Meet the dip destined to be the highlight of every party you bring it to: my jaw-droppingly gorgeous, light and silky beet dip.
It’s not just its vibrant hue that’s drool-worthy—this baby boasts an equally-stunning flavor profile, thanks to the subtly sweet earthiness of fresh roasted beets, a hit of nutty umami from deeply-toasted walnuts, and the coziness of warm spices.
This easy appetizer with its divinely smooth texture (courtesy of secret ingredient silken tofu—don’t worry, you won’t taste it!), is make-ahead friendly and easy to scale up for large gatherings.
Trust me—bring this scrumptious stunner to your next potluck and watch even the beet-skeptics come back for more.
In this post:
A dip that’s hard to beet
…I couldn’t resist. But seriously, this beet dip is something special.
And I have to shout out Max for his help in getting it right. I knew something was missing in the first few versions I made, but Max nailed it when he said, “The flavor is too mild; it needs something else.”
(In my recent cabbage curry post, I gave him credit for his keen insight on that recipe too…if I’m not careful, he might steal my job 😅).
Anyway, I added more roasted beets, took the walnuts to a deeper golden brown during the toasting phase, and scaled back the za’atar until we hit the sweet spot: earthy-yet-bright with a touch of nutty richness. Add a drizzle of good quality olive oil and a sprinkle of cooling mint on top, and you’ve got yourself a super silky dream of a dip.
PS: If you’re looking for a beet hummus rather than a light and silky beet dip, look no further!
Ingredient notes
Beets
They’re the star ingredient here, responsible for the dip’s main flavor component and its showstoppingly vibrant hue.
Tip: Roast the beets fresh
Roast whole beets yourself, rather than opting for store-bought, pre-cooked beets sold in the produce section.
You’ll be rewarded with incomparable flavor (and a gorgeous pink color instead of a muted shade of Pepto Bismol).
Silken tofu
Silken tofu is the most delicate variety of tofu due to its very high water-content. You’ll find two types of silken tofu sold in most grocery stores: refrigerated and aseptic (shelf-stable, the most common brand in the US is Mori-nu/Morinaga).
Blending silken tofu into the dip lends it a lusciously creamy quality (plus a little extra protein) without changing the flavor in any way (this is also why it’s a great choice for blending into smoothies!).
Walnuts
Long-time readers of the blog know that I love to get on a soapbox about toasting walnuts. It is a transformative process—I find raw walnuts nearly unpalatable, yet toasted walnuts are excellent.
Tip: Hard toast the walnuts
Here you’ll do a “hard toast” of them—taking them all the way to a deep golden brown—to bring out a maximally nutty, umami-rich flavor.
To prevent uneven toasting/burned spots, you’ll be toasting them in oil (and then incorporate the flavor-infused oil into the dip!).
After the first 2 minutes, you’ll want to stir more frequently to prevent burning.
Spices
An unspiced dip? I would never. You’ll add a warm blend of coriander, cumin, and za’atar, plus Aleppo pepper, optionally, for a hint of fruity heat.
Substitute: If you don’t have Aleppo pepper but want a bit of a kick, use half or quarter the amount of red pepper flakes, as they’re hotter than Aleppo pepper.
Lemon
The earthiness of the roasted beets needs a bit of acidity to balance it—lemon to the rescue! It balances, brightens and beautifully offsets the moodiness of the beets.
P.S. Roasted beets + acid is a dream-team combo—see the Glazed Torn Beets with Pistachio Butter & Mint in my cookbook, Big Vegan Flavor (p. 395), which are glazed with lots of vinegar!
Step-by-step instructions
- Roast the beets: Tightly wrap fresh beets (stalks removed but skinny tails intact) in individual foil packets and roast at 450ºF for 45 min to 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center slides in easily.
- Unwrap the beets. Once cool, peel and roughly chop or tear into chunks.
- Toast the walnuts: Heat olive oil over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, then add the chopped walnuts and salt. Stir frequently for 4 to 5 min, then add the garlic and stir very frequently for 60 to 90 seconds.
- Transfer the walnut-garlic mixture plus any remaining oil in the pan to a food processor or small-capacity blender Blend until a paste forms.
- Add the silken tofu and lemon juice.
- Blend until tofu is pureed and creamy (about 1 minute).
- Add the cooked beets, coriander, cumin, za’atar, salt, and Aleppo pepper.
- Blend until luxuriously creamy. Taste, and adjust the seasonings.
Tips for making this recipe
Fresh beets = best beets
If you’re going to take the time to make a beet dip, why not make the most vividly beautiful, robustly beety dip you can? And that starts with fresh beets.
Here’s my 4-bullet-point pitch for roasting your own beets instead of buying pre-cooked beets:
• Roasting beets unlocks a beautiful earthiness and subtle sweetness in their flavor profile.
• The color of freshly roasted beets is 10x better.
• It’s all hands-off time! Pop them in the oven and do whatever you want for 45 to 60 minutes!
• You can roast the beets ahead of time—see the tip directly below this one.
Prep ahead of time if you can
Do yourself a favor and roast your beets ahead of time—it makes the dip come together super quickly.
Simply roast the beets and, once they’re cool enough to handle, peel them (they’re much easier to peel when still warm). Store the beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Also, feel free to make the entire dip several days ahead of serving. See the FAQs for storage instructions.
Tip for beet-freaks: Since you’re already roasting beets, why not roast a whole bunch? Then you can use them in grain bowls and salads (try my beet and fennel salad!).
Give the walnuts your full attention
Resist the urge to multitask when you’re toasting the walnuts in this recipe because they can go from perfectly roasty-toasty brown to straight-up burnt quicker than you think.
If the walnuts start to brown very quickly, reduce the heat—but you’ll only be able to catch this if you’re standing over the pan, so don’t walk away during this step!
Feel free to double
This beet dip, as written, yields about 2 ½ cups (580 grams) of dip, but if you’re going to a party with lots of guests (or a few very hungry ones) this is easy to double—just make sure your food processor or blender is large enough to accommodate the additional volume.
How to serve this beet dip
How about giving some of these ideas a try?
- Drizzle your best olive oil on top, garnish with fresh mint, and serve with warm pita.
- Serve with grazing bites, such as pita chips, crackers, toasted bread slices, and/or fresh-cut veggies.
- Slather onto crusty bread and top with pan-fried tofu and your favorite crisp veggies and sprouts for a delicious sandwich.
- Dollop on a grain bowl. It’s particularly good with farro + roasted winter squash or carrots + arugula + roasted chickpeas.
- Feeling gourmet? Smear this beet dip onto a shallow plate and use it as a base for roasted vegetables and proteins (cauliflower + chickpeas, cabbage + lentils).
Frequently Asked Questions
Technically, yes. Buuut this substitution will cost you considerably in the flavor and visual-appeal departments. Store-bought cooked beets cannot compete with the deep flavor of fresh roasted beets, and they’ll result in a significantly less vibrant final product.
These days, many well-stocked grocery stores carry za’atar! Alternatively, you’ll find it at Middle Eastern shops and, of course, online. I love the za’atar from Z&Z (yay for small family businesses!), and from my favorite spice brand, Burlap and Barrel.
Pack the leftover beet dip into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Before serving, allow it to come down to room temperature.
I’d recommend against it since this dip contains silken tofu. Due to its high water content, silken tofu expands when frozen and contracts when thawed, which could give the dip a spongy or grainy texture.
If you do need to freeze it, I recommend thawing it in the fridge and then re-blending it before serving.
Is this the most beautiful dip you’ve ever laid eyes on? Let me know by leaving a rating and review—I love hearing from you!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Silky Beet Dip
Ingredients
- 2 medium or 4 small beets (see Note 1)
- 3 tablespoons (42g) extra virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
- ¾ cup (84g) walnuts, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 8 ounces (227g) silken tofu, drained
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (see Note 2)
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander, more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin, more to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons za’atar, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, plus more to taste (optional)
- 1 small handful (5g) fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Instructions
- To roast fresh beets (see Note 1): Preheat the oven to 450ºF/230ºC. Slice off the stalks but keep any skinny tails intact. Tightly wrap the beets in individual foil packets. Place on a sheet pan or in a baking pan and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a paring knife inserted in the center of each slides in easily.Remove from the oven and unwrap. Once cool enough to handle, peel the beets (wear food-safe gloves if you want to avoid staining your hands). Tear the beets into chunks or roughly chop. You should have 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of chopped beets (200 to 240g).
- Toast the walnuts and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium-low heat for 2 minutes. Add the chopped walnuts and 2 pinches of kosher salt. Stir frequently for 4 to 5 minutes (stirring very frequently once the walnuts start to change color), or until the walnuts are golden brown. Add the chopped garlic and stir very frequently for 60 to 90 seconds, or until walnuts are deeply golden brown and garlic is golden. If walnuts or garlic start to brown very quickly, reduce the heat.
- To prevent overcooking, transfer the walnut-garlic mixture (including all the oil in the pan) to a bowl to slightly cool, then add to a food processor or small-capacity blender. Blend the garlic-walnut mixture (including all reserved oil) until finely ground into a paste-like consistency.
- Add the silken tofu and lemon juice and blend the tofu is pureed and creamy, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides to incorporate the walnut mixture into the creamy tofu mixture.
- Add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (200 to 240g) cooked beets, coriander, cumin, za’atar, salt, and Aleppo pepper, if using. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as you go. Taste, adding more salt, za’atar, or Aleppo pepper as desired.
- Spoon the dip into a serving bowl. Before serving, drizzle with a bit of good-quality olive oil and garnish with the mint.
Notes
- Or use 1 ½ large beets. The beets can be roasted a few days in advance and stored in the fridge. You can use pre-cooked beets sold at some grocery stores, but the dip will have less flavor and the color won’t be nearly as vibrant.
- The lemon juice brings balance to the flavor of walnuts and beets, but if you don’t love lemon, you may want to start with less lemon juice, about 1 ½ tablespoons, then taste and add more as desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
Absolutely delish! Your description of the texture as being silky is spot on. It was light yet creamy. The perfect dip alongside fresh veg and crackers for my book club!
Loved how light yet creamy this dip was. Who knew you’d make my husband enjoy tofu and walnuts in one dish? Not me!
Hi Nisha – lovely sounding recipe, and based on our brilliant experience with previous recipes of yours, we thought we’d give it a go for Feb 14! Gees girl, what are you trying to do to us???!!!!
FOUR RAW GARLIC CLOVES IS WAY WAY WAAAAYYYYYYY TOO MUCH!!!!
The garlickiness very nearly spoilt the evening (but we ended up laughing about it….eventually!)
Checked the recipe again, looking for any small-print we might have missed suggesting it should be cooked with the walnuts, but can’t see anything…..?
Is raw garlic in this dish really your intention, it could be a real passion-killer for some couples with a deficient sense of humour!??
Judging by other comments, we clearly got something wrong here…..?
Hi Pete and Emma,
Sorry to hear that this didn’t work out well for you and was too garlicky. We retested this recipe today as a sanity check: we made the original recipe as well as a version that cooked the garlic with the walnuts, and both were great for our taste preferences.
It’s possible your garlic cloves were a lot bigger than ours, but in any event we’ve updated the recipe to the cooked garlic version, as we want to avoid future users potentially having the same issue as you. Thanks!
I’m sure ingredient replacement questions are the bane of your existence, but I have to ask:
Can I use a different nut besides walnuts? I’m very allergic to walnuts and basil nuts. Maybe pecans? Thank you in advance. -Yvette
Hi Yvette, no worries! I think pecans would be lovely here, as they have a similar texture to walnuts. Just keep an eye on them as they toast, as they are already quite dark in color. You want to make sure that they don’t blacken or char.
I love this dip! It is so versatile – I use it as a sauce for hot pasta sprinkled with plant based feta and as a dressing for my favorite warm salad…farro, charred green beans, arugula and pickled shallot/red onion. I usually use half the mint and add a handful of chopped fresh dill.
We’re over the moon to hear you are a big fan of the dip, Lisa! The pasta and salad sound delicious. Thanks for your kind words!
Made this for my end-of-year book club, and it was the MOST BEAUTIFUL dip ever. Also delicious! Really good with Stacy’s pita chips!
We’re so happy that the dip turned out well for you, Niketa. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
This recipe is wonderful but have you tried it with pomegranate molasses instead of lemon. It adds an interesting tart addition to the overall flavour.
Woww!!! What a delicious high protein and beautiful dip!! I loved it! So tasty and easy to make! Thanks Nisha!!
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Maneesha. Thanks for your kind words!