Created by Laura Wright
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5 from 6 votes
Creamy kale pesto white bean dip is a delicious, super savoury, slightly cheesy, vegan, and nut-free appetizer that everyone will enjoy.
Still caught in that in-between season of so desperately wanting Spring, but still getting big time surprise snowfalls. Good weather for a bright green, but still hearty, white bean dip. I think I need to put our snow shovels and car-cleaning brush away so that I’m sending the universe the right message? WE ARE READY FOR SUNSHINE OVER HERE! Just making sure that I’m being clear.
While we still warm ourselves by the fire and continue to eat hearty, stick-to-your-ribs stuff like kale and white beans, we might as well purée those things into a super creamy and flavourful dip to eat with everything. I always have a healthy dip in my refrigerator that’s ready to be scooped up with healthy whole grain crackers, cut vegetables, or smeared onto a hearty and deluxe avocado toast or veg sandwich.
Plus the mint-y green hue of this kale pesto white bean dip suggests that Spring as an entity is still a possibility for the future, so it’s nice to look at and remember those things.
This would be a lovely little appetizer to bring to an Easter potluck style-scenario, as long as everyone at the gathering is super friendly and fine with garlic breath lol. Also, I’m pretty sure that almost everyone loves a dip. It looks so fresh and vibrant with some pretty cuts of vegetables. It’s blissfully nut-free too! More dip inspiration here: roasted carrot harissa dip, caramelized onion dip, and pepperoncini artichoke dip.
Hope you give this creamy, cheesy, kale-y (but only a bit!), tangy, and delicious dip a try. You gotta love a dip that has a serving of dark leafy greens hiding in the mix! ;)
Creamy Kale Pesto White Bean Dip
Creamy kale pesto white bean dip is a delicious, super savoury, slightly cheesy, naturally vegan, and nut-free appetizer that everyone will enjoy.
5 from 6 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Total Time: 25 minutes mins
Servings 2 cups
Ingredients
- ¾ cup shelled sunflower seeds, toasted
- 1 cup chopped kale, lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup lemon juice, divided
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, divided
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup ice water, divided
- 1 ½ cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon coconut aminos (or tamari soy sauce)
Equipment
Notes
- I like to save a bit of the pesto before I throw all of the white beans, tahini etc in because I think it looks pretty swirled on top of the finished dip. If you don’t care about this as much, you can just slam all the ingredients into the food processor and mix it up in one step, drizzling the ice water in via the feed tube at the end!
- Basil, cilantro, and ramp greens would all be great in place of the kale.
- The quality of your tahini will make a huge difference! I like Soom and Seed + Mill brands.
Instructions
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the “S” blade, combine the sunflower seeds, kale, dried oregano, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, 1 ½ tablespoons of the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper.
Pulse the motor of the food processor until the sunflower seeds are finely chopped and you have a dry paste texture.
With the motor running, pour the olive oil into the food processor through the feed tube. You should have a chunky paste at this point. Add a splash of the water to make the texture a bit more fluid and creamy. Check the pesto for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the pesto in a bowl and set aside.
To the kale pesto in the food processor, add the remaining lemon juice, white beans, tahini, and coconut aminos. Run the motor until you have a creamy mixture. Then, with the motor still running, drizzle the remaining ice water through the feed tube.
Your finished dip should be super creamy and lush. Check the seasoning of the kale pesto white bean dip one more time and adjust if necessary with salt, pepper, possibly more lemon, nutritional yeast, and coconut aminos. This is personal taste!
Serve the dip at room temperature with cut vegetables, crackers, crostini etc. Leftover dip keeps in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Author: Laura Wright
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Plant-Based, Vegan, Vegetarian
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword: all seasons, coconut aminos, fall, fall winter, garlic, holiday entertaining, holidays, kale, lemon, nutritional yeast, oregano, sunflower seeds, tahini, tamari, white beans
03/04/2019 (Last Updated 25/10/2022)
Posted in: appetizer, autumn, creamy, earthy, gluten free, holidays, kale, nut free, quick, refined sugar-free, salty, sauce, snack, spring, summer, umami, vegan, white beans, winter
14 comments
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Doreen Glomb When do we add in the two remaining tablespoons of lemon juice? Is it used at discretion after processing the beans, aminos, and tahini?
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Laura Hi Doreen,
Half of the lemon juice is used to make the pesto base. Once you extract a bit of the pesto for garnishing, you add the remaining lemon juice when the white beans, tahini, and coconut aminos are added. Of course, if you don’t intend to reserve some of the pesto for garnish, you can simply add it all at once!
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Allison | UpBeet Kitchen I just made this for dinner tonight! Spread it on homemade sweet potato tortillas along with lettuce, tomato, and olives and served a kale salad on the side. So delicious!
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Dana I made this to serve for Easter tomorrow. It’s so delicious! And so easy. I added five large basil leaves along with the kale. I’m serving with whole wheat pita chips, carrots, and cucumber. I know everyone will love it!
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Jenny Could you make this dip the same way with already made pesto?
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Laura You definitely could! I’d substitute 1 cup of pre-made pesto, and then just add the white beans, tahini, half of the lemon juice, the tamari, and a couple tablespoons of the water. Once you have that mixed up, you can add things to taste to adjust the flavour/texture.
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JS Just made this. Soooo. Delicious. Thank you!!
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Laura So glad that you liked it! :)
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Melissa When working with a sesame allergy, do you have anything that may be an acceptable substitute for tahini? This recipe sounds delicious and I’d love to try it.
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Laura Hi Melissa,
I think the best replacements for tahini here would be either raw cashew butter or even a tangy plain yogurt (dairy or non).
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Elizabeth Two pesto recipes that are truly suitable for winter (no basil) recently – thank you! This looks so delicious and is also so healthy. Can’t wait to try it!
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Laura Haha I totally forgot about that pesto pasta recently! I guess I just get in my little food phases and I can’t hold back. Glad you’re enjoying it either way :)
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Sarah | Well and Full This dip looks SO creamy and luscious! I’m down for anything with pesto anyways ;)
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Laura Same! Anything with copious amounts of garlic is a lock for me too :D
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