Super Cheesy Vegan Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
This super cheesy vegan hot spinach artichoke dip is the best vegan appetizer to dip any crackers or bread crisp. It’s comforting, hot, cheesy, and easy to make in 30 minutes!
Is spinach artichoke dip vegan?
A classic hot spinach dip contains dairy such as mozzarella, sour cream, or cream cheese. So it’s not vegan-friendly, and you need to tweak the original recipe to create your own vegan spinach artichoke dip recipe.
How to make spinach artichoke dip without dairy?
It’s actually pretty easy to make a healthy spinach artichoke dip vegan-friendly! All you need are a combination of a few simple and wholesome ingredients to create a smooth and hot cheesy dip without dairy. Let’s see what you need!
Ingredients
To make a vegan spinach dip, you need the ingredients below. If you can’t find some of the ingredients, I’ve included some possible swaps.
- Spinach – I love to use fresh spinach in this recipe, but frozen spinach works perfectly as well. You don’t need to thaw your frozen spinach before using it in this recipe.
- Artichoke hearts – store-bought canned artichoke hearts are easy to use. I love the ones marinated in olive oil, but plain ones are great too.
- Pine nuts – if you don’t like pine nuts, you can use finely chopped walnuts or almonds.
- Raw cashews – this is the key to create a creamy smooth hot spinach dip without dairy. Make sure you soak the raw cashews for at least 8 hours in cold water or 30 minutes in boiling water. It’s easier to actually soak your raw cashews overnight, the day before making the recipe.
- Arrowroot flour, tapioca flour, or corn starch – all of these starchy flours create a cheesy texture and a vegan, gluten-free spinach artichoke dip.
- Vegetable broth
- Water
- Hot sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Nutritional yeast – this plant-based ingredient is the key to bring out the cheese flavor of your dip. You can also replace this with dairy-free vegan parmesan if preferred.
- Dried parsley
- Garlic powder
- Onion – flakes or powder
- Apple cider vinegar
- Salt
Cook the spinach and nuts
First, heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Cook the spinach with garlic and pine nuts until the spinach wilted.
Then, add the chopped artichokes, season with salt, cover, and set aside while making the cheese sauce.
Make the cheese sauce
To make the vegan cheese dip, you must use a high-speed blender. Add all the cheese sauce ingredients into the blender’s jug: soaked, drained cashews, vegetable broth, water, spices and arrowroot flour. Blend until smooth and transfer into the pan with the cooked spinach.
Thicken
Finally, return the skillet to medium heat, stir to combine and cook until the sauce thicken and form a cheesy texture
Serve immediately in the skillet, with fresh herbs on top and bread pieces to dig in
How to serve a hot spinach dip?
Whether you’re making this vegan spinach artichoke dip for Christmas, for party game or a simple finger food night, it’s satisfying anytime! The best food to dip into this hot vegan dip are:
- Crackers – rice crackers, water crackers, seed crackers.
- Baguette bread slices – toast them first to add some crisp!
- Tortilla chips
- Crunchy carrots sticks
An easy vegan spinach dip to feed a crowd
Most classic spinach dip recipes require an oven, but this vegan spinach dip only needs a stove and a blender. It means you can prepare this recipe quickly, in less than 20 minutes, and serve straight away.
This recipe makes a large batch to serve 8-10 guests. It’s an easy make-ahead vegan appetizer that you can freeze or store in the fridge and rewarm the next day.
Can I bake the dip?
You don’t have to bake this recipe, but you can, if you want to thicken the dip even more and make a vegan baked spinach artichoke dip.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup store-bought vegan Parmesan cheese on top of the cooked dip and bake 10 minutes at 180C (350F) until bubbly on the sides.
More vegan cheesy recipes
If you love this simple vegan spinach artichoke dip recipe, I have plenty of similar vegan recipes for you to try below:
More vegan appetizer recipes to try
Enjoy the recipe and share a picture of your creation with me on Instagram if you give it a try!
Your friend, Carine
Super Cheesy Vegan Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
Spinach artichokes
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 4 cloves Garlic - crushed
- ½ cup Pine nuts
- 5 oz Baby Spinach Leaves - or 5 oz, 240g frozen spinach, thawed, liquid removed
- 1 cup Artichokes hearts - , roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Cheese dip
- 1 cup Cashews - soaked overnight in cold water or 1 hour in boiling water
- 1 cup Vegetable stock
- 1 cup Water
- ½ teaspoon Onion flakes - or onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ tablespoon Hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon Parsley
- ½ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 8 tablespoons Arrowroot Flour - or tapioca flour
Instructions
Spinach artichoke mix
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil and add crushed garlic.
- Saute garlic for 30 seconds then add pine nuts, stir and roast for 1 minute.
- Add the spinach leaves to fill the skillet. Stir, turn the leaves in warm garlic and roasted pine nuts until the spinach has wilted.
- Add more spinach to the skillet and repeat previous steps until all spinach leaves have wilted. You can cover the pan between each addition to wilt the spinach faster, don't forget to stir often to prevent the spinach from burning.
- Stir in chopped artichokes hearts and salt.
- Cover, cook for 1-2 minutes then remove from heat. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cheese sauce.
Cheese dip
- In a blender, add all the sauce ingredients: soaked cashews, vegetable stock, water, onion flakes, garlic powder, hot sauce, parsley nutritional yeast, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and arrowroot flour.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the sauce onto the pan with the cooked spinach artichokes mixture.
- Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, until the sauce gets bubbly, thickens, and creates a cheesy texture.
- Serve immediately in a large serving dish, add chili flakes and fresh parsley on top before serving.
- Serve with rice crackers, seed crackers, or toasted slices of French baguette.
Optional
- Add a handful of vegan mozzarella or vegan cheddar cheese.
- Turn the oven to broil and cook for 2-3 more minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.
Storage
- You can make ahead your dip, store it in an airtight box, and rewarm in a saucepan until hot. Store up to 3 days in the fridge or freeze.
Nutrition
FYI not all Worcestershire sauce is vegan. Make sure you check before you buy!
Yes true! Mine was but it is good to double check. Thanks for sharing this preision, XOXO Carine.