This dairy-free creamy spinach green sauce recipe is perfect on pasta, chicken, tofu or shrimp. It takes less than 10 minutes to make and it totally makes the meal!
I came up with the green sauce recipe on the first day we made homemade pasta (click HERE for the homemade pasta recipe) and I have since made it again and again. It’s perfect for making ahead too as it will keep nicely in a mason jar for about 3 days in the fridge.
The Secret Ingredient that Makes Dairy Free Possible
The ingredients in the green sauce recipe are pretty straightforward, but the only one you might not be totally familiar with is the dairy-free Kite Hill Cheese. This stuff is truly amazing.
It’s the first dairy-free cream cheese style spread that 1) doesn’t taste like garbage and 2) isn’t made with a bunch of junky ingredients. And it’s the only cream cheese I have eaten in the past decade.
Advertised as a revolutionary plant-based food, Kite Hill is truly just that. They have created a plant-based food using time honored techniques, and so it tastes “real”. Kite Hill has somehow figured out how to make a nut-milk based cream cheese taste, spread and look better than traditional dairy-based cream cheese. And they have managed to do so with these ingredients: Almond milk (water, almonds), salt, enzyme, vinegar, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, cultures.
Kite Hill Dairy Free Cream Cheese Style Spread is definitely the secret ingredient in my recipe too. It’s what lends the complex flavor and velvety smooth texture you’d expect from dairy-cream cheese.
As for where to buy Kite Hill, it is currently available at Whole Foods Market nationwide.
Ok, on with the green sauce recipe…
Kitchen Favorites
Creamy Spinach Green Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 9 minutes
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 3 cups organic fresh spinach
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Kite Hill dairy-free cream cheese style spread
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion; sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion softens. Season with salt. Stir in the spinach and cook for about 45 seconds, or until spinach just begins to wilt. Season with nutmeg.
- Transfer the onion-spinach mixture to a Vitamix , add the water, nutmeg, pine nuts, lemon juice and Kite Hill dairy-free cream cheese style spread. Process until smooth and creamy. Serve warm or cold.
Hungry for More Clean Cuisine Recipes? Check out the Clean Cuisine Dinners Cookbook!
Elissa says
I am also outside the US, in Australia, and I couldn’t find Kite Hill products here. I did try the sauce with a soy based cream cheese alternative, it wasn’t too bad. An amazing green colour! Might try the feta suggested in the previous comment next time, although if anyone out there knows about a nut based “cream cheese” in Australia, I’d be happy to hear from you!
Ivy Larson says
Hi ELissa! Thank you so much for sharing (and yes, the color is so vibrant!) I am hoping more nut-based “cream cheeses” will be developed as I really think the demand is there.
Elaine says
Hi
Accessing your lovely recipes from the UK not heard of the Kite Hill cheese spread – just a thought could we soften up feta cheese and use that as an alternative?
Many thanks
Elaine x
Ivy Larson says
Hi Elaine, yes! I think that would actually work very well. I would definitely suggest using the feta too rather than conventional cream cheese (which basically has zero nutrients!) Feta does however, have nutrition, so if you are not intolerant of dairy, I think that could work very well. Please let me know how it turns out!