Who doesn’t love spinach artichoke dip?! I first made this for the Superbowl this year, and everyone loved it! Being a vegan, I’ve realized that you need to plan your meals/snacks ahead of time when you’re going to a party or function, otherwise you will likely go hungry! If you can’t bring food, make sure to read the labels of everything you want to eat (even crackers you think would be safe have diary in them!). Last month (April), I was completely Vegan for 29 out of the 30 days…the 1 day I slipped up and ate a cracker BEFORE reading the ingredients and realized there was diary in it (sigh). Anyway, this is a fan favorite for both vegan and non vegans!

Vegan Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

-Double batch of vegan mozzarella (recipe below)

-2 6oz jars artichoke hearts

-Medium yellow onion

-3 cloves garlic

-2 Cups frozen spinach

-1/2 Cup non diary milk

-Salt and pepper

-Bread, chips, or vegetables of your choice for dipping!

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees

-Make double batch of vegan mozzarella

-Drain artichoke and roughly chop

-Finely chop onion and garlic

-Add all vegan mozzarella to your baking dish, along with artichoke, onion, garlic, spinach, milk, salt and pepper. Stir to make sure all ingredients are mixed well. *The mixture will probably be lumpy, that is fine!

-Place in the oven for 20 minutes, stopping halfway through to stir. If it gets too thick, thin it by mixing in a bit more milk until you have reached your desired consistency. *I think I baked my dip for more like 30 minutes, I like it to be really hot when it comes out of the oven!

-Once fully cooked, you can brown the top if desired. Turn the oven to broil, and put under the broiler for 3 minutes. Check continuously so that it does not burn, it browns quickly

Vegan Mozzarella

Ingredients:

-1/4 Cup raw cashews

-1 Cup hot water

-2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)

-1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast

-1 teaspoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

-Soak cashews for 4 hours or overnight (you guys know me by now, I never do this! I always just bring some water to a boil, add the cashews, and boil them for about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside)

-Add the cashews, hot water, and all of the remaining ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. It will be very watery

-Pour into a small sauce pan and heat over medium – high heat, while stirring

-As you stir it will start forming clumps and then all of a sudden it will become a cheesy, gooey mass. This takes about 5 minutes. Continue to cook and stir for an additional 2 minutes to make sure it has firmed up completely

XOXO