Baked Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip with Cashews

This baked vegan spinach artichoke dip with cashews and vegan mozzarella is creamy, cheesy, and delicious! Bake it in a cast iron pan to make it a one pan appetizer and serve with pita, crackers, and veggies!

Jump to:

• 🧀 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🚫 Substitutions
• 📋 Variation
• 🥣 Equipment
• 🧊 Storage
• 💭 Top tip
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬Comments

If you like cheese and veggies, you're going to love this vegan spinach artichoke dip. While it's full of spinach, artichokes, and onions, it's certainly not health food and makes an excellent party appetizer!

I'm a cooked spinach hater, but can't even tell that I'm eating cooked spinach when scooping up this dip with warm toasted pita and veggie sticks!

This recipe has a homemade cultured cashew cheese base, which gives it a flavor similar to dairy cheese, but there are a couple of options to replace it if you don't want to make the cultured cheese.

🧀 Ingredients

• Cultured cashew cheese
• Frozen spinach
• Olive oil
• Onions
• Garlic
• Artichoke hearts
• Vegan mozzarella cheese
• Vegan mayonnaise
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Fresh Parsley

Cultured Cashew Cheese

This recipe calls for Cultured Cashew Cheese made with Rejuvelac, a probiotic for fermenting vegan cheese. It takes a few days to make and ferment, but offers the best flavor! Read the cashew cheese and rejuvelac posts linked above to get started.

If you don't want to or don't have time to make cultured cashew cheese for this recipe, you can replace it with vegan cream cheese (store bought or homemade) or skip the culturing/fermentation process. Refer to the Substitutions section and recipe notes for details.

Vegan Mayonnaise

Any kind of vegan mayonnaise will work well for this recipe. If you'd like to make your own vegan mayo, try my recipe for Aquafaba Vegan Mayo, which is made in a blender. Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas that can be used in recipes as a vegan substitute for egg whites.

🔪 Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Steam the frozen spinach on the stovetop or in the microwave for 5 minutes or until cooked through.

Drain the spinach well and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Pour the olive oil in a large frying pan (cast iron pan if baking in cast iron) over medium heat. 

Add the onion and sauté until golden, 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.

Add the artichoke hearts and use a potato masher to break them into small pieces. 

Stir in the spinach and cook for 4-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the cultured cashew cheese and 1 cup of the vegan mozzarella cheese.

Remove from heat and add vegan mayo, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir until incorporated.

If you are not using a cast iron pan, transfer the mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. If you are using a cast iron pan, you can bake it in the pan.

Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of vegan mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the top turns golden. Sprinkle fresh parsley on top.

🚫 Substitutions

• Cultured Cashew Cheese - If you’d prefer to keep it simple or are short on time, you can replace the cultured cashew with 2 cups (2 tubs) store bought vegan cream cheese. Or follow the recipe for the Cultured Cashew Cheese Spread, but skip the rejuvelac and culturing step and blend 2 cups soaked raw cashews with ¼ cup water and 1 tablespoon lemon juice instead, and use right away.
• Frozen Spinach - You can replace the frozen spinach with 1 ½ cups cooked fresh spinach (about 1 pound raw spinach leaves).
• Vegan Mayo - You can replace the vegan mayo with vegan sour cream.

📋 Variation

For spicy spinach artichoke dip, add 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes when you add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder near the last step.

🥣 Equipment

I like to make this vegan spinach artichoke dip in a cast iron pan because it can easily go from the stovetop to the oven, and it will make the edges nice and crispy.

Be careful when taking the pan out of the oven because it will be very hot and very heavy.

🧊 Storage

Transfer leftover spinach artichoke dip to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Reheat leftovers in the microwave or in a saucepan until the cheese is melted and heated through.

💭 Top tip

Make sure to squeeze all the water out of the spinach so the dip is not watery. I like to use a colander or tofu press.