3 Easy & Delicious Vegans Dips That Every Home Cook Should Have In Their Repertoire (All Are Gluten-Free too!)

Dips are the ultimate flexi food. You can have a larger serving with crudites for for lunch or dinner. You can serve them to guests as appetizers. You can snack on them whilst watching your favourite must-see TV…They are colorful, easy to eat and so delicious- which is why we are sharing three great recipes with you this week. Bonus: All 100% plant-based and gluten-free.

Our vibrant Roasted Beetroot Hummus, smoky Babaganoush and super healthy Raw Zucchini Dip are so simple to make. And homemade means zero preservatives and additives, which store-bought dips are full of!

Serve them with bread, veggie sticks, fruit chunks, crackers- anything and everything works! They all keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, so we recommend making them all at once on Sunday afternoon for the week.

All our dips have a common base of four ingredients: tahini, garlic, lemons and olive oil:

• Tahini is sesame seed paste and it comes in many forms: raw, toasted, hulled/unhulled, white seeds, black seeds. The truth is, the toasted and hulled version (aka the most common one in supermarkets) offers the best dip results in terms of smoothness. Raw tahini can be notoriously hard to handle as it is so sticky but if you have the patience, then by all means!
• Use the best quality virgin olive oil you can afford. Unfiltered, cold-pressed single origin olive oil works best here- you want the slight bitter and spicy undertones to round out the dips.
• For every dip, start with one garlic clove and then taste. Garlic can be very strong and it’s best to start slow.
• If you can get unwaxed lemons for the zest, it is worth it. Otherwise scrub the lemons with vinegar and soak them. Most recipes call for the juice only, but it’s a shame to miss out on the zest which brings sweetness and a wonderful aroma to the dips.

Smoky Babaganoush (Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip)

Ingredients

• 2 medium round eggplants
• ¼ cup tahini
• 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ lemon, zest and juice
• 3 tbsp good olive oil
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, leaves only
• smoked paprika and/or za’taar, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Char the eggplant skin over an open gas flame. This will create the smoky flavour of the dish. Keep turning until the skin is evenly charred. (You can also char the skins under a broiler/grill.)
2. Pop the eggplants on a baking tray in the oven for 30 minutes or until softened. Set aside to cool.
3. Once cooled, halve the eggplants and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Add flesh into the food processor, along with the rest of the ingredients and pulse a few times until everything is combined but the overall texture is still fairly chunky (or keep going to get a smoother result, totally up to you).
4. Scoop into a serving bowl and sprinkle with smoked paprika, za’taar and a glug of olive oil.

Roasted Beetroot Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 medium beetroots or 4 small beets
• 1 cup chickpeas, freshly cooked or canned
• ¼ cup tahini
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 3 tbsp good olive oil
• water, to thin
• black sesame, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Wash and dry beetroots then individually wrap them in foil. Pop in the heated oven for 1 ½ – 2 hours. Remove foil and set aside to cool.
2. When they are cool to handle, gently peel off the beetroot skin. Chop peeled beetroot into small chunks.
3. Puree the beetroot in a food processor or blender with the remaining ingredients, adding water to thin until you get the desired consistency- not soupy, not  hard.
4. Scoop into a serving bowl and sprinkle with black sesame seeds, if using.

Raw Vegan Zucchini Dip

Ingredients

• 1 large zucchini, chopped (about 2 cups)
• ¼ cup tahini
• 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled
• ½ lemon, zest and juice
• ½ cup flat leaf parsley, leaves only, plus extra
• 3 tbsp good olive oil

Directions

1. Roughly chop the zucchini to small chunks.
2. Puree in a food processor or blender with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Scoop to a serving bowl and decorate with parsley leaves.