This dairy-free spinach dip gets its creamy base from soaked cashews, with cooked spinach blended right in and crisp bacon stirred through at the end. There is no cream cheese, sour cream, or packet of seasoning to track down. The spinach stays the main flavor, and the small bacon pieces give the smooth dip something salty and crisp to bite into.
With homeschooling and second-shift work, I have to think about food before the moment everyone needs it. The useful part of this recipe is that the cashew soak gives you a clear place to start. Put the nuts in water earlier, then cook the spinach and bacon when you are ready to finish. That leaves a little room to work on the rest of the meal.
A Creamy Dip Without Dairy
The cashews do the job that sour cream or soft cheese often does in spinach dip. Once soaked and blended, they give the cooked greens a thick, smooth base. Use plain, unsalted cashews sold as raw, rather than roasted or flavored nuts. Measure the cup before soaking, since the nuts take up water as they sit.
This version uses coconut oil to wilt the spinach. That keeps the whole recipe dairy-free, including its cooking fat. You can use the same amount of fat from the salt-only bacon instead, if you prefer its savory flavor. Neither choice requires adding dairy to make the dip creamy.
Use twelve ounces of fresh spinach. The pile looks much larger before cooking, so weigh it while it is raw. The leaves collapse in the skillet, and both the greens and their cooking juices go into the blender. This is not a recipe where you squeeze the spinach dry.
Choose Bacon Made With Salt Only
For Full GAPS, choose bacon made with salt only, without added sugar or other additives. Dr. Natasha specifically includes bacon made this way in her Full GAPS meal guidance. Ask how it was prepared and read the full ingredient list. “Uncured” or “nitrite-free” on the front of a package does not answer that question on its own.
You need three slices, cooked until crisp and then diced. Thin and thick slices will not take the same time in the oven. Look for browned meat and rendered fat, with edges that crisp as the bacon cools.
Keep the bacon out of the blender. Stirring it into the finished puree leaves the little pieces intact. If it goes in with the cashews, it loses the contrast that makes this dip different from a plain bowl of blended greens.
Soak and Rinse the Cashews
Cover one cup of cashews with filtered water and leave them to soak for one to three hours. Drain them, rinse well, and let the excess water run off before blending. The nuts should look plumper and feel softer than when they went into the water.
Cashews have a shorter soak than many other nuts in GAPS preparation. In Gut and Physiology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha recommends one to three hours and gives six hours as the maximum. An overnight almond-soaking routine is not the routine to use here.
The soaking water is discarded. The liquid used in the dip comes from the cooked spinach. Keeping that distinction clear helps you avoid turning a thick dip into a thin sauce before you have even started blending.
Wilt the Spinach and Keep Its Juices
Melt the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and turn it as it cooks, bringing the leaves underneath up toward the top. If the raw leaves do not all fit at once, let the first handfuls wilt before adding the rest.
Stop when the leaves are limp and dark green. They should look glossy and collapsed, with some moisture in the pan. You are softening the greens, not frying them until their edges are dry or crisp.
Let the spinach and its juices cool before transferring them to the Ninja BN801. The blender is not for hot liquids. Keep the juices with the spinach while it cools, then scrape both into the pitcher with the drained cashews.
Blend Smooth, Then Add the Bacon
Blend the cashews and cooled spinach until they become a smooth green dip. A high-powered blender works quickly. Stop and check the texture before transferring the dip to its serving bowl. There should be no obvious hard cashew pieces or long spinach leaves left in the puree.
If the mixture stops moving, switch the blender off before opening it or scraping the sides. Bring the mixture back toward the blades, close it again, and continue. Use the spinach juices already in the recipe rather than pouring in the discarded soaking water.
Transfer the dip to a bowl. Stir in the half teaspoon of salt and the diced bacon. The finished dip should hold soft spoon marks while remaining easy to scoop. Fine spinach flecks are normal; a gritty cashew texture means the blending is not finished.
Where This Fits in Full GAPS
Serve this version on Full GAPS after cashews and the other ingredients have been introduced and are tolerated. It is not an early Introduction Diet dip. Blending the nuts smooth changes their texture, but does not move them into an earlier stage.
It is naturally dairy-free and egg-free with the coconut-oil option. It is not nut-free, because cashews are the base. If you need a different kind of dip, three-ingredient avocado-lime guacamole gives you a separate avocado-based recipe. Its avocado base gives you a creamy dip without needing cashews.
Serving and Storing the Dip
Serve with vegetables you already use and tolerate on Full GAPS. Cucumber slices, carrot sticks, or celery give you something firm enough to scoop with. Dry washed vegetables before putting them beside the dip so they do not leave water in the serving bowl.
For a cracker option, bell pepper and sunflower seed crackers provide a crisp base. Follow that recipe’s seed preparation and GAPS notes. The dip is already thick, so a sturdy cracker works better than a very thin, fragile piece.
Refrigerate the finished dip promptly in a covered container. Use a clean spoon to take out the portion you want to serve and keep the rest chilled. Stir before serving again if the texture has settled. The bacon will soften as it sits in the moist dip, so make it close to serving time when its crispness matters most.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Roasted Cashews?
Use plain cashews sold as raw for this recipe. Roasted, salted nuts change both the flavor and the salt level. GAPS preparation also calls for unseasoned nuts rather than a flavored snack product.
Should I Squeeze the Spinach Dry?
No. Keep the cooking juices. They help the soaked cashews blend into a dip, and squeezing them away removes moisture that this recipe uses.
Does This Need Mayonnaise or Yogurt?
No. The cashews provide the creamy base. Adding mayonnaise or yogurt would change the recipe and, in the case of dairy yogurt, remove the reason for choosing this dairy-free version.
Can I Double It?
Yes. The card’s 2× control doubles the ingredients. Cook the spinach in batches if necessary, and respect the blender’s capacity. More ingredients do not mean the greens should be packed into a skillet that is too small to turn them.
Recommended Equipment
- A bowl and strainer for soaking and rinsing the cashews
- A Le Creuset Artichaut skillet for wilting the spinach
- An oven-safe tray for the bacon
- The Ninja BN801 blender
- A kitchen scale, measuring cup, measuring spoons, and a spatula
- A covered container for refrigerated leftovers
Dairy-Free Spinach Dip Recipe
Dairy-Free Spinach Dip With Cashews and Bacon for Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cover the cashews with filtered water and soak for 1-3 hours. Drain, rinse well and let excess water drain away. Discard the soaking water.
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Cook the bacon on an oven-safe tray until browned and crisp. Set aside and dice once cool enough to handle.
- Melt the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach, working in handfuls if needed, and turn until all the leaves are limp and dark green. Keep all of the cooking juices.
- Let the spinach and its juices cool before blending in the Ninja BN801. Put the drained cashews, cooled spinach and cooking juices into the blender. Blend until smooth, stopping the machine before scraping if needed. The puree should have no hard cashew pieces or long spinach leaves.
- Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the salt and diced crisp bacon. Serve with vegetables you tolerate on Full GAPS.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!More Savory Choices for the Snack Plate
The upcoming Savory Snacks Cookbook brings together options such as nut-flour crackers, deviled eggs, and meat roll-ups. It is a useful companion when you want to plan a snack plate around more than one bowl of dip. Check the WFLI shop for current releases. For this recipe, start the cashews first so the soak is finished when you are ready to cook.
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