Description
Creamy, cheesy, and surprisingly healthy, this Vegan Kale Artichoke Dip is absolutely delicious and super easy to make.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 small yellow or white onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces firm tofu, drained (see note 1 for substitutions)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice
- Juice of 1 medium lemon (about 4 tablespoons juice)
- 3/4 cup nutritional yeast (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 - 1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 packed cups kale, stems removed, chopped (or use spinach)
- 12-13 ounces (340 grams) artichoke hearts, drained (see note 3)
- 1/4 cup vegan cheese for topping, optional (see note 4)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) and grease a 10” oven-safe skillet (I use an enameled cast iron skillet) or 8-9” baking dish. I’ve also made this in my 8” square baking dish and it works just as well, but I noticed that the cast iron does give it a nice crust around the edges and bottom (and is easier to clean).
- Start by sauteing your onions in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. If you’re cool with oil, add a little neutral oil to the pan first -- or use some of the oil mixture from the jar of artichoke hearts (if you’re using marinated artichoke hearts). Saute for 3-4 minutes, until translucent.
- Add the garlic and saute a minute more.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool for a moment.
- In a food processor or blender, add the tofu, non-dairy milk, lemon juice, cooked onions and garlic, nutritional yeast, dried herbs, and sea salt. Blend until very smooth.
- Add in the chopped kale or spinach and the drained artichoke hearts. Pulse a few times until lightly chopped up but don’t over blend. We want this mixture to be chunky!
- Transfer the mixture to your greased baking dish. If you’d like, top it with a sprinkle of vegan cheese, breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, or my vegan parmesan topping if you prefer homemade.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and lightly golden brown.
- Let cool for a moment and enjoy! I like to serve this with tortilla chips, toasted sliced bread, and a few veggie sticks.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Note 1: Tofu is the creamy low fat base of our dip. You can substitute equal parts white beans, soaked raw cashews, soaked raw sunflower seeds, or store-bought vegan cream cheese. Any of the alternatives (except the white beans) will result in a richer taste so keep that in mind if you would prefer a more decadent vegan kale artichoke dip.
- Note 2: The nutritional yeast doesn’t have a super strong flavor in this recipe, but if you don’t like it or don’t have it, I’d omit it, use a little bit of onion and garlic powder (even if you’re using fresh onion and garlic) and reduce the amount of non-dairy milk as much as possible (only use enough to get the mixture to blend) as the nutritional yeast does thicken the mixture as well as flavor it.
- Note 3: I highly recommend using marinated artichoke hearts if you aren’t oil-free. I usually use canned artichoke hearts in brine for this recipe as I prefer not to eat oil, but my store was out of them when I made this most recently and I had to get the marinated and herbed kind in the jar that does have a bit of oil. And my goodness, they were so good! They added extra garlic and seasoning to the recipe so I highly recommend it. I discarded most of the oil/liquid mixture that they came in, though I could see using it to saute the onions and garlic or saving it to use on salad or pasta. If you are using artichoke hearts packed in just brine, you may want to add a little more herbs to the mixture.
- Note 4: I like to top the dip with a little bit of vegan mozzarella cheese (a light sprinkle), but this is optional. You could also use vegan parmesan cheese. If you prefer not to use processed vegan cheese, you could use breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, or my plant based vegan parmesan topping that takes only 2 minutes to make. Or don’t add anything on top and it will still be delicious.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Snack, Ingredient
- Cuisine: Vegan, Plant-based, party, snack
Keywords: Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free, Nut-free, Can be soy-free, Kale Artichoke Dip