Warm Cheesy White Bean Dip

This dip is absolutely delicious.  Today was the 3rd time I made this dip in the last 4 days, and I may or may not be sitting here with a bowl of it, eating as I type.  Don’t be too skeptical about the “cheesy” part, given this is coming from a vegan person.  Does it actually taste really cheesy?  Not really (coming from a vegan who still loves the taste of cheese).  But is the dip super tasty anyways?  YEA!

This dip came from the cook book eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton.  I have gotten several other good recipes from her book and can vouch for their tastiness.  You can buy the book at Amazon or check out her blog here.

I actually made a couple alterations to the recipe, which I’ll put below.

Warm & Cheesy White Bean Dip
1 cup cooked cannellini beans or navy beans  (Great Northern work great too)
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 medium clove garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp ground turmeric (for color)
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced (optional)
1/2cup +2 Tbsp plain rice milk
1 1/2-2 Tbsp olive oil
1-3 Tbsp plain rice milk (to thin dip as desired)

In food processor, combine the first 4 ingredients and puree to break down cashews. (I also should have added the garlic at this juncture to break it down more too.)  Add all other ingredients except the 1-3 Tbsp rice milk, and process till smooth.  You can at this point put the dip in a sauce pan and warm it up like a warm cheese dip (adding extra rice milk to thin as needed) or you can just eat it as is.  I didn’t bother to heat it up either time and it was delicious.  Serve with chips, carrots, salt-free pretzels, etc.

Alterations I made: 1 can of beans and only 1/4c cashews to use the whole can of beans and cut back on the fat from the nuts.  (Nut and seed fats are good, but you still don't want to go overboard.)  I only used a splash of soymilk because that’s all I had - you could even cut it out altogether for a thicker, hummus texture dip.  I didn’t have dry mustard so I just used prepared. Also I left out the olive oil in order to cut back on some of the fat. (CrunchyMamaLife didn’t lose 35lbs by consuming lots of fat you know. :)  )


This one is worth trying, even if you are worried about the vegan cheesy taste.  It is SO good.