropriate for this recipe nor would logic suggest they are low FODMAP. If and when Monash clarifies this, I will update the post.
I found this took about 20-30 minutes of cooking time to reach a good level of caramelisation. I also find that is helps to add water every time they start to stick. This helps create a soft and malleable textured pickled onion. We don’t want them to be dry! How much water varies – I generally use 250-500ml water of the course of 20-30 minutes.
I recommend Spanish/brown onions here. They look lovely and golden brown and their flavour profile matches what I’m looking for in a caramelised onion. You could probably also use white onions, but I wouldn’t recommend red onion.

An aerial image of a bowl of low FODMAP French onion dip atop a terracotta tile backdrop. The dip is surrounded by a sunlit water glass, a bowl of chives and a bowl of crinkle cut chips

Recipe tips for your low FODMAP French onion dip

The most important tip for this dip (if you will) is to make it ahead of time. This gives the caramelised pickled onion enough time to infuse the creamy element of the dip with onion flavour. At least, I recommend making it a day ahead. Some versions (namely the cream cheese option) will need to come to room temperature before serving.

The more the merrier when it comes to the chives. Although only a small amount are normally added to French onion dip, they do help ramp up the onion flavour.

Other low FODMAP oniony ingredients you can consider adding to your dip include a few spring onion greens (which pack a punch) and some asafoetida power. Both will add another layer of onion flavour.

In some of my tests, I used some garlic infused oil leftover from low FODMAP making garlic chips. It added a nice extra layer of flavour. As mentioned above, though, I don’t recommend it with the cream cheese option as it made for a borderline split creamy element.

This recipe uses 60g of pickled onion per serve. Monash has specified that pickled onion is low FODMAP in 60g serves and contains moderate amounts of fructans in serves exceeding 85g.

You can lower the onion content and add a clove of pickled garlic, if you’re keen. Crush it thoroughly to disperse it evenly throughout the dip. You can also add it to the caramelised onions about 2-5 minutes before they finish cooking. Pickled garlic is low FODMAP in 3g and up to 30g serves, pending your own tolerance.

A side on image of a white speckled ceramic bowl filled with low FODMAP French Onion Dip. A hand dips into the bowl from the right side with a crinkled cut chip. Two glasses of water sit in the background of the image.

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