Dairy Free Spinach Artichoke Dip
Dairy-free spinach artichoke dip tastes like the real thing. It’s the perfect appetizer for any party, game day, or movie night. This crowd favorite recipe is gluten free and soy free.
Traditional spinach artichoke dip is made with a mix of sour cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella cheese.
While you can make a few simple swaps for the vegan storebought options, I find the flavor is closest to the real thing in both taste and texture when you make this classic dip with homemade vegan cheese. It stretches, browns, has a cheesy flavor and is made with a few simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil – for cooking the shallots, garlic, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
- Shallots and fresh garlic – add loads of flavor to the dip.
- Canned artichoke hearts – ideally in water, not marinated artichoke hearts in a jar.
- Fresh spinach – I prefer to use fresh spinach, but you can also use frozen spinach. You’ll just need to let it thaw first and then wring out the excess water before adding it to the skillet.
- Homemade vegan cheese – a combination of raw cashews, unsweetened plain dairy-free yogurt, tapioca starch/flour, refined coconut oil or avocado oil, nutritional yeast, lactic acid, and kosher salt.
- Dairy-free milk of choice – any neutral flavored milk such as almond milk or oat milk.
- Kosher salt & black pepper – to taste.
How To Make Dairy-Free Spinach Artichoke Dip
Step 1. Soak the cashews in hot water for 20 minutes then drain and rinse. Add them to a high speed blender along with filtered water, plain unsweetened dairy-free yogurt, tapioca starch, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, vegan lactic acid (or lemon juice), and kosher salt. Blend until completely smooth. This could take a couple of minutes depending on the power of your blender.
Step 2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, pour in the blended mixture. Use a silicone spatula to stir around the edges folding the cheese mixture into itself. It’ll start to thicken as you continue to stir in this motion. It’s ready when the cheese starts to form a loose ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan. Remove from the heat.
Step 3. Saute the shallots in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant before adding in the chopped spinach and artichoke hearts. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 4. Add the dairy-free milk and vegan cheese into the skillet (or a baking dish if necessary) and mix to roughly combine. It’ll be lumpy but will sort itself out in the oven. Bake uncovered for 18 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add a little extra dairy-free milk to thin it out if necessary.
Step 5. Place under the broiler for 2-4 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make this vegan artichoke dip recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…
- No raw cashews? – you can also use raw macadamia nuts.
- No lactic acid? – use fresh lemon juice.
- No shallots? – yellow or white onion will also work.
- No garlic? – use garlic powder or a mix of garlic and onion powder, but don’t leave it out because it’s an important flavor in this creamy dip.
- No spinach? – sub lacinato kale or chard.
- No artichoke hearts in water? – if you can only find marinaded artichoke hearts, shake off any excess oil (you’ll want about 6-8 hearts).
Frequently Asked Questions
Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch) is a flavorless thickening agent that gets stretchy when heated and takes on the flavors of whatever you mix with it.
This vegan dip is best when eaten warm, but you can serve it with toasted bread, tortilla chips or gluten-free crackers, pita chips, fresh vegetables, or even fruit such as pears or apples.
Helpful Tips
Chop the spinach before adding it to the skillet. This helps it get more evenly distributed throughout the dip and also prevents you from getting any stringy spinach bites.
For the smoothest cheese texture, use a blender, not a food processor.
How To Store & Reheat
Store leftover dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, just nuke it in the microwave or throw it back in the oven on a low setting to warm it through. It’s best eaten warm or at room temperature.
More Dairy Free Dips
Dairy Free Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
Homemade Vegan Mozzarella
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¾ cup filtered water
- ¼ cup unsweetened plain dairy free yogurt I love Cocojune
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch also called tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil or avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon vegan lactic acid or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt, to taste start with 1 teaspoon if using any other kind of salt
Spinach Artichoke Dip
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small shallots, diced about ½ cup
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups fresh spinach roughly chopped
- 14 oz canned artichoke hearts chopped into smaller pieces
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup dairy free milk of choice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F/200ºC.
- Soak the cashews in hot water for 20 minutes then drain and rinse. Add them to a high speed blender along with filtered water, plain unsweetened dairy-free yogurt, tapioca starch, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, vegan lactic acid (or lemon juice), and kosher salt. Blend until completely smooth. This could take a couple of minutes depending on the power of your blender.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, pour in the blended mixture. Use a silicone spatula to stir around the edges folding the cheese mixture into itself. It’ll start to thicken as you continue to stir in this motion. It’s ready when the cheese starts to form a loose ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan. Remove from the heat.
- Add the dairy-free milk and vegan cheese into the skillet and mix to roughly combine. It’ll be lumpy but will sort itself out in the oven. Bake uncovered for 18 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add a little extra dairy-free milk to thin it out if necessary.
- Saute the shallots in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant before adding in the chopped spinach and artichoke hearts. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the dairy-free milk and vegan cheese into the skillet (or a baking dish if necessary) and mix to roughly combine. It’ll be lumpy but will sort itself out in the oven. Bake uncovered for 18 minutes, stirring halfway through. Add a little extra dairy-free milk to thin it out if necessary.
- Place under the broiler for 2-4 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.