I have a love affair with hot sauce and I love putting it on….well, everything. I used to love the buffalo chicken dip people brought to parties, you know the stuff–so I decided to figure out if I could make a similar dip in a healthier, veganized form. I commenced to look up recipes and couldn’t believe the–excuse the French here–CRAP that is in that dip! I can’t believe I used to eat that stuff–but it was delicious crap so I decided to see what I could come up with and boy am I glad I did!
In the recipe below, I mention that I make my own yogurt, which really is super-easy, but if you don’t, no worries, you can buy some non-dairy plain yogurt and I’m sure that will be fine. When it comes to the yogurt and tofu, I’ve used a little bit less of each and it’s been just fine, so don’t sweat the measurements too much–this recipe is pretty forgiving.
Another bonus of this dip is that it’s good hot and cold. The first night I made it, we enjoyed it hot and then I put the leftovers in the fridge. I couldn’t wait to have the leftovers the next day and was thinking I was going to heat it up. I had set it on the counter and walked out of the room and when I came back my husband was eating it cold. I was like, “Ewww, is it any good cold??” His response, “Yep!”, as he munched away. It was thicker and completely tasty, so enjoy it either way!
I’ve eaten this dip with chips, pretzels, cracker and on a wrap–I can’t wait to hear how you enjoy it! You could add some jackfruit or some other meat replacer if you wanted, but all my taste-testers liked it just fine by itself.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup cashews
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ¾ cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- ½ cup plain non-dairy yogurt (I make my own in the InstantPot or you can use store-bought)
- 6 oz. firm tofu (drained and squeezed, or pressed if you are ambitious)
- smoked paprika
- Preheat over to 350 degrees.
- Add all ingredients, except smoked paprika, in blender and blend until smooth. If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may want to let the cashews soak for a couple hours, rinse and then use. You can also boil the cashews for 10 minutes, drain and then use.
- After blending, put in oven-safe pan, sprinkle with smoked paprika.
- Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until it's lightly browned and has become somewhat solid when you wiggle it.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes before eating (please don't burn your mouth in your hurry to taste it!)
- Leftovers should be good for about a week in the fridge.
I always loved Buffalo Chicken Dip–and I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. I hope you feel the same!
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