I made Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip for a football party last weekend and learned a lot!

I’ve never made a dip for a party without using dairy products before! I used the recipe from OhSheGlows.com

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 piece bread + 1 tbsp earth balance (processed into crumbs) OR 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 (15oz) can navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, stems removed, and chopped
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8th tsp dried basil
• Pinch of red pepper flakes & other spices as desired

I went back later and read the vegan recipe, from which she adapted this one, and would make a few adjustments. I would like it to be a little creamier, by adding Vegan cream cheese and only 8 oz of beans. Another mistake I made was not draining the mixed ingredients properly before adding them to the baking pan. I had to cook the dip a lot longer to compensate, which ended up being too long…

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Add 1 tbsp olive oil into a very large skillet and add in the chopped onion. Cook about 7 minutes on medium heat until onion is translucent.

2a. Meanwhile, in a food processor, process the bread into crumbs with 1 tsp earth balance. Remove and set aside. Omit this step if you use pre-made bread crumbs. *or Gluten Free breadcrumbs

2b. Now process the drained and rinsed navy beans, 1/4 cup water, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp kosher salt, basil, and red pepper flakes.

*If you don’t have a food processor you can throw it in a good blender!

NOTE: If you choose to add Vegan cream cheese, I would put it in a bowl and stir in the blended bean mixture. Modify water amount if only using 8 oz of beans; may be unnecessary.

3. Add in minced garlic to skillet and cook for another few minutes on low. Add in your 4 cups of packed spinach and chopped artichoke hearts to the skillet and heat until spinach is wilted over low-medium heat.

4. Add navy bean processed mixture to the skillet and stir until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir in 3/4 of the bread crumbs (or just sprinkle them on top). Pour into an oven safe dish (I used a 4 cup Pyrex dish). Sprinkle on the remaining bread crumbs and cover with foil.

5. Cook, covered, in the oven at 400F for 20 mins. Now remove the foil cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes watching closely so as not to burn. Makes 2.5-3 cups. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then serve immediately with sturdy chips and crackers.

Enjoy!