Onion dip is the reigning champ of dips, but you can double up on your umami with this mushroom mixture.
Onion dip is a dangerous thing. It distracts you with its creamy, cool, umami-forward wiles, and before you know it, you wake up covered in chip salt with your partner accusing you of selfishly eating eight ounces of dip. Well I have good and bad news. If you’re a lover of onion dip, there’s a contender for the most umami-packed dip, and it's made with mushroom duxelles. The bad news is it won’t solve your sharing issues.
The reason this dip is so dang flavorful is because it combines the umami powers of onions and builds upon it with a heavy dose of mushrooms. Mushrooms aren’t a typical ingredient for dips but it makes a lot more sense once they’ve been transformed into duxelles. Usually the only time duxelles make an appearance in my kitchen is when I’m making mini beef Wellington dumplings (or when I “Wellington” anything, really).
Making duxelles is an easy way to get a robust and savory meal component. Duxelles is composed of finely minced mushrooms, shallot, herbs, and garlic that are sautéed in a bit of butter until all of the moisture has evaporated and you’re left with a deeply fragrant, concentrated, mushroom mixture. It’s not something you’d really eat all on its own (but you could, and I’d support you), but more of a component; it makes other things better. Where beef Wellington is concerned, you spread the duxelles out in a layer before adding the tenderloin, and in the end it adds an extra savory boost in every slice. But duxelles is such a versatile mixture, it shouldn’t be imprisoned forever in relation to beef Wellington.
To kick off your duxelles discovery, why not turn it into dip? I make the duxelle in a relatively traditional manner for this recipe. The only thing I modify is the shallot. Normally you’d use a small shallot for a pound of mushrooms, but I swap it out for half of a large sweet onion. I was looking to combine the powers of onion dip with duxelles, so I figured, why not caramelize some onions straight into the mixture? Onion dip is better when it has more onions in it anyway.
This recipe is straightforward, and that’s because building complex flavors doesn’t mean that the method has to be difficult. Once the mushrooms and onions have cooked out all of their water (this can take up to 20 minutes), cool the mixture and then mix it into an equal parts mixture of cream cheese and plain yogurt. Add a packet of onion dip (there’s no shame in a salty seasonings shortcut), and stir until thoroughly combined.
Although you could skip the onion dip seasoning packet and still have an exquisite duxelle dip, I like what onions and mushrooms accomplish when they join forces. As with any dry dip mix, wait at least a few hours for the dry ingredients to hydrate in the dip before eating. Use this dream dip for crackers, chips, and pita bread, tuck it into an omelette, or stir it into hot pasta.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, minced
½ large sweet onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
1 sprig thyme
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup plain yogurt
A ½ ounce packet dry onion dip
1. In a large skillet, add the oil and butter and melt it over medium-low heat. Add the minced mushrooms, onion, and garlic, along with the salt. Stir and cook the mushrooms down until the water has released. Add the thyme. Continue cooking until the mixture has reduced in size and the water has evaporated. Set it aside to cool. Discard the thyme sprig.
2. Mix the cream cheese and yogurt together in a large bowl. Add the mushroom duxelles and the dry onion dip seasoning packet. Stir it all together. This dip is rather thick, so if you like the dip to be looser, add more yogurt. Cover the dip and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, to fully hydrate and settle in. Serve with chips.
