The best vegan spinach artichoke dip from scratch, made with gooey homemade cashew mozzarella cheese, artichoke hearts and wilted baby spinach. A whole food plant based recipe, made without oil, creamy, cheesy, gluten and dairy free.
Heat up large skillet over medium heat, add a light drizzle of olive oil (or water for WFPB & Plantricious compliance) and the fresh spinach with a tiny pinch of sea salt. Sautee until wilted then season with a pinch of garlic powder. Transfer the spinach to a colander to drain as much of the liquid as possible. Optional: transfer to a cutting board and run your knife through it once or twice.
1/2 lb fresh baby spinach, 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Make the Cashew Cheese Sauce
If you don't have a powerful blender make sure to soak the cashews for 20 minutes in hot water to soften the drain. Otherwise just rinse the raw cashews and add them to your Vitamix blender together with all the cashew cheese ingredients. Process until creamy and smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium low flame whisking continuously. Cook for a few minutes until thickened. Remove from heat
3/4 cup raw cashews, 2 tbsp tapioca flour, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1.25 cup filtered water, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tsp onion powder, sea salt + black pepper to taste
Stir in the wilted spinach and the artichoke hearts. Taste and season with sea salt and black pepper. (Go light on the salt as the chips or bruschetta you are going to serve this with are usually very salty)
15 oz can artichoke hearts, 1/2 lb fresh baby spinach
Transfer the dip to a small cast iron dish (or any broiler proof dish) and broil until golden brown on top to your liking, around 3 minutes.Serve hot with crusty bread, bruschetta, pita chips or fresh cut vegetables.
WFPB + Plantricious
Omit all oil or replace with water for full compliance.
Video
Notes
About the Spinach - if using frozen spinach make sure to thaw it out first and squeeze as much of the liquid out of of it as possible. You should end up with about one cup of spinach.