Vegan Jalapeño Popper Dip (dairy-free recipe) | The First Mess (2024)

DIP:

• 4 jalapeños
• 1 cup cooked and drained white beans
• ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon light miso
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• ¼ cup water, plus extra if necessary
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

TOPPING:

• ⅔ cup breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs (use a gluten-free option if necessary!)
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• chopped chives/green onion, for garnish

• This makes 2.5 cups of dip
• Raw cashew substitutes: soaked macadamia nuts, pine nuts, skinned and sliced almonds.
  
• I wound up using 4 roasted jalapeños with about 1 pepper’s worth of seeds and it was pretty hot!
  
• I got this dip super silky in my high speed blender. I think a food processor could work in a pinch, but the resulting dip may not be as silky smooth.
  
• If you have a gas stove, you can char the jalapeños in the open flame by holding them with tongs.

• Preheat the oven to broil. Line a small baking sheet with foil. Place the jalapeños on the baking sheet and slide them into the oven. Broil the jalapeños until they are charred, carefully rotating them with tongs throughout the process. This should take about 5-7 minutes! Once done, lower the heat to 350 degrees F.

• Transfer the charred jalapeños to a small bowl and cover. Let the jalapeños steam for 5 minutes.

• While jalapeños are steaming, make the base of the dip. In an upright blender, combine the white beans, cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic clove, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, lemon juice, miso, dijon mustard, agave nectar, water, salt, and pepper. Blend the mixture on high until completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of your blender pitcher if necessary. If the blender is struggling to whip up everything, add more water by the tablespoon until it gets going.

• Taste the vegan jalapeño popper dip base, checking it for seasoning. Adjust to your liking (more lemon, more salt, more onion powder etc) and blend it to combine one more time. Transfer the dip base to an oven-safe serving dish with 3-cup capacity.

• Back to the charred and steamed jalapeños! Uncover them and carefully peel off the charred skins. Cut the roasted jalapeños in half and scoop out the seeds if you like (or leave some in if you want some heat). Finely mince the roasted jalapeños and then stir them into the dip base. Smooth out the top of the dip in the serving dish.

• Make your topping. In a small bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and avocado oil. Once the breadcrumbs are clumping a bit like wet sand, you’re good. Evenly top the vegan jalapeño popper dip with the breadcrumb topping. Bake the dip for 20 minutes, broiling the top for a couple minutes at the end to get some browning on top.

• Serve the dip warm with crackers, cut vegetables etc!

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian