My previous all time favorite veggie dip has always been ranch dressing. Not the stuff from the bottle, mind you. That stuff always tasted off and just yuck. I'm talking about the “good” stuff. You know, the package mix. The expensive little package containing a powder with all the weirdo ingredients and the MSG. Yeah. That one. I used to think that was the “good” stuff. Okay, it tasted good. Really good. Especially good with the flavor enhancers. Well, live and learn. Now I know it's better to eat real food and avoid the commercially produced stuff. It's really not that hard to do when you get the hang of it. On Christmas Day when I was making our meal, I started to cut the vegetables up and wished I had my Faux Sour Cream on hand since it makes a very nice ranch dressing, but since I did not I started to think of what else I could make.
That led me to my latest creation. We still avoid dairy here. I have it rarely, but we don't have a ready source of raw milk or cheese (that's the only time I miss having our dairy goats) so it's easier to just avoid it altogether. I decided to try making spinach dip using raw cashews as the base. It turned out amazing! It had the best spinach flavor, so creamy and smooth. Then I decided to add in pieces of bacon and it was just phenomenal. I will definitely make this again.
Smooth and Creamy Spinach Dip
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 2 teaspoons butter, bacon fat or coconut oil [affiliate link]
- 12 ounces raw spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 slices crisp nitrite-free bacon, diced
- Measure out 1 cup of raw cashews and soak in filtered water 4-6 hours. Drain and rinse.
- Add to your blender, preferably a high power blender like Vitamix
- Cook bacon until crisp. I prefer to bake it in the oven at 400°F until nice and brown.
- Melt butter in a skillet and add the raw spinach. Saute until limp.
- Add spinach and any juices to the blender.
- Blend until smooth. This will take less than 30 seconds with a high powered blender.
- Remove dip, add salt.
- Dice bacon and add to the spinach dip.
- Serve with your favorite vegetables.
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 2 teaspoons butter, bacon fat or coconut oil
- 12 ounces raw spinach
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 slices crisp bacon, diced
- Measure out 1 cup of raw cashews and soak in filtered water 4-6 hours. Drain and rinse.
- Add to your blender, preferably a high power blender like Vitamix.
- Cook bacon until crisp. I prefer to bake it in the oven at 400°F until nice and brown.
- Melt butter in a skillet and add the raw spinach. Saute until limp.
- Add spinach and any juices to the blender.
- Blend until smooth. This will take less than 30 seconds with a high powered blender.
- Remove dip, add salt.
- Dice bacon and add to the spinach dip.
- Serve with your favorite vegetables.
Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! 🙂