Use this smokey, spicy dip for veggies or chips or to top your favorite sandwich
I make a double batch of this one. My family and I have gone through as much as a pint jar of this in one day. Before making a large quantity, consider dialing in the chipotle puree addition to suit your taste. I like a bold chipotle character. You could cut the addition by a quarter or half. I suggest adding half the chipotle puree and blending it together with the other ingredients. If your like me, you’ll wind up adding 2 TBSP per recipe.
The recipe comes together quickly in a few steps with little effort. While it’s a simple one, you’ll need to use your blender twice, first for the chipotle peppers and next for the cashews. Use a blender cup for the peppers if you have one, since you won’t be using all the puree for the recipe. That way you won’t need to worry about adding the correct amount of chipotle puree later (i.e., it’s hard to tell what’s left in the blender) or about cleaning the blender between blending the chipotle peppers and the other ingredients for the dip.
You’ll blend a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to make the chipotle puree. It’ll make enough puree for several recipes if you can keep it in the refrigerator long enough. I like to add half a spoonful of chipotle puree to my salsa for a chipotle punch when snacking on tortilla chips. A small amount goes a long way.
While salsa on tortilla chips is delightful, a creamy dip is a nice change of pace. I like using both salsa and the creamy chipotle dip together.
Besides going great with chips and veggies, the dip also makes a great topping for vegan burgers and sandwiches. It adds enough creaminess that I don’t miss the cheese.
Speaking of cheese, if you want to give the sauce a slightly cheesy character, add the optional nutritional yeast.
Be mindful that the nutritional yeast counteracts the sweetness that the cashews bring. So, if you add nutritional yeast, I recommend also adding just a little sugar to bring the sweetness of the sauce slightly forward.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cashews, boiled
- ¾ cup water
- 2 TBSP pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 TBSP nutritional yeast (optional)
- ¼ tsp sugar(optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Boil 1 cup of cashews for 10 minutes
- Meanwhile, empty the contents of the can of chipotle peppers in abobo sauce into your blender and puree it. If you have a spice grinder cup for your blender, use that
- Drain the cashews
- Combine boiled cashews with water in your blender pitcher
- Add the chipotle puree (consider trying 1 TBSP at first before adding up to 2 TBSP)
- Add the next three ingredients
- Optionally add the final who ingredients
- Blend for 5-10 minutes, until creamy
- If you added just a TBSP of chipotle puree, sample the dip
- Depending on your preference, add up to another TBSP of puree
- If you add more puree, blend for another minute to incorporate it
- When done, pour blender contents into a pint canning jar
- It’s good warm or you can allow it to cool and thicken in the refrigerator for use later
- Enjoy!