This amazing appetizer comes from Jean at What Great Grandma Ate. She is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and she focuses on balancing the body and improving digestion and health with nourishing, nutrient-dense whole foods.
Her philosophy is driven by this quote by Michael Pollan: “Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” 
Caramelized Bacon Onion Dip
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Jean Choi
Recipe type: Appetizer
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, sliced
- Fresh cracked pepper, to taste
- Sea salt, to taste
- ½ cup paleo mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne (optional)
- Chopped green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Soak cashews for at least 1 hour.
- Heat a pan to medium high heat
- Cook chopped bacon on the pan until they are brown and crispy.
- Remove the bacon bits with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the bacon grease in the pan.
- Add the onions into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook stirring occasionally for 20 minutes until the onions are caramelized. Remove from heat.
- Drain the cashews and place in a food processor.
- Add mayo, nutritional yeast, raw apple cider vinegar, onion powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and cayenne (optional) in the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Place in a bowl, then add bacon bits and caramelized onions and mix well.
- Sprinkle with green onions. Serve with chips and/or sliced vegetables.
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Hi Alex, could these be made with another nut? I don’t happen to have cashews right now, would almonds work? It looks yummy, and I’d love to get my non-paleo family eating more healthy dips!
Polly, almonds should work quite well! It won’t be as ‘creamy,’ but it should offer up a nice dip. Maybe try adding some creamy starch or veg (sweet potato or pureed cauliflower) to give it the right consistency if it’s too thick. You could also use coconut milk.
What is nutritional yeast and where do you get it? Can I omit from the recipe?
Julie, nutritional yeast is a flaked yellow powder you can usually find in the health food store’s bulk section or with salt/seasonings. It has a cheesy taste. It’s very yummy and high in trace minerals, but yes, it can be omitted.
Wow this looks amazing! You can never go wrong with bacon! A must try!
Bacon and onions there is no better combination! Thanks for the photos help a lot! Great recipe
Omg this looks so good! I’ve anything with bacon Lol!! I kind of want to add some spinach to it, just to make it more green.
My version of the dip was not the most visually appealing but was very tasty nonetheless. I paired the dip with pita chips which created just the right amount of crunch. For the low carb fans I also had celery and bell peppers! The dip was gone in no time!
Bacon anything is great, but bacon and chips…that’s amazing! This dip is a huge hit and I wish I could say only at parties, but my wife and I make this just for us a lot of times.
This turned out perfect! The cashews really added a lot of flare along with the apple cider vinegar. This was a hit at my sons graduation!
While my dip didn’t look appealing, it was a hit at game night. My friends kept dipping and loving the onion bacon mix and requested I bring it again for next time.
A good addition to my list of dip recipes! Its combined flavor of bacon, onion and cashews will definitely be healthy and good for anything that needs dippings!
These sound amazing! Combo of bacon and onions is so tasty. Great!
This was really delicious. Kind of tastes like a French onion soup!! Onions cooked in the bacon fat was giving a great flavor. Will definitely make again.
Bacon and dip, it’s the best of both worlds. The fact that’s it’s gluten free is even better