This super smooth and luscious spiced carrot dip is sweet and smoky in one delicious mouthful. Roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness which pairs perfectly with Middle Eastern spices. Enjoy with your favourite cracker for the best snack!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – once you try making your own dips, you’ll never go back to store-bought. It’s genuinely easy, you can control what goes into them and it’s A LOT cheaper.
This roasted carrot dip is inspired by one I had at the wonderful vegetarian restaurant Bubala in London. Theirs was creamy, smooth, sweet, sour and utterly delicious and I think my version is a pretty good imitation. I love a good hummus, but it’s nice to switch things up with different flavours and this dip ticks those boxes. It’s also vegan, gluten-free and nut free.
I love enjoying this with a big bowl of homemade pita chips, sourdough crackers or spooning it onto homemade focaccia. You could even dollop it on top of salads or use it as the saucy base for a roasted veggie bowl. You really can’t go wrong!
Ingredients
You should be able to find most of the ingredients for this dip at the supermarket. The only tricky one is pomegranate molasses, but I’ve outlined an alternative you can use below if you can’t find it.
- Carrots. You’ll need to peel the carrots and cut them into small chunks. This will help them cook faster. Try to cut them into roughly equal pieces so they all cook at the same rate.
- Pomegranate molasses. This is essentially pomegranate juice cooked down with sugar into a super concentrated, thick liquid. It’s tangy, sour, sweet and gorgeous with the carrots. It tempers down their sweetness and adds a delicious layer of flavour. It is a little tricky to find – I’ve started seeing it in more supermarkets, but if you can’t find it, just mix together ½ a tablespoon of lemon juice and ½ a tablespoon of honey. You can also find it on Amazon.
- Butter beans + aquafaba. These two, along with olive oil, are essential in creating that gorgeously creamy consistency. Butter beans are naturally creamy and don’t need any extra boiling to help them break down (this is generally needed for chickpeas). Aquafaba is the thick liquid found in tins or jars of butter beans (and chickpeas) and it just helps to whip the dip into a creamy, spreadable consistency.
- Cumin + paprika. These two key spices add a lovely fragrant layer to the dip, and are both easy to find.
- Lemon juice + garlic. Essentials as ever! Lemon juice lifts the dip and cuts through the sweetness, and the garlic provides a lovely flavour throughout the dip.
You’ll also need a blender or food processor for this recipe. I like using a blender because I find it’s easier to get a super smooth result. You can still use a food processor, but the dip might be a little chunkier (it’ll still taste gorgeous!) Alternatively, if you don’t have either, you can mash up the carrots with a fork or potato masher, and then mix through the rest of the ingredients for a chunky dip.
How to make it
Start by mixing the chopped carrots with olive oil, ground cumin, salt and pomegranate molasses. Mix everything together well, so that every carrot piece is coated. Transfer to a lined oven tray, then roast for 30 minutes at 200C/390F fan. You want them to be tender, so you’ll know they’re ready if they can be pierced easily with a fork. Keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to roast TOO much, they can easily start to burn especially if your oven runs hot.
Transfer the cooked carrots to a blender along with the aquafaba, olive oil, lemon juice, butter beans, garlic and ice cubes (or drizzle in ice water once the motor is running).
PRO TIP: Add the liquid ingredients to the blender first – this will help get the motor going.
Blitz until super smooth and creamy. This will take a good 5 minutes and you’ll need to scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure everything is blending evenly.
Transfer the blended dip to a serving plate, then drizzle over more olive oil, pomegranate molasses and dukkah. Serve with your favourite chip (I love serving this with my homemade pita chips or sourdough crackers).
Got a question?
It lasts really well – for up to 7 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It keeps that gloriously golden colour too so it’s great for prepping ahead.
This is the thick, creamy liquid you’ll find your tinned or jarred butter beans sitting in. It’s a magical ingredient – the proteins present mimic that of egg white, so it’s wonderful to add to this dip to make it light, airy and creamy without adding loads of oil. I never throw the aquafaba away when I’m working with beans, I’ll almost always save it to make a batch of my easy vegan garlic aioli. You can even make meringues with it!
You can replace it by mixing ½ a tablespoon of lemon juice with ½ a tablespoon of honey.
You sure can! Chilli flakes, cinnamon, coriander, ras el hanout would all be wonderful here – just use what you have and play around.
Time! You really do need to blend this dip for about five minutes and keep scraping down the side of your blender to make sure everything is blending evenly. You also need to make sure your carrots are truly tender after roasting – they should be easily pierced with a fork.
Like this recipe? Here are some more of my favourite dips
If you make this recipe, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.
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Spiced Roasted Carrot Dip (Easy and Vegan)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This super smooth and luscious spiced carrot dip is sweet and smoky in one delicious mouthful. Roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness which pairs perfectly with Middle Eastern spices. Enjoy with your favourite cracker for the best snack!
It’s also vegan, gluten free, nut free and great for preparing in advance.
Remember, if you’re looking for US measurements, use the ‘Units’ section below and click on ‘US’.
Ingredients
For the dip –
- 500g carrots
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup drained butter beans (from a tin or jar)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup aquafaba (the liquid you drained from your butter beans)
- 3 ice cubes or 3 tablespoons of ice water
To garnish (optional) –
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 1 tablespoon dukkah
- 1 spring onion, chopped into thin strips lengthways and popped in a glass of water (this will make the strips curl up)
Instructions
- Roast the carrots. Heat your oven to 200C fan. Peel and chop your carrots into roughly even chunks. Get them into a large mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon paprika and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Give everything a really good mix to coat the carrots. Lay out on a lined oven tray, on one layer. Roast for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until easily pierced with a fork and tender.
- Make the dip. Add the ¾ cup of aquafaba, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, 3 garlic cloves, the roasted carrots, 1 cup of butter beans, 1 teaspoon of salt and the 3 ice cubes into the bowl of your blender food processor. PRO TIP: Add the liquid ingredients into your blender first – this will help it blend more easily. Blitz on high until super smooth and creamy. If you’re not using ice cubes, drizzle in the ice water while the motor is running. If you want a super smooth result, the blitzing is going to take a while – give it 5 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides when needed to make sure it’s all blending evenly. If you find it’s getting stuck (this can happen depending on the power of your blender/food processor) add in a little more olive oil and aquafaba if you have some left (1 tablespoon at a time).
- Garnish and serve. Once the dip is looking super smooth and creamy, it’s ready to serve. Transfer to a plate with a lip, or a bowl, and smooth out the top. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and pomegranate molasses, then scatter over the dukkah and curly spring onions. Enjoy with your favourite crackers, crudités or fresh bread.
Notes
The dip lasts really well – it will keep for 1 week in the fridge in a covered container. It’s a great one to make ahead for parties or for using up throughout the week with meals.
If you find the dip is a little thick after blending, just add in a little more aquafaba, water or olive oil and blitz until you get the consistency you like. Start with 1 tablespoon and see how you go.
Enjoy with your favourite crisps or cracker – I love the dip with homemade baked pita chips or sourdough crackers. It’s also a wonderful holiday starter served with a big pile of crudités or fresh bread. Try it with my easy no knead focaccia or soft garlic flatbreads.
This dip is also a great way to use up any leftover roasted carrots!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: dips
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 150g
Keywords: carrot dip recipe, vegan dip recipe, vegan carrot hummus, carrot hummus
I was trying to find a recipe that mimicked the Bubala whipped carrot dip and this is delish! Definitely does Bubala justice. Thanks for sharing 🙂
★★★★★
Yayyyyyy I’m so happy to hear that!! That dip is UNREALLLL, I dreamed of it for days after going so had to recreate it xx