I’d be a liar and you’d never believe a thing I said if I told you that this vegan spinach dip tastes exactly like the full fat, full cheese, full mayo version. But I’d be an equally big fibber if I neglected to convey just how ridiculously good this spinach dip is.
To help you get the picture, let me start by sharing my mental dialog as I devour a normal batch of spinach dip at a party:
Bite 1: “OMG!!! This is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!”
Bites 2-5: “Ohhh… I reaalllly shouldn’t… but I can’t help myself”
Bites 6-10: “Now I’m thirsty, let me wash it down with a giant red Solo cup of soda.”
Bites 11-∞:“It’s gone and I ate most of it… What have I done… How could I have been so weeeak…”
Perhaps you can relate? Well, here’s the internal dialog I had with myself as I scarfed down this vegan spinach dip:
Bite 1: “hmm… not quite the same….”
Bite 2-5: ” But… this is pretty damn good!”
Bites 6-10: “Wow! I can’t {MUNCH}… stop…{DIP}…eating… {CHOMP}… it”
Bites 11-∞: ” It’s gone… but I just ate 189% of my daily Vitamin A, 94% of my Iron, 82% of my Calcium, 72% of my magnesium, 57% of my protein, 56% of my vitamin C, 50% of my fiber for the day…”
And while I can’t promise you won’t feel any guilt at all (especially if you hijack that part of the buffet and slap away hungry hands trying to get a taste), but I can tell you that you won’t have to go to confession at your cardiologist’s office.
So what makes it so good? Well, first I use a combination of soft tofu with raw cashew nuts. The soft tofu brings a satiny smooth texture and creaminess like mayonnaise. The cashews mellow out the “soy” taste of the tofu while adding richness and just a hint of sweetness.
To get the cheese flavor, I add nutritional yeast. It may sound like a weird addition if you’ve never had it, but one taste and I promise even hardened carnivores will want some to sprinkle on their next steak. It’s made by culturing a strain of yeast, which is harvested and sterilized before it’s dried and packaged. The resulting yellow flakes have a cheesy, nutty flavor, that’s bursting with umami producing amino acids.
Because real cheese undergoes lacto-fermentation it’s always a little acidic. This is what gives cheddar it’s “sharp” taste. To mimic this, I add a little apple cider vinegar. It not only makes it taste more like cheese, the hint of acidity helps lighten up the creaminess of the spinach dip ever so slightly.
Together with fresh spinach, crispy water chestnuts and a little smoked paprika and you have yourself a luxuriously creamy, spinach dip with all the right textures and flavors, keeping you reaching back for more…. until it’s gone.
Ingredients
- 400 grams soft tofu
- 100 grams raw cashew nuts (3/4 cup soaked in water overnight and drained)
- 25 grams nutritional yeast (~1/4 cup)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 grams salt (~1/2 teaspoon)
- 260 grams spinach (175 grams cooked and squeezed)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 175 grams onion (1 medium )
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 100 grams water chestnuts (diced)
- extra virgin olive oil
- paprika
Steps
- Add the tofu, soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, vinegar, and salt to the bowl of a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix) and blend until it forms a smooth puree. If the blender won't spin, try adding a little water (or coconut milk) at a time and use the tamper to help it along. The mixture should have the consistency of pudding.
- Chop the roots off the spinach and put it into a large bowl. Wash the spinach under running water while agitating it with your fingers until the water is no longer muddy. Then, stop the water and give any remaining grit a chance to settle to the bottom of the water.
- Lift the floating spinach off the top of the water, leaving any remaining sand at the bottom of the bowl.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the spinach. Boil until the spinach is tender. 1-2 minutes.
- Drain the spinach, rinse with cold water and then squeeze the excess water out of the spinach.
- Chop the spinach into small pieces.
- Add the oil, onions and garlic to a frying pan and sauté over medium-high heat until the onions are a caramel brown color and have reduced to about 1/4 of their original volume.
- Add the water chestnuts and spinach and, sauté to heat through.
- Turn down the heat and add the tofu and cashew puree. Stir constantly until the spinach dip is heated through. Adjust salt to taste.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and then dust with paprika. Serve with vegetables and bread.
is water chestnuts a must have? can you omit it and still taste ok?
Hi Tata, waterchestnuts have almost no taste, but they have a crisp texture. The reason why they are added here are for texture, not taste. Leaving them out won’t effect the taste, but I would recommend putting in something else crisp (like celery) for the texture.
Do you prefer the vegan or the other version?
Kinda tough to compare. They both have their merits. You can eat a lot of this one without feeling too guilty, but if you’re asking if it tastes like a full cheese full mayo spinach dip, then no, not quite the same.
Just made this. I substituted sunflower seeds for cashews. It was a little bland at first so I added about 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and lots more paprika. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Thanks, this one’s a keeper!!
Dear Marc, you have done it again. Thank you for the amazing recipe! This was my fuel over midterms week when I was consumed with exams and had no time to cook; then I made it again this week because it is super delicious! I like that the recipe is nutritious yet doesn’t compromise the flavor. And as always, I appreciate the fantastic expressions in your writing 🙂
Hi Wendy, glad to hear you’ve been enjoying this! Hope your midterms went well:-)
Great recipe, my non vegan family even enjoyed it. I would love to have the nutrition info per serving for this recipe if available. Thanks!
Allergic to nuts….any replacements?
HI Kerrie, you could make it with just tofu, but it will not be as rich.
yummie!!!
Does this need to be served hot or is it ok to make a day ahead?
Hi Karina, you could prep the veggies ahead of time and the blended sauce ahead of time, but I wouldn’t recommend combining and cooking until you are ready to serve it. Once combined it will be difficult to reheat. Also, the texture kind of solidifies as it cools so while it still tastes good, it turns into more of a spread than a dip.
Do you have to use a cast iron skillet?
Hi Marie, nope, it’s not necessary and is more for presentation. That said, please be sure to use a heavy bottomed pan as you want the pan to heat evenly so it does not burn.
Made this, here are my thoughts:
I had to add coconut milk to make it creamier.
Needed some salt for sure.
Next time I would add garlic.
The smoked paprika totally made the dish!
Overall it’s pretty darn good. I recommend the roasted garlic triscuts for dipping.
Hi Monica, tried this with a different type of tofu (the boxed kind as opposed to flat plastic cartons) yesterday and the blender wouldn’t spin without more liquid. Good call on the coconut milk. I also added garlic to my batch yesterday and it was kind of awesome, so I’m updating the recipe.
Loved the inspiration this recipe gave me… I didn’t have tofu so I used garbanzo beans instead of the tofu… and it is delicious!! I can only imagine what it would taste like if it was with the silken tofu instead but grateful for the garbanzo substitute!
Thanks Marc!
Try cauliflower purée!
mmmmm…… absolutly easy and ..DELICIOUS! Thank you!
Made this and though it was gross…. or atleast not a good as i excepted. Debating on serving this to my non vegan guests. don’t want to shy them away from veganism with this dish…
This was wonderful! I could not believe how easy it was. I would love to add artichoke to this, since my family is used to spinach artichoke dip. I did add some things.
I added water to help thin it out a bit since it was very thick. I also added these flavor enhancers: extra paprika, extra garlic, lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon, a dash or so of cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.
I am going to try the nutmeg. Good idea
Hi Laura, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this, love your additions and great call on the artichoke. I actually wanted to include artichoke, but they are very hard to find here in Japan and cost a fortune (like $15 for a small jar) which is why I skipped them.
Anyone try baking this after mixing it all together? Love to use one of my pretty “hot dip” dishes. If so how did it work out and what was the temp/time?
Hi Daisy, it’s funny you mention baking this because I actually originally planned to bake it, but baking it solidifies the tofu so it ends up being like a quiche or frittata (still delicious, but not really a dip). Doing it on the stove allows you to heat it up without rendering it undipable.
I just made a small batch of this dip to give it a shot. It was delicious and my husband didn’t even realize it was vegan. Thank you!
Hahaha, glad to hear you enjoyed. Did you eventually tell him what he was eating?
I did. He’s actually asked me to make it at least twice now!
I was thinking on making this for Super Bowl. Could I cook in an electric fondue pot so I can transport it warm to a party? Or if it sits in a warmer will it solidify? Thank you -Morgan
Hi Morgan, to be honest I don’t know what will happen. It seems like a good idea in theory but there is definitely a possibility it will set. If you end up trying it let us know how it goes.
I made this a couple weeks ago and it was a hit so I’m making it for a Super Bowl party tonight. I also added lemon and more paprika and a little chipotle powder. I just used baby spinach and did not pre-cook it at all. Worked out great! Can’t wait to have this again tonight! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Hi Sarah, glad to hear you enjoyed and great idea on the chipotle powder and lemon!
I’ve been on Pinterest for a while and I think you may be borderline genius
I’m allergic to cashews is there an alternative?
Hi Crystal, I’m going to assume you’re allergic to all tree-nuts? If so, you could substitute extra tofu for the cashews and increase the amount of nutritional yeast. It’s not going to be quite as rich or creamy but should be pretty good none-the-less.
My Dr has me off of soy, any substitutes?
Hi Marilyn, you could in theory make this with mostly cashew nuts, but it’s going to be extremely rich. You could increase the amount of spinach to offset some of this ,but it may not be quite as dippable.
Okay, thanks for replying!
Hi- what if i don’t have nutritional yeast? Could Flax be substituted or something else? If so, same quantity?
thanks~
Hi Sarah, the purpose of the nutritional yeast is to give the dip a cheese flavor. Flax does not taste like cheese. I can’t think of a vegan product that comes as close to tasting like cheese as nutritional yeast, but if you know of something I’d love to hear about it.
White beans are what I use.
Thanks for the reply! That makes sense! I’ll just wait until i get to the store to get the nutritional yeast 🙂
If I am not vegan, what’s a good cheese to use as a substitute for the yeast?
Hi Wen, if you’re not vegan, why not make my regular spinach dip: http://norecipes.com/tofu-spinach-artichoke-dip/
Anything to sub the water chestnuts, Marc?
Really keen on trying this – looks cray-mazing!
Hi Brigette, they’re there mostly for texture so any think crunchy/crispy will work like lotus root, jicama, or celery.
This is amazingly delicious! I added a can of artichoke hearts, and left out the garlic as it upsets my stomach. I made it the night before a party, and it was all I could do not to just eat it all up myself.
It looks amazing! Which brand of nutritional yeast do you use?
Thanks Debbie! I have both Bob’s Red Mill and Braggs in my pantry, don’t really have a preference between the two.
Thank you so much chef!! =) I will definitely try it! Everything that you made just look amazingly yummy!