Vegan Kale & Artichoke Dip

Vegan Kale & Artichoke dip is a healthy spin on the classic spinach artichoke dip. It's the perfect appetizer for holiday parties or winter gatherings!

Vegan Kale & Artichoke Dip

Hey all, Jack here – now that it’s the end of the year, it’s holiday party time! And what does it normally mean to eat at a party in the winter? To a lot of Americans, that means spinach artichoke dip. I mean, what makes you feel like partying more than eating an entire loaf of bread dipped in cream cheese and mayonnaise?

Well, Jeanine and I don’t really think that’s much of a party any more. Our idea of a party is one where the next day you (or your guests) don’t feel awful. So we took a bit of inspiration from the classic party dip and made a spread that is still irresistible but infinitely more healthy. It uses two of our favorites for creamy vegan indulgences – sunflower seed puree and chickpeas. And the spinach is subbed out for kale, because why not?

I won’t lie though – I still ate way too much of this.

Vegan Kale & Artichoke Dip

5.0 from 6 reviews

Vegan Kale & Artichoke Dip

 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: appetizer
Serves: about 2 cups of dip
Ingredients
for the dip:
  • 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
  • ½ cup raw sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup (cooked) chickpeas, plus more to put on top
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • juice of ½ a small lemon
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast (not baking yeast, see notes)
  • 2-3 leaves of kale, chopped
  • tiny bit of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives
  • salt, pepper
for the crostini
  • slices of toasted bread
  • extra chickpeas
  • optional: quick pickled onions (recipe in this post)
  • a few pinches of red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Place HALF the artichoke hearts in the blender, coarsely chop the rest and set aside. To the blender add the sunflower seeds, water, chickpeas, garlic, mustard, lemon, nutritional yeast, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Blend until creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  2. In a small skillet, cook the chopped kale in a little bit of olive oil (with a pinch of salt) until wilted. Set aside.
  3. Transfer dip to a bowl and stir in remaining chopped artichoke hearts, the cooked kale and chives. (Taste again). Chill until ready to serve.
  4. Serve the dip by itself with crackers or toasted pita wedges - or make crostini with a few extra toppings: Add some more olive oil to your skillet and cook the chickpeas until lightly browned. Top each toast with a slather of dip, some extra cooked kale, roasted chickpeas, pickled onions (optional), and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Notes
If you don't have nutritional yeast (and you're not vegan), you could sub 2T pecorino cheese (or more to taste). Or you could skip it altogether - it just helps give the dip a slightly richer cheesy flavor.

 

 

38 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Abi
    12.19.2021

    I cannot wait to make this! I wanted to make it ahead of time. How long does this keep in the fridge?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.20.2021

      Hi Abi, a couple of days, if it gets thick when you’re ready to serve, stir in a little water.

  2. B. Foote
    11.13.2019

    How many oz. should the can of artichoke hearts be?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.13.2019

      a 14-ounce can

  3. Erin
    08.03.2016

    How long does this keep in the fridge?

  4. Heather
    06.09.2016

    So far I have made this twice and I love it! I have the world’s worst blender and it comes out great every time. I also use this as a vegan caesar dressing and omit the kale part since I’m adding to a big bed of kale. Couldn’t be easier and my omnivore friends love it!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.11.2016

      Hi Heather – I’m so glad you’ve loved it! Great idea to convert it to a caesar dressing – sounds delicious!

  5. Savvy
    12.07.2015

    Just in time for holidays!! Thanks- brunch is on Wed, and I was ‘dreaming of something lighter and healthy’ for my coffee gang!! A few others will get used, saved, and made again and again!!

  6. Deb
    12.31.2014

    I can’t wait to make this. But, please, when you say a can of artichokes, can you please say how many oz. or cups? I don’t know what size can you’re talking about and I buy big jars of artichokes at Costco. Please let me know someone?

    • jeanine
      12.31.2014

      I used a 14 oz. can, which is about 1.5 cups of artichokes. (I’ll make a point to get better about labeling can sizes – sorry!)

  7. Ashley
    12.29.2014

    Definitely trying these & maybe try our roasted rosemary garlic sea salt with them. I love the idea of a much healthier option!

  8. Mira
    12.28.2014

    I made this for a christmas party last week and the bowl was literally licked clean -everybody loved it! (Health nuts and non-health nuts alike!) Thank you!

    • jeanine
      12.28.2014

      ha – I’m so glad, thanks for the feedback! Love to win over the non-health nuts :).

  9. Kristy
    12.26.2014

    I made this as part of our Christmas dinner. Very good. (Along with the kale and shiitake mushroom stuffing. Also delicious!) Backstory… last week my husband suggested that we tweak our diet to be vegetarian, low fat, minimal dairy… to eat in a more “heart healthy” way. (Just in time for Christmas nonetheless.) Anyway… we’ve tried this before, but now with Love and Lemons as a resource… It is going way better (even for our 3 and 5 year old boys)! Thank you Jeanine.

    • jeanine
      12.28.2014

      Hi Kristy, I’m so glad you’ve liked the recipes! Thanks for coming back to share :).

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.