Quick recipes: 4 vegan and natural dip sauces to make at home

Do you fancy a snack dinner? Nothing better than some vegetable sticks or some homemade nachos to dip them in delicious dips. We propose four thick vegan sauces to lick your fingers.

A delicious dip turns any vegetable into a party snack. The downside is that commercial sauces are often packed with unhealthy ingredients, like unidentified vegetable oils, synthetic additives, and added sugars. The good news is that the richest dip sauces can be made at home with natural ingredients, one hundred percent vegetable and totally reliable.

PINK SAUCE WITH TOMATO PASTE INSTEAD OF KETCHUP

A good cocktail sauce has it all – sour, sweet, creamy, and tangy flavors. Mayonnaise and ketchup are often mixed together, along with some seasonings, but tomato sauce with added sugar can be substituted for tomato paste.

Ingredients (for a 250 ml medium size bottle):

• 100 g of homemade vegan mayonnaise
• 100g vegan yogurt
• 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons apple syrup or a sugar-like alternative
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 1 teaspoon mustard or ½ teaspoon mustard powder or ground mustard seeds
• 1 pinch of salt

Elaboration:

1. Peel the garlic and chop it as finely as possible.
2. Put in a screw-top jar along with all the other ingredients and shake until everything is well mixed.

The cocktail sauce can be used immediately. The sauce improves if you leave it in the fridge because it becomes even more aromatic over time. It keeps for a week. In addition to raw vegetables or whole wheat bread sticks, you can dip vegetable meatballs in this sauce.

VEGAN AIOLI WITH SOY MILK

The soy milk gives the aioli a creamy consistency.

Ingredients (for 100 milliliters):

• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 50 ml of soy milk
• 100 ml of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1⁄2 teaspoon mustard (optional)

Elaboration:

1. Put the minced garlic, soy milk, and mustard in the bowl.
2. Briefly beat the ingredients with the hand mixer.
3. Slowly pour a thin stream of oil into the mixture. Meanwhile, continue stirring with the hand mixer on low power. In this way, the ingredients are emulsified.
4. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

The aioli can be a little runny at first. However, it will take on consistency when you store it in the fridge. Vegan aioli can keep for up to seven days.

SPICY PEANUT WALNUT DIP

Sauces made with nut butter are particularly creamy and flavorful. This is mainly made up of peanut butter and coconut milk.

Ingredients (for a 400 milliliter jar):

• 150 g of peanut butter (without additives)
• 200 ml of organic coconut milk
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 red chilli (for a nice spiciness)
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• The juice of a lime (about 40 ml)

Elaboration:

1. Peel the garlic cloves.
2. Remove the stem from the chilli.
3. Collect all the ingredients in a tall bowl to mix briefly but vigorously with a hand mixer.

The day after its preparation, the vegan sauce has acquired a very aromatic flavor. It goes well with muffins, marinated tempeh, or grilled vegetable kabobs.

CASHEW CREAM CHEESE FOR DIPPING

Cream cheese is particularly popular for dipping raw vegetable sticks and can also be made purely vegetable.

Ingredients (for a 300 ml medium bottle):

• 200 g cashew nuts
• 3-4 teaspoons light miso paste (shiro miso)
• 100 ml of rejuvelac or 100 ml of water and 2 probiotic capsules
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chives, minced
• Salt and pepper

Elaboration:

1. Soak the cashews in water for four hours or overnight. Then drain them and rinse them with clean water.
2. Process the soaked cashews together with the miso paste, rejuvelac or water with probiotics, garlic, parsley and chives, either with the mixer until obtaining a fine cream. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Set a strainer over a bowl and cover it with a cotton cloth or a bag to filter vegetable milks. Pour in the cream and let it drain for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature. If you want the cashew cheese to become particularly firm, place a weight on the dough (for example, a saucepan).
4. Transfer the resulting cashew cream cheese to a screw-top jar sanitized with boiling water.

Cashew cheese can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. There it ripens a bit and becomes even spicier and slightly bitter.