This spicy carrot dip is an easy and delicious alternative to hummus made with spice roasted carrots and almonds instead of chickpeas.
Whether for an afternoon snack, a pre-dinner nibble to keep hunger at bay or as part of a meze platter you can never go wrong with a dip. That’s because dips are easy to make and even easier to share. One of my go-to healthy dips these days is a spicy carrot dip.
Spicy, smoky and creamy, it’s perfect for spreading on crackers, scooping up with chips or dipping vegetables in. Leftovers also make an excellent sandwich spread, or addition to vegetable bowls.
It’s made with roasted carrots, bold and flavorful spices like paprika, cayenne and coriander and whipped into a creamy dip with a hummus-like consistency. With plenty of complex flavor this carrot dip is a little sweet, a little savory, a little spicy and a lovely color that livens up any appetizer platter. It also comes together easily and can be made ahead of time; in fact a little time in the fridge just helps the flavors to marry.
How to make spicy carrot dip:
It all starts by roasting your carrots until they are tender through and through and caramelized around the edges. Roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness and gives them a smoky caramelized note.
While the carrots are roasting you’ll blanch some almonds and slip off their skins. Instead of chickpeas, this dip relies on almonds to make a creamy base making it both vegan and paleo. If you’ve never blanched almonds before, just a minute or two in a pot of boiling water is all you need to loosen their skins; then a gentle squeeze and the almonds pop right out.
Then everything goes into the food processor until creamy and whipped. An extra drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of paprika and a few toasted nuts on top and you are ready to serve.
Keeping a container of this in the fridge makes healthy snacking a snap. Enjoy!
More dips to try:
Serves 4-6
Sylvie Shirazi
15 minPrep Time
24 minCook Time
39 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 lb/450g carrots, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup/60ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8th teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided use
- ½ cup/56g almonds
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 Tablespoon/15ml fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons/90ml filtered water
- 2 Tablespoons/14g chopped almonds for serving (optional)
Instructions
- If using almonds preheat oven to 350°F. Toast almonds on a baking sheet until golden and fragrant 3-4 minutes. Let cool; set aside.
- Increase heat to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss carrots with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil, spices and ½ teaspoon of salt on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread carrots out evenly and roast, stirring once halfway through, until tender (about 20 minutes).
- Meanwhile bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add almonds into the boiling water and cover for 60 seconds. Drain the almonds and rinse with cold water to cool them down. Working one almond at a time, gently squeeze the almonds to pop it out of its skin.
- Transfer roasted carrots to the bowl of a food processor; add almonds, garlic, lemon juice, the remaining 3 Tablespoons of oil, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ cup of the water. Process until mixture is whipped and smooth adding 1-2 additional Tablespoons of water as needed.
- Transfer dip to a serving bowl, drizzle with more oil, and top with chopped almonds and a pinch of paprika if desired.
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Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she’s been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
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