The Super Bowl is coming up and most years, I take full advantage of the opportunity to make a bunch of appetizers, finger food, and cocktails. This hot vegan spinach artichoke dip is PERFECT for your Super Bowl celebration because not only is it packed with veggies and made from real ingredients, but it’s straight up delicious, AND has left omnivores dumbfounded that it’s vegan and isn’t made with dairy cheese.
Just look at it. SO cheesy! It’s stretchy, meltable and gooey too, just like a good spinach and artichoke dip should be. Step aside, Daiya! This is made from scratch and a million times tastier.
I’ve also seen versions of dairy-free spin-art dip made with tofu, and I’m sure those are tasty too, but I think the cashews give the perfect rich and creamy base for this version.
(I recently took new pictures of this, but I included one of the old pictures here, for nostalgia’s sake).
This vegan spinach artichoke dip uses tapioca starch to create a thick and gooey cashew “mozzarella” base. Tapioca starch is an all-natural starch made from dehydrated manioc, a root vegetable similar to yucca. It gives the most amazing cheese-like texture to vegan cheesy items made from scratch.
Even if you aren’t big on football, I would have to guess that you, like me, enjoy an excuse to make a killer vegan spinach artichoke dip, so I hope that you’ll give this one a try. We will definitely be having it again on game day :). Go Seahawks and/or Ravens! :P. If you make this dip, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram with @yupitsvegan!
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
For the blender mixture:
- 1/4 cup raw cashews soaked overnight in cold water (see notes)
- 1 cup plain, unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp tapioca starch
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp yellow or white miso (optional)
For the rest of the vegan spinach artichoke dip:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 white or yellow onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or less to taste)
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts drained and roughly chopped (drained weight 8 oz.; I used the unmarinated kind)
- 2 oz. fresh baby spinach thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a cast iron skillet (mine is about 6 inches in diameter) or ramekin.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the blender mixture in a blender or food processor, scraping down the sides as needed and blending until completely smooth. Strain using a nut milk bag if needed. Set aside.
- In a wide skillet or saute pan, heat the olive oil of medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic, chili flakes, pepper, and paprika and stir. Cook for another 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Give the reserved blender mixture another stir and then add it to the pan. Stir every few seconds, making sure to scrape around the bottom of the saucepan to keep from sticking. The mixture will start to get chunky in places; when you see this happening, start to stir constantly until the mixture smooths out again and becomes one cohesive, somewhat stretchy mass.
- Add the spinach and artichoke hearts to the pan and stir in as best you can. Continue to cook for about 2 minutes more or until the spinach pieces wilt a little bit.
- Taste the mixture for salt and add more if desired. Transfer to the prepared dish and smooth out. For improved browning, lightly spray or brush the top with additional olive oil. If you have a broiler, bake for 10 minutes and then broil on high for another 3-4 minutes, until nice and browned and bubbly on top. If you don’t have a broiler, bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until slightly crusty and light brown on top.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for a couple of minutes so that nobody burns their mouths, and then serve hot.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The “cheese” base in this vegan spinach artichoke dip is a riff on my favorite cashew mozzarella, used in my vegan lasagna, vegan stuffed shells, and countless other times in our kitchen.
(Originally published in 2014, updated in 2018).
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Sydney says
After reading the reviews, I was so hyped to try this! I followed it to a T and somehow it came out flavorless. I reviewed the recipe multiple times and watched the video to make sure I didn’t miss anything. 😢 I’ll have to try again. So many comments say it’s great! I wish it tasted more like a real spinach artichoke dip as I remember it to be before I went vegan.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Sorry you had this experience! I can’t be sure what the issue is, there are a lot of flavorful ingredients in it and also a salt measurement, so its hard for me to imagine why it would be flavorless, but I guess everyone’s taste buds are different!
Juliet says
This was so delicious and easy to bring together! I was a little unsure when the mixture came out of the blender is was very thin and runny BUT the second it hit the pan it started to thicken perfectly. Will mark again!
Carrie says
Well, the verdict at our house was that it was very tasty….but it was nowhere close to 10 min prep time. I’d say more like an hour and a half, and the kitchen looks like a bomb went off. I need a version that is much much easier to put together! Sorry to add a discouraging word….
Kelli Cat says
I think you’re such an amazing, intuitive chef. I wish you could publish a cookbook. I buy books for my local women’s prison, and love to send them vegan and vegetarian books. Hopefully one day I can send them
one of yours….
Viris L Hart says
Why dont you do an instagram account and ask people to donate books. I would
Becky says
This was really good! It’s always nice to modify a favorite instead of writing it out of my diet. Thanks for posting this recipe, it’s a keeper.
Eileen says
Super! If you are a massive garlic fan, try this as a topping. It was difficult to find tapioca starch but finally found it in a thai shop. Thanks for the recipe!
Tammy says
I have a family member with a cashew allergy, and I’ve noticed that quite a few vegan recipes use them. He can do pine nuts and almonds. Would that work in this recipe?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Pine nuts (reduce the quantity) or macadamias would work, or you can omit the cashews, decrease the liquid a little bit and add couple tablespoons of oil.
Yvie says
DELICIOUS! I made this last night for my New Year’s Eve game night – it was a total hit! So creamy and delicious! I added a little extra spinach just because I love spinach.
I made it again today and reserved half of the finished dip. I made some macaroni pasta and mixed it with the reserved dip and added some extra pepper – TOTALLY AMAZING!!!
Samantha says
This was delicious but I did make a few tweaks. I used a 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry in place of fresh. I also cut the tapioca starch in half and replaced the other half with corn starch (not a fan of too much tapioca starch, I don’t like the texture ). Also, I doubled the blender ingredients since I added more spinach. I didn’t change anything else. My guests really liked it and were surprised to find out it was vegan. They went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths! I ran out of chips! Even my nieces, 7 and 12 liked it, including my 14 year old nephew! will be making this again and again! I made it a day ahead and just reheated it in a sauté pan, and it was still amazing, so that’s a plus.
hayley says
Spinach dip used to be my absolute favorite!! And then I very sadly became badly lactose intolerant 🙁
THIS. This recipe is incredible!! It is so dang good and tastes just like spinach dip that is loaded with cheese, except I feel great after eating this because it isn’t filled with any junk! So so so thankful for this blog. And this recipe. Delicious and highly recommend! Was even a super big hit with my husband!
Shelly says
I want to make this for Christmas and will have to prepare it in advance then bake it for the evening…anything I should do differently?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Just wait to bake it until the day you’re going to serve it, you can do the rest in advance and it’ll come out great!
Fiona says
So delicious I ate the whole thing in one day LOL. I don’t even feel bad about it! Thank you for this fabulous recipe!
Nicole says
I’ve made this two times now, I couldn’t find tapioca starch in my local grocery store so I used regular flower instead and it came out AMAZING!!! I’ll never use any other recipe for spin dip again!!!!
Kathryn Linette Smith says
I’ve made this recipe a number of times and love it. At first I thought the “cheese” portion was less cheese like than I wanted, but I modified my opinion. It’s simply a bit different from your dairy containing dip, and tastes must adjust for that. It’s still wonderfully gooey and tastes great.
I’m going to make thing in tiny gf bread cups for a party tomorrow. Problem is, I’m trying to make it friendly for my friend who can’t eat nightshades. I figure I can just put in more black pepper for the red pepper, but I’m not sure what to put in for the paprika. I’m unsure what flavor profile the paprika is supporting in the recipe. Recommendations welcome.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks for your feedback, Kathryn! Paprika is a little bit earthy and grassy. It helps round out the other flavors but I think you would be fine to just omit it. The substitute I would normally use is tomato paste but I realize that’s a nightshade too.
Julia says
Words can’t quite describe how great this vegan spinach artichoke dip is. I would have no hesitation serving it to non vegans. I like to spread some on French bread and then bake it for a kind of devious garlic”cheeze” bread! Any which way you have it it’s so good.
Gail says
I am thinking about making this for a pot luck. I will have to bake it before leaving home so won’t be eating it for about an hour…do you think it will still be good if it’s just luke warm?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes, I think so! You can cover it up with foil right when it comes out of the oven and it should stay pretty hot inside for your potluck.
Heidi says
Just popped this in the oven. This was my first try. I want to practice it a couple times before Christmas And I know already that I should have followed the direction to put the blended ingredients through a cheesecloth, to make the liquid smoother. However I think it is going to taste delicious because I tasted the mix before I put it in the baking dish. I will make another batch this weekend, using the strained liquid, to get rid of the cashew crumbles.