French onion dip is a creamy dip made from sour cream and onion, traditionally built from a packet of dried onion soup mix rather than fresh caramelized onions. It was created in 1954, soon after Lipton introduced its dried onion soup mix, when an unknown home cook (most accounts place her in California) stirred the mix into sour cream; the recipe spread as 'Lipton California Dip,' and by the 1960s had been rebranded 'French onion dip' to trade on the cachet of French cuisine, despite having no real connection to France or to French onion soup. Modern from-scratch versions build the same dip around actual slow-caramelized onions, sour cream, and mayonnaise for a deeper, less salty flavor. Either way, it's served with potato chips, crackers, or raw vegetables, and doubles as a topping for baked potatoes or burgers.