This vegan roasted carrot dip is creamy, flavorful and absolutely delicious! It's perfect to spread on crackers as an afternoon snack, on a sandwich, or to serve as part of an appetizer spread at a holiday party. It's easy to make and only requires 10 ingredients.
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🥕 Why We Love This Recipe
- Smoky and sweet: We included chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika to add a smoky, complex flavor to this carrot dip. The spices perfectly with sweet roasted carrots for a super satisfying dip.
- Roast and blend: This recipe is pretty easy once you've peeled and chopped the carrots. Just roast the carrots and blend the rest of the ingredients. The whole thing takes about 45 minutes, with maybe 5-10 minutes of active cooking/hands on time.
- Perfect for prepping ahead of time: like most dips, this carrot dip is easy to make days before serving, which is why it's a favorite for the holidays around our house. Nothing better than crossing something off of your cooking to-do list for a big dinner party, right?
- Great alternative to hummus: Look, we love hummus as much as the next person. But sometimes, it's nice switch things up. This roasted carrot dip is reminiscent of hummus (especially with chickpeas added for a super creamy texture), but it has a bit more 'oomph'.
- Naturally vegan, gluten and nut free: great for any dietary restrictions!
🥗 Ingredients
Here are the key ingredients in this roasted carrot dip:
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Chickpeas: no need to rinse your chickpeas for this recipe – you'll actually need to keep some of the liquid from the can! You can also sub with white beans if preferred.
- Aquafaba: This is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. We use a little bit of it in the dip to help it blend better. Without the aquafaba, your dip might be a bit more chunky (which some prefer), but we like ours smooth as can be!
- Carrots: We used regular carrots in this recipe. Rainbow will work as well, but will definitely alter the color of your carrot dip. Make sure to wash thoroughly and peel the carrots before chopping.
- Smoked paprika: This is slightly different than regular paprika and adds a complex, smoky flavor that the regular version can't provide. Of course, regular paprika can be substituted and it will still taste great.
- Lemon juice: freshly squeezed is always best!
- Garlic: if you're sensitive to raw garlic, feel free to leave it out.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
PREP: Preheat the oven to 400°F / 205°C. Wash and peel carrots and roughly chop.
(1) In a mixing bowl, add the carrots, 1 tablespoon of oil, the salt, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Stir well until carrots are evenly coated in spices.
(2) Spread carrots evenly on a sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until fork tender.
(3) Add the roasted carrots, 2 tablespoon of olive oil, chickpeas, ⅓ cup of aquafaba, garlic, and lemon juice to a food processor or blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy. Add more olive oil or chickpea liquid if you need to thin it out.
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
- Make sure to rotate the pan halfway through roasting the carrots to ensure they cook evenly. You can also give the carrots a quick stir with a spatula to prevent burning.
- If the dip is too thick after blending, add more olive oil or aquafaba (1-2 tablespoons at a time) to the blender to loosen it up.
- Blender versus food processor: I personally prefer using a blender to make this carrot dip, as it tends to turn out much creamier. Our blender comes with a tamper that helps keep everything well mixed. A food processor is a great alternative to a blender, but the dip may turn out a bit more grainy and not as smooth. It still tastes fine, we just prefer ours on the creamier end.
- Serving suggestions: This dip is great with crackers, pita chips or fresh chopped vegetables like cucumber, radishes and more. We love serving it around the holidays as an appetizer. You can even serve it on crostini or as a dipping sauce for a grain bowl/roasted vegetables. It's so versatile!
- If serving plain as a dip, we love topping it off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and fresh herbs.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within 3-5 days.
- Extra spice: for an extra spicy carrot dip, add more chili powder or a dash of your favorite hot sauce. Cayenne is also a great addition, but a little goes a long way.
Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas, which has some pretty amazing characteristics and uses. We love using aquafaba as a vegan replacement for egg whites. It whips up just like eggs for vegan buttercream and even meringues. It has a mild flavor but plenty of protein, so it adds structure to everything from cookies to dips. In this case, it helps make your carrot dip extra creamy without too much added oil.
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Carrot Dip
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan roasted carrot dip is creamy, flavorful and absolutely delicious! It's perfect to spread on crackers as an afternoon snack, on a sandwich, or to serve as part of an appetizer spread at a holiday party. It's easy to make and only requires 10 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained, reserve liquid
- ⅓ -½ cup liquid from chickpeas (aquafaba)
- ½ tablespoon fresh garlic, finely minced
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F / 205°C. Wash and peel carrots and roughly chop.
- In a mixing bowl, add the carrots, 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Stir well until carrots are evenly coated.
- Spread carrots evenly on a sheet pan and roast for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until fork tender.
- Add the roasted carrots, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, chickpeas, ⅓ cup of aquafaba, garlic, and lemon juice to a food processor and blend on high until smooth and creamy. If needed, add more 1-2 more tablespoons of olive oil or aquafaba to thin it out.
Notes
Storage: Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within 3-5 days.
Extra spice: for an extra spicy dip, add more chili powder or a dash of your favorite hot sauce. Cayenne is also a great addition, but a little goes a long way.
Chickpeas: no need to rinse your chickpeas for this recipe – you'll actually need to keep some of the liquid from the can! You can also sub with white beans if preferred.
Aquafaba: This is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. We use a little bit of it in the dip to help it blend better. Without the aquafaba, your dip might be a bit more chunky (which some prefer), but we like ours smooth as can be!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dips
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 130
- Sugar: 3.9 g
- Sodium: 510.6 mg
- Fat: 6.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.6 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 3.6 g
Nikki Galil says
Hi! can you serve this cold? You mention making it ahead but can it be served straight out of the fridge? I made it once and served it warm and it was soooo good but now planning ahead for large party 🙂
thanks!
Nikki
Lexi says
Hi! Yes, it's just as delicious cold as it is warm. Enjoy!
kate says
Can you freeze the dip?
Lexi says
Hm, I'm not completely sure how it would defrost or if it would change the consistency. If you give it a try, please let me know!
Michele Keele says
Hello!
Thank you for the recipe. I opened my meal kit and thought what the heck am I gonna do with carrots! I don't particularly like them. BUT I remembered having a carrot dip like 10 yrs ago at a catered event and when I saw your recipe, I knew it would be similar. I made this yesterday before running out for the evening. I just
tried a few spoonfuls and it is delicious! Thanks and sharing!
~Michele
bori says
Thanks for the recipe, I had bunch of carrots that was starting to go bad, and I didn't know what to do with them, but this was perfect, pretty simple and tastes great! I made it from dry chickpeas and I used the chickpea cooking water (which had all sorts of spice in it) to make it creamier.
Allison Mackey says
What a great use of produce! So glad you enjoyed this recipe:)
Christine says
Delish! I added a bit more spice to my flavor preferences. A
definite addition to my party offerings.
Allison Mackey says
We love to turn up the heat too! Glad you enjoyed:)
Megan says
Do you have a substitute for the aquafaba? I only have dry chickpeas on hand. Do you think veggie broth or some sort of flax egg would work?
Thanks!
Lexi says
Veggie broth, a little more oil, or even a splash of water will work!