Meet the dairy-free dip of your dreams! This Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip has all the flavor you love, without using cheese. It’s rich & creamy, and super-easy to make!
Ingredients You’ll Need
What is Spinach Artichoke Dip made of? The traditional version is made with a trifecta of mayo, sour cream, and cheese, making it ultra-indulgent, but this version is lightened-up, using simple real food ingredients.
Here are the basic ingredients:
- Cashews (I use unsalted & non-roasted ones)
- Lemon juice
- Apple cider vinegar
- Salt
- Canned artichoke hearts
- Spinach (fresh or frozen!)
I also like to include sautéed onion and garlic for extra flavor. This dip can be assembled in 20 minutes or less, so it’s perfect for your next at-home gathering. I love how low-maintenance it is!
How to Make It
To make this Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip, start by sautéing the onion and garlic. Be sure to use an oven-safe skillet that can go in the oven later, like a cast iron skillet.
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400ºF, too.
While that’s cooking, chop the fresh spinach.
If you would rather use frozen spinach, you’ll need to remember to thaw it in the fridge the night before you plan on making this recipe. Once it’s thawed, be sure to place it in a strainer over the sink, and press well to remove excess moisture. (You don’t have to do this with fresh spinach.)
I never remember to thaw frozen spinach in time, so I prefer to use a bag of fresh spinach, which simply needs a few chops to help it fit in the pan and cook faster. No one wants to get a huge, stringy bite of spinach later, so chopping helps prevent that.
Fresh spinach shrinks down quite a bit when you cook it, so add it one large handful at a time, then cover the pan with a lid and wait about 60 seconds for that batch to shrink, before you add more. I use a 5-ounce bag of fresh spinach for this recipe, and I add about 1/3 of it at a time, to help it shrink down and fit in the pan.
Drain and rinse the canned artichoke hearts, then chop them on a cutting board. I like to chop them as finely as possible, so you’ll get a little bit in each bite.
Alternatively, you can chop the artichokes in a food processor, but I prefer to simply use a cutting board, so I don’t have another appliance to clean later.
Add the chopped artichokes to the pan with the other veggies, and season with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir well, then turn off the heat while you make the sauce.
In a high-speed blender, add the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. Blend until very smooth, then pour it into the skillet.
Stir well, to make sure the vegetables are evenly distributed in the sauce. It will appear runny at first, but when you bake it the sauce will thicken up.
Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake until the sauce looks thicker, about 15 minutes.
How to Serve It
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip is typically served warm from the oven, with chips, bread, or sliced veggies for dipping. Try it with my baked sweet potato chips, for a healthier crunch.
This healthy dip is also delicious cold, if you don’t feel like heating up the leftovers later. I use it as a sandwich spread (or try it in my favorite veggie wraps!) and as a topping to stir into pasta for a fast weeknight dinner.
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion , chopped (about 3/4 cup)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts , drained & rinsed
- 5 ounces fresh spinach (or 8 oz. thawed frozen spinach; drained)
- 1.5 teaspoons fine sea salt (11 grams; I use Real Salt brand)
- 1 cup whole cashews (151 grams; unsalted & not roasted)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice (6 grams)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, and saute the garlic and onion until the onion is translucent, but not brown, about 5 minutes.
- Chop the fresh spinach, to help it fit in the pan. You may need to add the spinach in large handfuls, then cover briefly for 30 to 60 seconds with a lid, to help it shrink down. I usually do this in 3 batches for a 5-ounce bag of fresh spinach. If you're using thawed frozen spinach instead, be sure to squeeze out excess moisture before adding it to the pan.
- Chop the artichokes into tiny pieces, then add them to the pan with the other veggies. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and stir well.
- Turn off the stove top while you make the cashew sauce. In a high-speed blender, add the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Blend until very smooth, then pour over the veggies in the pan.
- Stir well, to make sure the vegetables are evenly distributed in the sauce. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven, and cook until everything is hot and the sauce looks thicker, about 15 minutes.
- Serve warm, with your favorite chips, bread, or sliced veggies for dipping. Leftover dip can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like this dip cold, but if you reheat it, you might need to add an extra splash of water, to help thin out the sauce again.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Healthy Dip Recipes
Need another healthy dip? Try one of these!
- Vegan Cashew Queso
- Best Bean Dip Ever
- Almond Pulp Hummus (perfect after making almond milk)
- Brownie Batter Hummus (dessert dip!)
- Zucchini Hummus (bean-free)
- Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Classic Hummus
If you try this Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any other modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too!
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite dip to serve at parties?
Do you have a substitute for the cashews for people with a nut allergy?
Maybe you could make a dip from pureed white beans instead? You’d need less water in that case, so it would definitely take some experimenting.
Delicious!!!
I made this tonight and put it over gluten free pasta. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! A new favorite and I love the versatility of making it as a dip, sandwich spread or pasta!
I was going to make this ahead today and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. Do you think it’ll be fine?
Oops, sorry, I didn’t notice your comment about leaving it in the fridge and reheating. That’s what I plan on doing, thanks!!
I would also love a cashew substitute as well!
My daughter is allergic to nuts. Do you think this would work with sunflower or sesame seeds?
I love Spinach & Artichoke dip but never make it bc it’s so unhealthy.
All I can say about this recipe is WOW!!! It is SO good and guilt-free!! Really a perfect and delicious recipe!
Delicious!!! This was amazing. We had some chard from the garden to use so it was a mix with spinach and i loved it.
It’s incredible! I don’t even miss the dairy, tastes exactly like the real thing!
I loved this – so delicious and creamy!
I have never commented on a recipe before BUT this is the best food I’ve made in my entire life! And it was easy to make too!!
Wow this tastes like the real thing, but doesn’t leave me with a stomach ache after! I’m not vegan so I added some parmesan cheese on top and it was so good.
Very easy and super delicious. It was all eaten during the game. I plan to make it again soon. I used fresh spinach and skipped the salt.
so easy and delicious!
Love love love this! Thank you!
Oops! forgot to add my star rating with my comment.
My first purposefully Vegan recipe and thought this was so clever and delicious. Thank you!!
All of the “traditional” ingredients like mayo, sour cream, mozzarella, parmesan and cream cheese have good vegan substitutes now, so I’ll get a standard recipe and replace the dairy with vegan ingredients as need be.
Then again, I live in a place where vegan products are at every supermarket, so that helps. No need to kill myself to live dairy-free.
So good!! Took this to a backyard party and everyone went nuts over it. They couldn’t believe it was vegan. My mayonnaise-hating friend said, “Thank you for making this! I love it!”
Yay, that makes me so happy! I’m glad it was a hit!! Thanks for the review, Megan.
Hi I was wondering do you soak the cashews before you blend them?
I don’t usually soak them, but that’s because I don’t plan ahead well and my Vitamix will pulverize them either way. I definitely recommend soaking if you don’t have a high-speed blender, though!
Thank you, Megan! I was looking for a snack for pre-Thanksgiving dinner that I could serve my ENTIRE family. Your site is my go-to and I am always able to find something wonderful. Thank you, thank you! And Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
I made this with frozen spinach and 1 can of artichoke hearts. It was easy to put together and turned out yummy! Quite the treat! Thank you!
I made this for a Thanksgiving appetizer and no one missed the dairy! I added more spinach than what it calls for because it looked like it didn’t have enough when I added the artichokes.
Flavor was excellent! I served it with blue corn tortilla chips.
This was SO, SO GOOD! People wouldn’t believe me when I told them it was vegan! It will become part of my regular rotation now for sure! I saw that another commenter mentioned eating it over pasta – I can’t wait to try that!
This recipe will be my go to appetizer for ALL parties. EVERYONE loved it – even those that normally eat the full dairy kind. I had a bunch of kale starting to wilt in my fridge so I used that and it was SUPER delicious.
Delicious!! I give it 10 stars! So easy to make, too. I actually used it as a “sauce” for our pasta and it was so good. The flavor is so amazing, just like the real thing.
This Spinach Artichoke Dip is DELICIOUS !!!
Served it w/ flatbread –
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Tracy!
Delicious! The Leftover dip was excellent over pasta the next day (and kid and toddler approved)!
do the cashews need to be soaked?
I don’t soak them because I use a Vitamix, and it breaks them down effortlessly, but you can definitely soak them if you want to!
Heavenly! Just subbed leeks for the onion. My husband couldn’t believe it was dairy-free! Thank you!
This is one of my favorite recipes. I crave it all the time. So yummy and filling.