Spinach French Onion Cob Dip – Australia’s favourite dip!

Meet Australia’s favourite dip!!! This Spinach French Onion Cob Dip is made using a French Onion Soup mix and is served in a cob bread loaf. It is unapologetically retro, gloriously unfashionable, breaks every real-food rule I preach, and is completely addictive!!

Spinach French Onion Cob Dip

This dip has been a fixture at Australian gatherings for decades, and when you take one bite you will understand why!! It is a French onion dip with spinach stirred through it that is famously served in a hollowed out cob loaf, a round crusty bread loaf that doubles as an edible serving bowl. Ripping into the dip-soaked bread at the end is the best part!!

And if you grew up in Australia, you already know that there is one sacred rule about this dip – it must, I repeat MUST, be made using a packet of French onion soup mix rather than caramelising onions yourself. Now is not the time to get snobby on me and insist you’re going to make it from scratch, Australia does not approve! Some things are perfect exactly as they are, and this Spinach French Onion Cobb Loaf Dip is one of them. 🥰

(PS Save onion caramelisation efforts for this Homemade French Onion Dip, it is truly worth every minute!)

Ingredients in Spinach French Onion Cob Dip

This dip is such a staple in Australian households there is a recipe on the back of the French Onion soup packet – 1 packet soup mix, 300g/10oz sour cream, 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 box frozen spinach. I personally find it too salty, the French onion flavour overpowering, and it’s too heavy on mayo-grease. My version uses half the mayonnaise and has a whole block of cream cheese for extra creaminess and a more balanced, less salty flavour.

• French Onion Soup Powder (40g/1.4 oz) – You need one whole packet of French onion soup powder. Unlike my retro French Onion Soup Dip, salt-reduced won’t work here, you will find the dip under-seasoned. We need all the salt!

• Cob bread loaf – This is a round crusty bread that’s sold here in Australia. I prefer a sourdough one because it’s sturdier, so the bread pieces don’t fall apart when dipped and the bowl itself is solid. Choose one on the smaller side, around 25cm/10″, so the dip fills the bowl right to the top. If you can only find a large one (some are mega!), make your bowl shallower. 🙂

  ⚡️Newsflash – it doesn’t have to be round! If you can’t find a round cob loaf, any bread loaf will be fine. A small to medium sourdough or pana di casa would be terrific.
  ⚡️Another newsflash! Bread doesn’t have to be present! You can even serve the dip in a regular bowl and pile crackers, chips, veggie sticks on the side. 🙂

• Frozen chopped spinach – You could sauté fresh baby spinach or English spinach instead, but I never have and probably never will, not for this dip!!

• Mayonnaise – I recommend using whole egg mayonnaise which has a smoother flavour, less vinegary and less sweet than regular mayonnaise. I like S&W and Hellmans. Kewpie would also work.

• Sour cream – The recipe calls for 300g / 10oz which is one of the standard size tubs we get here in Australia. If you have a 250g/8oz one, just top up with yogurt or more mayonnaise rather than getting a whole second tub just to use a bit. Substitute with a thick plain yogurt and an extra dollop or two of mayonnaise.

• Cream cheese – This is not an ingredient listed in the back-of-packet recipe for Spinach French Onion Dip. But I like to use it because it gives the dip a lovely velvety, rich dip texture without using copious amounts of mayonnaise. If you don’t have it, you can substitute with an extra 1/2 cup each of mayonnaise and sour cream.

That’s it! No salt, no pepper, no fresh anything. How good is that! 😉

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How to make Spinach French Onion Dip

I use a “make it now” method because I never seem to have the foresight to plan ahead to allow things to soften or thaw. But, if you are more organised than me, you can skip the microwaving steps. 🙂

1. The dip

1. Soften cream cheese – Put the cream cheese in a microwave-proof bowl and break it up roughly into 8 or so chunks using the wooden spoon you plan to mix the dip with. Microwave for 30 seconds on high, then mix until it’s smooth and quite loose, like sour cream.

2. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise and French Onion Soup powder, and give it a good mix.

3. Thaw and squeeze – Thaw the frozen spinach in the microwave – it takes me 1 1/2 minutes on high. Then grab handfuls and squeeze out excess water.

4. Mix in spinach – Add the spinach into the dip and mix. Dip, done! You culinary genius, you!! 🥳

5. 3 hour rest – Put the bowl in the fridge for 3 hours (or even overnight) to let the flavours meld.

6. Pour the dip into the cob loaf bowl (below) and serve with the bread pieces on the side for dipping!

2. cutting the Cob loaf bowl

You can cut the bread bowl out using this method no matter what shape your bread is. You can even do this with individual bread rolls – imagine that! Your very own cob dip, all to yourself!! 🎉

1. Cob loaf bowl – Cut the lid off the cob bread (about 2.5cm / 1″). Use a bread knife for this, it’s easiest!

2. Cut circle – Cut a circle into the bread, leaving a 1.5 – 2cm edge and base (0.6 – 0.8″) . Take care not to cut all the way through the base.

3. Score the middle of the bread into 2.5cm / 1″ squares.

4. Pull the pieces out to create the bowl.

5. Cob loaf dip bowl, done! 🎉

6. Cut the lid into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces.

Ripping into that bread bowl!

I recommend adding some crackers or chips on the side too (or, I suppose, veggie sticks), because you’ll end up with more dip than the bread alone can handle . My favourite is plain crinkle cut potato chips. They go SO WELL with French Onion flavoured dips – try it once and you’ll be converted for life!

And don’t forget, while ordinarily you feel a sense of sadness as you see a bowl of dip nearing the end, with a cob loaf dip it’s actually cause for celebration. Because now you get to rip apart the dip-soaked bread bowl!! Frankly, some would argue this is the whole reason we made the dip in the first place – and I would find it difficult to disagree……🥰

There you go. A great Australian classic. Brilliant in its simplicity. Don’t overthink it. Just embrace the powder.

Hope you get a chance to try it! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

Life of Jaffle

Dip. ✅ Outfit. ✅ We are World Cup ready – Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi oi!!

Those kiddie size hats were a great find because the sweat band idea I had in my head didn’t translate quite as well in real life….

Who knew golden retriever puppies had so much flappy skin on their face!!

Meanwhile, Dozer is up in the Big Sky Kitchen, sniggering, telling Jaffle I told you it was coming!!! 😂

He was really suffering from overheating in that kimono – so much polyester!! 😂