A simple vegan snack everyone will enjoy! Make these carrot and parsnip fries with dairy free cashew pesto dipping sauce for your next gathering.
When I realized I needed to start going dairy free, I pouted for a few minutes.
Not really because I was going to miss cheese or milk so much. Ice cream? YAS. But there are alternatives for that.
What in the world was I going to do without all my favorite creamy dips! Like, my life will probably never be the same without some fresh basil dip. Or love dip?? GAH.
I’d lie if I told you I shed tears over this, but it has created quite the quandary for snacking this football season.
Enter fervid research for dairy replacements. How do vegans eat? How do they live without the creamy deliciousness of yogurt, cheese or cream in a sauce or dip?
This is when I discovered the magic of cashews.
I’ve already been adding cashews into my meals more often, like this salad with roasted cashews. I’ve also made my own cashew butter. But I had blending cashews in water was the key to dairy-free sauces!
Creamy Cashew Pesto Dipping Sauce Grocery list
This recipe really couldn’t be much easier. You don’t need many ingredients, and all you do is blend them together.
Here is what you need to put on your grocery list.
- Cashews
- Minced garlic
- Salt
- Your favorite pesto—most pestos have cheese in them, like Classico which is a family favorite. You can purchase vegan pestos from specialty/natural groceries, but it’s also very easy to make your own pesto if you can’t find out without cheese to make this vegan!
Previously when making cashew dips, I have soaked the cashews beforehand. But I’ve recently discovered that with a decent blender, you can skip the long soaking time and just add the cashews to a blender with additional water, stick to a 10 minute blend time, and you have a deliciously creamy dip!
The only key to this is that you’re gonna want a good blender. I have the Ninja blender/food processor package which actually wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be, and we love it!
Especially when it can provide me with dairy-free snacks like this. Football weekends are saved again!
Can we also talk about these veggie fries for a sec? I don’t know where parsnips have been my whole life, but they are currently my new favorite veggie fry. They’re kinda like carrots, but a little sweeter and I think have a slight nutty taste. It still amazes me that I have been a health food blogger for so long and there are still veggies that I haven’t tried.
Here’s to exploring new foods!
Print
Carrot and Parsnip Fries with Cashew Pesto Dipping Sauce
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 5 1/4 cup servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cups cashews
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup or more pesto of choice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender.
- Blend for 10 minutes.
- Pour into a bowl and eat with veggies or chips.
Notes
Nutritional information is an estimate based on using a full 2/3 cup of water. Info will change as more or less water is used.
- Prep Time: 1 hours 10 minutes
- Category: Appetizers
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cups
- Calories: 187
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 289.7 mg
- Fat: 15.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.2 g
- Protein: 5.2 g
Comments