Three Vegan Dips

Last month we celebrated Arabella’s 19th birthday and as you know she had a small party to celebrate.  I’m a big believer in serving food at teenage parties and although Arabella kept insisting I wasn’t to make anything because, ‘no one will eat it’, I ignored my wise old sage and stepped into the kitchen. In my kitchen I picked up the phone and ordered pizzas. But I also did some cooking.

Vegan Dips with potato crackers

Vegan Dips with potato crackers

I made a selection of dips that I served with rice crackers.  Boys the same age as Arabella say very little and don’t know what actual conversation is, but the girls are polar opposites and so many approached me and told me how much they loved the dips and asked what was in them.

Three Vegan Choices

Three Vegan Choices

They were surprised to hear that they are all vegan, have very few ingredients, are low in fat and surprisingly good for you – not what you usually expect from a dip!

A selection of party dips

A selection of party dips

The dips are also very easy to make.  You pretty much just throw the ingredients into a large measuring cup then puree with a stick blender.  I made all three of these in around half an hour however if you’re as proficient as Jamie Oliver this will probably take you around seven minutes even with one arm tied behind your back.

Three Vegan Dips

Three Vegan Dips

Do make these for your next function; there’s no dairy, no gluten, no eggs, no nuts and no meat – perfect for everyone!

Green Olive and Chilli Dip

Green Olive and Chilli Dip

Green Olive and Chilli Dip Serves:  8-10 Degree of Difficulty:  1/5 Cost:  Minimal

  • 500gm jar of green pimento stuffed olives, drained
  • 2 small red chillies, seeded and chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in a large jug.  Blend with a stick blender.

Bean and Thyme Dip

Bean and Thyme Dip

White Bean and Thyme Dip Serves:  8-10 Degree of Difficulty:  1/5 Cost:  Minimal

  • 400gm can of cannellini beans, drained
  • a small handful of thyme leaves
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Heat a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat.  Pour in 1 tbspn of the measured olive oil.  Add beans, thyme and garlic and heat until garlic becomes fragrant (but don’t burn the garlic). Remove from heat and pour into a large jug.  Add lemon juice and olive oil and blend with a stick blender.

Artichoke and Caper Dip

Artichoke and Caper Dip

Artichoke and Caper Dip: Serves:  8-10 Degree of Difficulty:  1/5 Cost:  Minimal

  • 500gm jar of marinated artichokes, drained
  • 1 heaped tbspn salted capers, rinsed
  • rind of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in a large jug and blend with a stick blender. Serve all dips with a variety of crackers and vegetables.

A selection of party dips

A selection of party dips

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Comments

  1. Nice one, Charlie, they all look delicious! And happy birthday Arabella! 🙂

  2. G’day and Happy Birthday Arabella, true!
    Your dips are mouth watering, love their are healthy and like your photos Charlie today too!
    Cheers! Joanne

  3. I love the sound of all of these – no wonder you were receiving compliments! And I am sure Arabella’s guests were glad you ignored her advice 😉

  4. Love all 3 of your dips but my favorite would be the Artichoke and Caper Dip. Can they be made ahead of time and kept refrigerated?

  5. You are a goddess Charlie! Wouldn’t know a thing about a girl party but love these three dips.

  6. These are absolutely fabulous and so easy to whip up. Love the flavour combos. xx

  7. I love white bean dip! Sometimes I use roasted garlic. I look forward to trying the other two!

  8. Those are some great looking dips!! I especially love artichokes 😀

  9. It’s amazing how pretty you can make 3 wire sealed jars with lids look. And the simple little rice crackers surrounding them. I bet all of the dips and the pizza were eagerly devoured by the girls. My favourite/safe choice would have been the white bean dip as I have yet to taste artichokes and attraction of olives are still a puzzlement to me … I’ve only ever tasted a single green brined olive from my nephew’s Greek salad and the experience wasn’t something that I wanted to repeat particularly.

  10. Great recipes and I love the way you showed them off in the jars! These are so easy and they sound as tasty as they look.

  11. They all sound so good, vegan or not!

  12. Oh, boy, all 3 look terrific! I’m sure those boys, especially, dove right in!

  13. Very nice, Charlie! I’ve made one very much like your cannelli one with Navy beans and I have another with Garbonzo,(Chickpeas). Excellent flavor choices you have here!

  14. I love home made dips! And really need to get into making a few more than just hummus!

  15. What?! I can promise you that my friends and I all ate at our parties in our teens. Sometimes I think Sydney is a very different place to the rest of Australia… 😉

    Love the look of these! Artichokes, capers and olives are some of my favourite (savoury) things 🙂

  16. Another birthday out of the way. Despite what they say there are eaters amongst them and I am sure the other parents would be very surprised if there was no food. They all look quite delicious as I love beans but I also love all the things that are not in them as well ( ha!)

  17. Fabulous dips. My family is pretty well vegetarian and gluten free, so I’m going to try the white bean dip on them. Thank you. (And by the way, you have a pretty good assessment of young people!)

  18. Hard to think of her as 19 – that’s all grown up. She’s such a lovely young woman and she’s also very lucky to have a mum that makes fantastic dips like these!

  19. They sound delicious Charlie- especially the bean one! Nibbles are always welcome at a party, and I bet these were gobbled up quickly. I guess the high-protein-no-carbs diet would be OK with these veggies, even if the pizza is naughty, after all, party calories don’t count do they 🙂 xox

  20. Oooh love the presentation of these winners. They look lovely. (Was there only crumbs left? 🙂

  21. These look great. I’ve never made an olive dip, or a bean one even, definitely time to branch out. Yum.

  22. oh i love to try all of them. never had a good dip for a long long time.

  23. I’d say that they were a definite hit as they were healthy and tasty. I seem to recall Arabella’s friends being good eaters too which is always gratifying 🙂

  24. Exactly they are so delicious dear Charlie, you are amazing. Thank you, love, nia

  25. All I can say is “Pinned ” to use at a later date cos they look so perfect.

  26. Ooo, delicious! Will have to make all three soon.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  27. YUM! I will be making the Green Olive ans Chili Dip as a matter of urgency, it looks divine! I love my stick blender. It’s so cool.
    xx

  28. that white bean and thyme dip is calling to me!

  29. I’m making that white bean and green chili dip!

  30. These dips sound fantastic Charlie, I’m glad I just read your post because the artichoke one sounds perfect for tonight’s Thanksgiving meal. Since we’re not vegan I may even throw in some Parmesan cheese for good measure. I adore the little pots you served them in, gorgeous.

  31. All 3 sound great, Charlie, and I especially can’t wait to try the artichoke & capers dip. The fact that they’re vegan is icing on the cake. It’s nice to serve something at a party that virtually everyone will enjoy. Thanks, Charlie!

  32. These are 3 great, easy, healthy dips. I’m always looking for new ones, and these certainly tempt me. Definitely on my to-make list! Thanks so much.

  33. These look great, they all sound very delicious. How nice that the girls were appreciative, I’m sure the boys were too, if only they could say! Happy birthday Arabella! GG xx

  34. all your dips sound amazing. Love how simple they are. Makes me question why I still go and buy store bought dips…. hmmm

  35. I’m with you re the food at teenage parties, Charlie. It also pays to actively pass it around so that they actually eat it – it helps soak up all the booze!

  36. These all sound amazing. Perfect with all of the holidays coming up!!

  37. Gosh these are gorgeous! Healthy and simple too. I love how you served them in those little jars. It’s half about presentation, isn’t it? Thank you for sharing these!

  38. These are very appealing dips, Charlie. I’m not vegan, but I have several friends who are, and it’s always a bit of a challenge when I’m entertaining them. These sound fabulous. And I love the way you present them in the little glass jars. Charming!

  39. Talk about easy to make! I don’t think you could make a dip any easier than these. They all look wonderful, but I think I’m especially drawn to the first olive dip! We go through olives in this house like a kid goes through candy on Halloween! Thanks for these dip recipes!

  40. Haha, I remember Arabella said the same thing about “no one is going to eat” about her graduation party, I believe it was. These dips look great. I can see why everyone was raving about them!

  41. We’ve been eating vegan for six weeks now as a bit of a cleanse. These will be fabulous for us. I especially love the white bean and thyme dip. It sounds similar to something we’ve been making. Yum! Happy belated to Arabella!

  42. Omg book marking this. Easy delicious and good for you too. Yum.
    Carolyn

  43. Love how you served those in the jars, so pretty

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