This is vegan spinach dip and it's just like you remember! Except now it's way healthier with a couple easy nutritious swaps! Normally you would use sour cream and mayonnaise to make this dip, but I found it to be equally as satisfying and creamy by blending up tofu and zucchini with lots of onion, garlic, and seasonings. Try this vegan spinach dip for a potluck or as a party dip for the Superbowl!
You'll notice I didn't add water chestnuts, cause they're just weird. But I know many classic recipes add them and you can too. Make this dip your own! If you're down for the crunch, by all means add them in. I just can't do it! If you want something hot, try this warm spinach and artichoke dip too.
vegan spinach dip
This is a classic spinach dip just like you remember but now made vegan - and way healthier - with a couple of swaps!
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Servings: servings
Ingredients
- 10 oz / 300g frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained of excess water (about 1 packed cup)
- 8 oz / 225g medium-firm tofu, drained & pressed of excess moisture (about 1 cup crumbled)
- 1 zucchini, peeled & roughly chopped (about 1 heaping cup)
- 2 onions, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ C unsweetened nondairy milk
- 2 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
- 1 round loaf of pumpernickel or sourdough bread
- carrot sticks
- celery sticks
- red bell pepper, thinly sliced
Instructions
- To drain the thawed spinach of excess water squeeze it in a fine mesh sieve then break up by hand into a large mixing bowl.
- To drain the tofu of excess moisture squeeze it through a nut milk bag. You could also use a fine mesh sieve, double layer of cheesecloth, or tofu press. Then add it to a high-powered blender.
- In a pan over medium heat sauté zucchini with vegetable oil, onions, and garlic cloves for 12 to 14 minutes until everything is softened and lightly caramelized and golden brown. Lower heat as necessary so nothing burns. Let this mixture cool down so it's not so hot going in the blender.
- Once cooled, add the sautéed veg to the blender with tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, ground pepper, and non-dairy milk. Blend on high until completely smooth.
- Pour this into the mixing bowl with the spinach and add dehydrated minced onion, fresh dill, chives, and parsley and stir to combine well.
- When ready to serve, prepare the bread bowl by cutting a circle out of the top of the loaf on an angle. Remove the top and use your hands to remove the bread inside creating a bowl. Cut the excess pieces into large chunks for dipping.
- Add more salt to taste to the dip, if desired, once chilled. Add the dip inside the bread bowl and serve immediately with the extra bread and veggie sticks of your choice for dipping.
Notes
Depending on how warm the dip feels after you blend it, you can refrigerate it for at least 1 hour before serving. You might like it right out of the blender also, or make it the night before serving to really develop flavors.
Hayley
Just made this! I prefer hot spinach and artichoke dips over chilled ones so they only changes we made were doubling the amount of spinach, adding a can of chopped artichokes hearts, a bit of nooch to the blended part, and serving hot. 10/10 flavors. So proud of how goo this tastes to be so healthy! Zucchini and onion. Who woulda known.
Tiffany Sonterre
Ooh, that's a great idea for hot artichoke dip! I'm gonna try that next time (even though it's delicious as is!).
Danielle
This recipe is amazing!! Changes I made: no dill or parsley (personal preference) more salt and pepper to taste, a few dashes of cayenne, finely chopped red pepper, red onion, and pickled jalapeños, and served hot. SO GOOD! This turns out very creamy with the vitamix but I’d say it’d be difficult to achieve the same texture without a high powered blender. Try it yourself and fool your guests.
Jessica
I’m from Brazil and I have never had spinach dip, I didn’t even know it existed hahaha but I made it the other day and it was soooooo good!! Got addicted to it!! Just couldn’t stop eating it!! And now I am doing it for the second time! Really good! Loved it ❤️❤️
Deloris
I love this recipe! I made it with a little less dill, but added shredded chicken and artichokes for an extra kick. The consistency was a little off, so I found creamed cheese to work better. Our vegan friends said it was the best dip they've ever had!
Jill
SO DELICIOUS. I didn’t have frozen spinach so I steamed fresh spinach in my Instant Pot for 4 minutes then followed the rest of the recipe. I also added a bit more apple cider vinegar and lemon juice at the end to my preferences. The biggest game changer for me was baking it in the oven for 30 minutes at 275 until it was heated through. This made the dip super creamy and the flavours were wonderful. Such a hit! Will be making this recipe again and again!
Quinn
Hi, just wondering what effect the zucchini has on the dip (aside from the nutrition - thinking more the effect on texture/wateriness, and any flavour etc) and why you chose to use firm tofu instead of silken?
I'm chasing that high that a partygoer I met must have felt having her cob loaf be the addictive hit of the party 😂 But I've only tried cob loaf once and that was before I became vegan, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to get that creamy richness I remember but ideally with healthy ingredients like you've provided. I'm a compulsive meddler with recipes though, hence the questions before I mess with a good thing 😊 (not a big fan of zucchini, but I'll eat them if they can't be tasted and if their water content doesn't mess with the texture too much, and I just imagined that silken tofu would be closer to the end goal texture ...). I have no idea if the one I tried had artichoke in it as I often see mentioned, that meanie wouldn't cough up her recipe (so I could veganise then butcher it instead 🤣)! Anyway thanks for sharing yours, clearly many folks love it! I'll have to try it soon.
Lauren Toyota
ok I dunno how to convince you. Even though you can't taste the zucchini. BUT I have a super simple version in the description of this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuyUVuA2sdo&t=0s
I should probably put this on the blog too 😀
Quinn
I don't need convincing, like I said I'm still willing to try it, it's more that I otherwise don't have a reason to buy zucchini ... and while I suspected, I was looking to confirm the lack of taste from it at the end. Mostly I was just wondering if you were looking for the ingredients to lend particular properties to the recipe when you chose them (esp. the choice of firm vs silken tofu). I find it helps my growth in the kitchen and my ability to find healthy substitutes for ingredients in other recipes if I can try to understand how others chose theirs, that's all. Eg for a creamy recipe base sometimes you might go with blended cashews, or butter beans, or cauliflower for healthier alternatives, but not all may work for a given recipe (especially when it gets baked afterwards - I'm also looking to experiment with a healthier potato bake instead of just using a commercial vegan cream substitute). And if it so happens that I could find that zucchini gave useful properties too, instead of just being hidden nutrition, I might make more of an effort to incorporate them in future recipes I experiment with. But thanks for the link, I'll check it out! And thanks for replying - I didn't realise how long ago this recipe was posted when I first messaged!