Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip

Creamy white bean dip made with freshly roasted garlic makes for the perfect summer time snack. You won’t be able to keep your crackers out of it!

I’ve been doing Imperfect Foods delivery for the majority of my fruits and vegetables since social distancing for Coronavirus. It’s a fabulous company whose goal is eliminating food waste. It’s delivered with little to no packaging and arrives bi-weekly (my choice, you can can also get it weekly). They offer imperfect (yet delicious) produce, affordable pantry items, and even some of my most loved vegan meat and cheese replacements, often a lower cost because of their perceived imperfections.

The last delivery I ordered garlic, not realizing I would receive 7 heads of garlic! I’m a garlic fan, but this is a bit much. Or is it?

Roasted garlic to the rescue. If you don’t know how glorious and versatile it is, let me share a few of the many great ways to us it. Roasting garlic adds such incredible, nutty depth to any recipe. Dip was my first inspiration to immediately add some too. I foresee spreading it on grilled flatbread, adding it to marinades, and using it on roasted vegetables. Got ideas? I’d love to hear them.

Roasting garlic is really easy. Anytime you plan to have the oven on for 30-45 min, you can pop in a head or two to have some ready the next time you need it. Time will vary depending on how large the bulb is. Mine was on the smaller size, so it only took 30 minutes to get it soft and ready for use. To save time and gas heating the entire oven, I roasted it in the toaster oven. It came out perfect.

This recipe is basically a hummus, but I like using other types of white beans other than chickpeas because it yields a a much creamier texture.

Other variations

Get creative with flavor! Try adding kalamata olives, capers, sun dried tomatoes, or other spices like cumin, fresh rosemary, parsley, thyme, chives or dill.

Lola (AKA Buns) couldn’t resist offering her official approval.

Low waste tip!

Cook the beans yourself instead of using canned beans. Not only is it one less recycled item that may end up in a landfill, but it also tastes way better. Pick up your favorite white bean of choice from the bulk bins. I use an Instant Pot to hydrate and usually make a large batch for use in multiple recipes.

White Bean Dip

Creamy white bean dip with roasted garlic makes for the perfect summer time snack. You won't be able to keep your crackers out of it!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Roasted Garlic 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Ingredients

  

• 1 head garlic
• 1 (15oz) can white beans (cannellini, great northern, navy)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3/4 tsp salt

Instructions

 

Roasted Garlic

• Preheat the oven to 400. This can also be done in a toaster oven.
• Trip the top 1/4-1/3 of the head of garlic, exposing the tips.
• Place the garlic in a small piece of baking parchment or tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  
• Seal and roast for 30 minutes until the garlic is very tender. Let it cool before handling, then remove the garlic cloves from the peel and set aside.

Bean Dip

• Drain the beans. Without rinsing, put them into a food processor or high speed blender.
• Add the oil, salt, garlic, and lemon juice. Blend into a smooth dip.
• Transfer the bean dip to a serving bowl. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs. 
• Serve with fresh bread, crackers, crudite, or use as a spread on a sandwich.