White Bean Dip - The Plant Based School (2024)

This creamy white bean dip is an easy and versatile recipe you can make in a blender or food processor in 10 minutes.

It’s excellent as an appetizer or snack with veggie sticks, warm pita bread, or pita chips, but it’s also delicious as a spread in a sandwich, wrap, or crunchy crostini.

Our white bean dip recipe is luxurious, creamy, wholesome, and delicious. Bring it to your next potluck, barbecue, or game night!

Table of Contents

• What is white bean dip?
• Ingredients for white bean dip
• How to make a creamy white bean dip
• Serving suggestions
• Variations
• Tips
• More white bean recipes
• More dips and spreads
• White Bean Dip Recipe

Dietary Note: This recipe is suitable for a vegetarian and gluten-free diet. Make it vegan with dairy-free yogurt.

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Our creamy white bean dip is a dip or spread similar to hummus but made with white beans instead of chickpeas.

Our recipe yields an ultra-creamy, smooth, and light dip.

Here, we’ll share all the tips and secrets to making the creamiest and tastiest dip.

Similar recipes: roasted red pepper hummus, avocado spread, lentil hummus.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

White beans

You can use canned white beans or dry white beans that you previously soaked for 8 hours and cooked for 1 to 2 hours or until tender.

Any white bean type works, such as cannellini beans, navy beans, great northern beans, or Lima beans.

We use cannellini beans. Here’s our guide on how to cook white beans, should you need it.

White bean water (aquafaba)

White bean water, or aquafaba, is the liquid found in a can of white beans or the leftover liquid from cooking dry beans at home.

Adding some liquid to your white bean dip recipe makes it more creamy, flavorful, and airy.

We learned this trick from some of the best hummus makers, and we can’t recommend it enough.

Tahini

Tahini adds a rich, velvety texture and creamy consistency to the dip. It also has a beautiful nutty flavor.

We recommend using tahini made from 100% hulled sesame seeds, light in color and with a pourable consistency for best results.

Avoid dark, gritty, and pasty tahini, as it’s often bitter.

Greek yogurt

Thick Greek-style yogurt adds richness and makes the dip more luxurious.

You can use 0% or fat-free Greek yogurt or a fatter one; that’s up to you.

For vegans: Substitute a Greek-style non-dairy yogurt. We tried a soy-based one, and it worked wonderfully.

Lemon

Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds freshness and citrusy notes.

Olive oil

A good quality extra virgin olive oil improves the texture and flavor of the dip.

Garlic (optional)

Garlic is optional. We recommend against adding multiple garlic cloves as the raw garlic flavor intensifies as the bean dip sits in the fridge.

Cumin (optional)

Cumin is optional.

Salt and pepper

Choose sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to make the dip spicy.

Garnish

• Extra virgin olive oil.
• Chopped herbs like fresh parsley, dill, fresh rosemary, chives, green onions, etc.
• Grated lemon zest (optional).

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Add the white bean liquid (aquafaba), drained white beans, fresh lemon juice, garlic (if using), salt, and black pepper to a food processor.

Blend for 3 minutes.

Add tahini, Greek yogurt, and cumin (if using).

Blend for 2 minutes.

Now add the olive oil and, if necessary, some water to reach your desired consistency.

Blend for 2 more minutes.

Taste and adjust for salt before transferring to a serving bowl with fresh herbs.

This white bean dip recipe is perfect for appetizers, snacks, picnics and potlucks, barbeques, and game nights.

Serve it as a dip

Serve white bean dip with:

• Pita bread
• Focaccia
• Falafel
• Chickpea fritters
• Lentil patties
• Crackers
• Pita chips
• Veggies (carrot sticks, celery sticks, bell pepper, and cucumber)

Cook the pasta al dente and toss it with a generous dollop of white bean dip.

Add some whole white beans for extra texture, plenty of parsley, and a drizzle of high-quality olive oil.

In less than 15 minutes, you’ll have a quick, wholesome, and delicious family dinner on the table.

White bean dip with red beet

You can easily vary this bean dip by following the same recipe and adding one ready-to-eat peeled and cooked red beet.

Other vegetables that you can easily add are:

• Roasted Kabocha squash
• Roasted eggplant
• Roasted peppers

Storage & Make Ahead

Tips

Use soft white beans: Sometimes, canned white beans can be as hard as a bullet, which is not ideal when making a creamy white bean dip recipe. If that’s the case with your beans, we recommend boiling them in their canning liquid for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.

Don’t forget the bean liquid or aquafaba: That’s the liquid in a can of beans (or the liquid leftover from cooking your dry beans). The best hummus makers use it to make dips that are light, fluffy, and packed with flavor. It works beautifully in this recipe, so don’t forget to add some.

Cook your beans: To cook your dry white beans, soak them first in plenty of water for 12 hours or overnight.

Rinse them and add them to a large pot, cover with water by about 5 inches (12 cm), add a teaspoon of baking soda, and simmer until very tender (about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size and age of the beans). Add two teaspoons of salt 30 minutes after they start boiling.

• White bean salad
• Tuscan white bean soup
• Spaghetti aglio e olio with cannellini
• Creamy kale soup
• Piyaz (Turkish white bean salad)

Are you looking for a quick snack idea or inspiration for an appetizer board? These dip recipes are easy to make and with few ingredients:

• Hummus
• Muhammara
• Avocado spread
• Eggplant dip
• Lentil hummus
• Red pepper hummus
• Hummus without tahini