Description
Vegan Artichoke Dip – Our vegan spinach artichoke dip is warm, cozy, and delicious. It’s a perfect holiday or party appetizer and goes great with crackers, sliced baguettes, and more! (Dairy-Free, Paleo)
*Remember that you do need to soak your cashews in advance for this recipe. See the notes for directions!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked* and drained
- 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk or cashew milk (don’t use vanilla!)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 Tbsp. mild or medium salsa verde (green salsa)
- 8–10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out**
- 1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts packed in water or bring (not packed in olive oil), roughly or finely chopped.
Optional: 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (gluten-free as needed) + olive oil spray, or vegan parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a blender, combine soaked cashews, almond or cashew milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, tapioca starch, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Puree until completely smooth, stopping a few times to scrape down the edges. (If you don’t have a high-speed blender, this may take a few rounds. Using long-soaked cashews will help!)
- Add salsa to the blender and stir in with a spatula.
- Add spinach and artichoke hearts to a 2-quart oven-safe dish/baking dish (8×8, oval, or round will work!).
- Pour the cashew cream mixture over the artichokes and spinach and use a fork or spatula to stir and combine until the spinach and artichokes are well distributed and coated in the sauce.
- If using breadcrumbs, sprinkle breadcrumbs over the surface of the dip and mist with olive oil. If using vegan parmesan cheese, sprinkle over the surface of the dip right before baking.
- Bake the dip at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. If you’d like more browning, you can broil the dip during the last 2-3 minutes of baking, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn.
- Remove dip from the oven and serve with crackers, sliced toasted baguettes, chips, or veggies.
Notes
*HOW TO SOAK CASHEWS:
- LONG SOAK. Ideally, you soak your cashews for 8-12 hours. Cover them with water, then soak in the refrigerator 8-12 hours or overnight. Drain and use as directed.
- SHORTCUT SOAKING METHODS: To shortcut this process, cover your cashews with boiling water and soak at room temperature 30 minutes before draining + using as directed. Alternatively, you can add the cashews to a pot with water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and soak in the hot water 10-15 minutes before draining + using.
**SQUEEZE YOUR SPINACH. It’s very important to squeeze out as much liquid as possible from your spinach so it doesn’t water down the texture and flavor of your dip. Use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then use a fork to “fluff” up the spinach so it’s easy to blend into the dip.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes + soaking time
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American