I Tasted And Ranked 6 Store-Bought French Onion Dips

When you're craving a more substantial snack beyond plain potato chips, you might want to introduce a good dip into the mix — there's perhaps no dip better for potato chips than French onion. When it's done well, it's packed with a depth of flavor you can't always find in snack foods. Plus, with its rich, cooling creaminess, it offers such a pleasant textural counterpoint to the bold crunch of chips.

While you can make your own onion dip at home, store-bought dips can be a better option when you're looking for the easiest possible snack. But which French onion dip should you seek out when you go to the grocery store? I've tasted dips from six separate brands available at my local grocery stores and ranked them from worst to best to help give you a better idea of what's available on the market. There are some pretty stark differences between the brands presented here; knowing what they all have to offer can help ensure you have a better snacking experience the next time you reach for a bag of chips and some French onion dip.

Sometimes, when I rank different categories of food products like this, I find that most of the products taste at least somewhat similar. When it comes to French onion dips, though, that absolutely isn't the case. The worst-ranked varieties are a far cry from the best, and Wise French Onion Dip was indisputably the dip I enjoyed the least out of all of the ones I tasted for this ranking. Immediately upon opening the container, I was skeptical. The dip looked strangely glossy and chunky, nothing like the smooth creaminess I found in other brands. That chunkiness came through on the palate as well, although I didn't really feel like I was getting chunks of actual onion.

This French onion dip also disappoints on the flavor front. I found it too salty, especially since many people will probably pair it with salty potato chips. Beyond that, it tastes more like a neutral-flavored oil than it does like onion. There's somewhat of a savory note there, but it's sort of bland and indistinguishable. Personally, I'd rather eat my chips completely plain than pair them with this particular French onion dip.

Before trying any of these French onion dips, I was already a bit suspicious of those that came unrefrigerated, like Lay's French Onion Dip. That being said, unlike the other unrefrigerated varieties, this one came in a real glass jar, which made it seem more serious and potentially more delicious than the packaging for Wise French Onion Dip and Frito-Lay French Onion Dip (which is, in fact, a separate dip from the plain Lay's). Unfortunately, I found this option even more lacking than the Frito-Lay variety.

This dip didn't actually taste terrible, because it doesn't taste like much of anything at all. It's salty, sure, with a savory touch that's even stretching into umami (instead of just plain salty) territory. That being said, the saltiness is a bit more balanced and not quite as intense as it is in the worst-ranked brand on this list. Still, though, the onion flavor isn't very strong at all, which is basically the whole point of this dip in the first place. Unfortunately, the texture doesn't quite deliver, either. It's quite thin, with an oily consistency. A good French onion dip should be thick and creamy, and that's not what you're getting here. Overall, this stuff just tastes sort of cheap and low-quality. There are so many other dip recipes you can make that will taste better than this store-bought, jarred variety (and that are probably less expensive to boot).

No, Frito-Lay French Onion Dip isn't quite the same thing as Lay's French Onion Dip. Apart from the packaging being different, this variety seems to contain more sugar, given that it's much higher up on the ingredients list. I can definitely taste a bit of extra sweetness here. It's actually a nice touch, since it somewhat balances out those intense salty flavors that you'll also get with this brand. This stuff lacks the acidity I want, but its slightly more well-balanced flavor profile earns it a higher spot in this ranking.

Texture-wise, it's a bit thicker than the Lay's variety, giving it a step up, but not by much. I find this dip too oily and lacking the creaminess I'd expect, so I'd still ultimately avoid this brand. It tastes like a cheap, packaged product that doesn't offer much deliciousness.

Now, we're getting to some of the better-quality dips on this list. However, you should keep in mind that this isn't your usual French onion dip. Boar's Head French Onion Greek Yogurt Dip, as the name suggests, has a base of Greek yogurt; the dairy product was the main flavor I tasted when I first gave this stuff a try. It's tangy and acidic, just like you'd expect from Greek yogurt. Personally, I don't love yogurt as a base for this dip because it lacks the creamy neutrality I think it needs to let the onion shine. It offers too much flavor of its own. However, if you love Greek yogurt, then you may really love this.

Unfortunately, to me, the onion flavor is working in the background here, although it does provide the dip with some of the depth of flavor I'm looking for in French onion-flavored anything. I wish that onion note was stronger, ideal for those who want an onion dip that's more restrained. When it comes to texture, this dip really hits the mark, with a thickness and creaminess that's a huge step up from the unrefrigerated options on this list. It's not quite as rich as some of the other options, but Boar's Head dip has earned its spot in the top half of this ranking fair and square.

If you like salty flavors as much as I do, then HeluvaGood! French Onion Dip should absolutely be on your must-try list. This is one of the saltier options listed here — some may find it too salty. However, for this salt lover, it is an undeniably tasty French onion dip. This dip actually has a nice touch of acidity, which keeps things fresh and tempers that saltiness just enough. I can also taste a hint of sweetness here for further balance. More importantly, though, the onion flavor comes through nice and strong, with an herbal note that provides a bit more flavor depth. And the texture is solid, with an impressive thickness and full-bodied creaminess that hits the spot. That's probably largely because it's actually made with real milk and cream.

So, if this dip has so much going for it, why doesn't it end up in the top spot? Well, unfortunately, it just tastes a bit cheaper than the top-ranked variety on this list. Perhaps that's the fact that it's a bit oilier, or maybe it's because the flavors just aren't as well-integrated as I'd want them to be.

Daisy Sour Cream French Onion Dip is indisputably the best French onion dip in this entire lineup. Just looking at the ingredients, you can tell you're getting a solid product right away. The cultured cream base is quite rich, but without the oily fattiness some of the other brands on this list have. Rather, that cream is nice and thick, for a mouth-filling texture that can take any plain potato chip to a new realm of deliciousness. Plus, the coolness of the cream pairs beautifully with the crispness of a good chip. At the same time, this dip doesn't feel heavy at all. Rather, its chilled creaminess makes it taste sort of refreshing somehow.

There's a decent amount of sweetness here, too, which plays nicely with the balanced saltiness and acidity. The most pronounced flavor of them all, though, is a bold onion-y note that takes center stage, providing the signature French onion dip flavor I expect. For me, this ranking is no contest: I would choose this Daisy offering over any other dip on this list every time.

I chose to rank these French onion dip brands based on availability at a few of my local grocery stores. I tried all of them both on their own and with plain Ruffles potato chips. The main criteria I used for this ranking was overall flavor, including flavor balance. The best-ranked brands have a nice combination of saltiness, acidity, and sweetness, where none of the flavors overpower one another. The lower-ranked varieties are generally less balanced on the flavor front. I also considered consistency in this ranking, with thicker, creamier versions of the dip ranking higher than thinner, runnier varieties.