This vegan spinach artichoke dip is the best ever. It’s creamy, cheesy, baked, and so simple to make. Great for a party or game day appetizer.
I am seriously in love with this vegan spinach artichoke dip. Like almost to addictive levels.
Every afternoon for the past few afternoons, I get a ‘craving’ and out come the salty crackers and the chips and the leftover spinach artichoke dip!
We make so much rich food for this blog that I give a lot of it away, I mean, of course. But this dip? Not going anywhere.
Our delicious vegan cream cheese forms the base of this recipe and to that we add some vegan mayonnaise, fried onions, garlic, sautéed spinach and marinated artichokes. And suddenly you have dip that is to-die-for!
For more delicious game day appetizers, also check out our vegan jalapeño poppers, our vegan cheese ball and our vegan queso. And if you love spinach then check out our vegan creamed spinach.
What You Need To Make This Dip:
Ingredient Notes
- Baby spinach – you can chop up the baby spinach first, so that there are smaller pieces of spinach in your final dip. If you don’t chop it up first you get these lovely big chunks of spinach with your cheesy dip. If that doesn’t sound totally amazing to you, then chop up the spinach first. You’ll get the gorgeous color and flavor without having big chunks of spinach. It’s ideal to use baby spinach, but any spinach will work. If you’re not using baby spinach, then definitely chop it up first.
- Marinated artichokes – are the best for this as they have so much flavor. You can also use grilled artichokes. We tried both options and liked them both. I prefer both these options to canned artichokes, as those will have less flavor. You can use them in a pinch, but grilled or marinated artichokes are going to be the most flavorful.
- Nutritional yeast – really adds cheesy flavor to this dip. If you have to omit it, then you may want to bump up the cheesy flavor by adding in a tablespoon of dijon mustard and a teaspoon of garlic powder and blending in with the other ingredients.
- Raw cashews – are soaked in hot water for an hour before blending. Add the raw cashews to a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave them to soak for 1 hour. If you have a cashew allergy you can try this dip with slivered or blanched almonds (soak them first as you would the cashews). The texture won’t be as smooth – almonds lend themselves more to a ricotta texture than a cream cheese texture – but it will be equally cheesy and delicious.
- White vinegar – is simply amazing for flavor in this dip and I highly recommend you don’t substitute it. Apple cider vinegar can be used in a pinch but the flavor won’t be nearly so good.
- Coconut cream – this should be canned and unsweetened. You can also use canned, unsweetened and full fat coconut milk.
How To Make Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
This is just a summary of the process to go along with the photos, full measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Add soaked cashews to your blender jug along with lemon juice, coconut cream, white vinegar, salt and onion powder, vegan mayonnaise and nutritional yeast.
- Blend until smooth.
- Sauté onions and garlic with olive oil and dried rosemary until perfectly softened.
- Take half the onions and add them to the blender and blend them in.
- Add marinated artichokes to the remaining onions in the pan and fry them until they’re broken up and softened.
- Add in your baby spinach and sauté until wilted.
- Transfer the artichoke and spinach mix to a 9-inch round oven safe dish.
- Pour over the blended mix and fold it in.
- Bake at 375°F for 15 -20 minutes until lightly browned on top.
- Serve with salted crackers or chips.
Recipe FAQ
Serve it with salted crackers and chips. Tortilla chips are great too. You can also serve it with toasted slices of baguette or ciabatta. And if you want to lean more towards the healthy side then fresh veggies are awesome to serve with this too. No matter what you serve it with, this dip is always going to be a crowd pleaser.
You can prepare this dip up until the point that you would bake it in the oven. But instead of baking, let it cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Then bake it right before you’re ready to serve.
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within around 5 days. You can reheat it if you want, but it’s also pretty amazing straight from the fridge!
It’s not entirely ideal for freezing as the spinach may get watery once it’s thawed. If you don’t mind that, then you can absolutely freeze it for 2-3 months.
More Delicious Vegan Dips
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
For the Cream Cheese:
- 1 ½ cups Raw Cashews (225g) soaked in hot water for 1 hour and then drained
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- ½ cup Canned Coconut Cream (120ml) Unsweetened
- 1 tsp Distilled White Vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ½ cup Vegan Mayonnaise (120g)
- ¾ cup Nutritional Yeast (45g)
For the Spinach and Artichokes:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- ½ tsp Dried Rosemary
- 7 ounces Marinated Artichokes (200g)
- 4 cups Baby Spinach (160g) Packed cups
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Add the soaked cashews, lemon juice, coconut cream, white vinegar, salt, onion powder, vegan mayonnaise and nutritional yeast to the blender and blend until smooth. Then leave it in the blender for the moment and set aside.
- Add the olive oil to a pan along with the chopped onion, crushed garlic and rosemary and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Then remove half the onions from the frying pan and place them into the blender jug along with the cream cheese mixture and blend again. Leave it in the blender again and set aside.
- Add the marinated artichokes to the frying pan with the remaining onions and sauté, letting the artichokes break up as you fry them with the onions. When the artichokes are softened then add in all the spinach and fry it with the artichokes and onions until wilted.
- Transfer the spinach and artichoke mix to an oven safe 9-inch round dish.
- Pour over the cream cheese from the blender and fold it in with the spinach and artichokes.
- Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned on top.
- Serve with salted crackers, tortilla chips, breads or anything that’s great for dipping.
Video
Notes
- Raw Cashews: Measure or weigh the cashews before soaking for the most accurate results. Then place them into a bowl and pour over boiling water from the kettle and leave to soak for an hour. If you have a cashew allergy you can try this dip with slivered or blanched almonds (soak them the same as you would the cashews). The texture won’t be as smooth – almonds lend themselves more to a ricotta texture than a cream cheese texture – but it will be equally cheesy and delicious.
- Coconut Cream – should be canned and unsweetened. You can also use canned, unsweetened and full fat coconut milk.
- Nutritional Yeast – really adds cheesy flavor to this dip. If you have to omit it, then you may want to bump up the cheesy flavor by adding in a tablespoon of dijon mustard and a teaspoon of garlic powder and blending in with the other ingredients.
- White Vinegar – is really amazing to bring out the cream cheese flavor. I highly recommend you use white vinegar rather than another vinegar. Apple cider vinegar can be used in a pinch but the flavor is not nearly as good.
- Artichokes: Marinated or grilled artichokes are the tastiest to use in this recipe.
- Baby Spinach: We used the baby spinach as is, but you can also chop it if you want smaller pieces of spinach spread more evenly throughout the dip.
- Make it with store-bought vegan cream cheese: We have not tested this with store-bought vegan cream cheese, but our best guess is that you could omit the cashews and the coconut cream and instead add 13 ounces (370g) vegan cream cheese to the blender along with the vinegar, salt, onion powder, mayonnaise and nutritional yeast and blend. Follow the rest of the recipe as it is.
- Make Ahead: You can prepare this dip up until the point that you would bake it in the oven. But instead of baking, let it cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Then bake it right before you’re ready to serve.
- Storing and Freezing: Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within around 5 days. It’s not entirely ideal for freezing as the spinach may get watery once it’s thawed. If you don’t mind that, then you can absolutely freeze it for 2-3 months.
- This recipe was first published in March 2019. It has been updated with lots of new tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Is there a substitute for mayonnaise in this recipe? I can’t stand mayonnaise but this recipe looks so good
Hi Madeline, you could try using plain vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream. Otherwise you could even just leave it out, it would still work.
If I am using store bought vegan cream cheese, how much should I use?
Hi Leanne, oh whoops I updated the recipe notes, it would be 13 ounces (370g).
Decadent deliciousness! A rich and savory treat. Thanks Alison for all the hard work you do in the kitchen testing recipes for our benefit. Much appreciated!
You’re so welcome Kaitlyn! 🙂
Wonderful dip!! Husband also loved it. It reminded us of a brazilian chicken pot pie we used to eat in our childhood. very comforting, cheesy and savoury. Thanks Alison! xo
So glad to hear you enjoyed it Mel! Thanks for the wonderful review.
I have been dreaming of eating this since going vegan 7 years ago!! – I can’t believe how well it came out. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Note, I didn’t have mayo or coconut cream, so I put a cold tin of coconut milk and extra lemon juice – still turned out delicious!
So glad it came out well! Thanks for the great review Yalini!
I made this once and I’ve dreamt about it since. Second batch is in the oven now 🙂
Awesome! So glad you loved it! Hope it’s just as good the second time around. 🙂
This was awesome! So easy to make! My husband and I had to try and not eat the whole thing in one sitting. Served with salty tortilla chips along with a glass of wine! We really enjoyed this. Thank you for another great recipe! ????
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
This looks wonderful! Do you think it could be baked in a bread bowl?
I think that could be totally awesome! I can’t say I have much (or any) experience with a bread bowl but it sounds like it might be amazing with this! 🙂
LOVED how this turned out! So yummy, but it did take more like 25 minutes in the oven- could be altitude or my 1970s oven haha. I added some Daiya cream cheese to make it a little smoother and doubled the garlic but that just my own preference; great recipe definitely will make again 🙂
Ovens can be so different! So glad it turned out well! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
I just made this. So good! Love it with my crispy salty chips!
Awesome! Yes, it’s wonderful with chips! Thanks for the great review. xo
Looks so yummy. Definitely giving it a try!!!
This is more of a question than a comment. A little background: I’m 49 and back to being vegetarian after about a 10 year hiatus. I’m lost when it comes to cooking, always was, so I learned to just go without. But I’m divorced now living with my two young daughters and i want to live a life of kindness (one that has been missing for me).
Now my question: I see a lot of creamy “cheesy” type of recipes. Most call for cashews blended. Can i use a nutra-bullet style machine to make them? i don’t have a vitamix or have the money to purchase one. Thank you for your site and insight. 🙂
Hi Tracey! So glad that you’re giving vegetarianism another go. Hope you have a lot of fun with it! You can use different blenders to make vegan cheeses, it doesn’t have to be a Vitamix. If you think your blender might have a harder time with certain things, then always soak your nuts first, even if the recipe doesn’t state that you have to. Soaking them first will always make them much easier to blend. All the best! 🙂
Hi Tracey,
You likely know this already … but I just purchased from Facebook Marketplace an immaculate second hand “Kitchen Aide Food Processor” that is kickass in power and was only $30 in cost. This Kitchen Aide will last me years and I’m having a great time making almond based pie crusts and almond flours for baking Keto bread. I highly recommend this unit. I also find that the quality of used appliances to be better on Facebook than Craigslist … at least here in Canada
it is? Good luck with the vegetarian sojourne ~ I’ve
done a vegetarian diet for over 5 decades. I highly recommend the “kinder diets.” Always. ????????????
Could I make this with a pre made vegan cream cheese? If so, which ingredients , besides the cashews, would I leave out? Really excited to try this recipe!
Thanks!
Sha-nnon
BC, Canada
Hi! I think you could. You would need around 13-ounces (368g) of cream cheese as that is about what the full portion makes (before the mayonnaise and nutritional yeast). You might want/need to add in the onion powder, white vinegar and salt as well as often plain cream cheese is quite bland, just taste test and see how it tastes. Otherwise I think that would work! Let us know how it turns out. 🙂
Sorry just to clarify, you would still add in the vegan mayonnaise and nutritional yeast. 🙂
Absolutely divine.