A few weeks ago we were out in the meadow finally moving the arbor we used for our wedding ceremony when I came across something titillating — a word I don’t use lightly.

Green shoots coming out of the ground all around our feet, looking so familiar. Almost like… green onions?

Turns out, they were wild onions (we also found wild garlic nearby!) so we got to plucking and had ourselves a nice bunch of foraged fresh wild onions to use. The bulbs were pretty teeny tiny, but the greens were robust and full of flavor.

We decided to experiment with making a spring onion dip, but wanted to put our own twist on it by adding loads and loads of poached garlic. I’ve recently stumbled upon Poached Garlic TikTok which is a real place, and on it you’ll see people cooking garlic using gentle heat methods that allow for a garlic clove to be cooked tenderly, giving it a sweet flavor to balance out the bite. It takes about twenty minutes and totally jazzes up this spring onion dip.

Other than our little garlic detour, this dip is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require much time or energy. There’s sour cream, cream cheese, spring onions, your poached garlic, and lemon juice for a slightly acidic dip that pairs wonderfully with potato chips or fresh cut vegetables.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Spring Onion Dip with Poached Garlic

Takes half an hour // makes about 1 quart of dip

3 heads of garlic (for a total of 15 to 20 cloves)
8 oz cream cheese
⅔ cup sour cream
½ cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
Juice of 1 lemon
3 bunches of spring or green onions (about 15 onions total)
Salt and Pepper
Potato chips and cut veggies for dipping

Peel the garlic, keeping the individual cloves whole. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon of cooking oil, followed by the garlic and a pinch of salt. Let cook undisturbed for five minutes. Stir, add ½ cup of water, and cover, cooking for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure none of the cloves stick to the bottom. If at any point the water evaporates, add a few tablespoons more. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer (or mixing bowl).
Using your stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or mixing bowl and egg beaters, beat the garlic on medium speed until the cloves have become a paste. Scrape the bowl and add all remaining ingredients, and beat again for 2-3 minutes on high speed until slightly airy.
Transfer to your serving dish and serve with potato chips and cut vegetables.

Notes

Garlic Peeling Hack | to quickly peel garlic I highly recommend the metal mixing bowl method—basically add all of the unpeeled cloves to the mixing bowl, cover with another mixing bowl or plate, and shake violently for like thirty seconds. You should be left with most of the cloves free of their skins and ready for use. See video tutorial here!