Mayo Free Spinach and Artichoke Dip

A party standby, everybody needs a recipe for a good Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Just like my mayo free egg salad, I make my Spinach and Artichoke dip mayo-free too…

No Need for Mayo in Your Spinach and Artichoke Dip…

Thanks to rich and creamy “pine nut cream” made from water, pine nuts and spices, you can make a super clean Spinach and Artichoke dip minus the mayo. You do need a high speed blender (such as a Vitamix) to make the “pine nut cream”, but it takes about 2 minutes.

Why Don’t I Use Mayo in My Spinach and Artichoke Dip?

I have yet to find a truly healthy prepared mayo, much less one that actually tastes good. I know Hellmann’s has made a really big deal advertising their mayo as being “real”. But the reality of truth is that even their “healthiest” mayo (the one marketed as being made with Olive Oil) is made with the following ingredients—(FYI: I have highlighted in red the questionable ingredients)

Ingredients in Hellmann’s Mayo with Olive Oil: 

Water, Soybean Oil (this is a highly refined, pro-inflammatory omega-6 oil), Whole Eggs and Egg Yolks (YIKES! Can you even imagine what they do they to the eggs to make them shelf-stable for years?), Modified Potato Starch (Why is this in there?), Distilled Vinegar,  Salt, Sugar (at least it’s not the first ingredient!), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA (Supposedly this is used to “protect quality”—hmmmm), Natural Flavor (this is always a red flag for a highly suspicious ingredient), Paprika Oleoresin (I have never heard of this ingredient but supposedly it is a vegetable extract of a spice?) 

 The Truth About Store-Bought Mayo….

Store-bought “real” mayonnaise that is made with eggs will never be healthy because the eggs have to be pasteurized in order to have a long shelf-life. Plus, store-bought mayo uses globs of oil (oil is never as healthy as the “whole food” from which it was derived) and to make matters worse, every brand of mayo I have ever seen uses refined oil, which is basically just an empty calorie ingredient.

The “low fat” versions are even worse because they taste terrible and the ingredients are even more highly refined.

Homemade mayo is made from raw eggs. Even though I have nothing against eggs (assuming they are pasture-raised), I still can’t bring myself to make mayo from raw eggs. I worry too much about the risk of salmonella. Supposedly using pasture-raised eggs will reduce the risk of salmonella, but it still makes me nervous.

Is There Such a Thing as “Clean” Mayo?

I actually do have a clean recipe for egg-free mayo, but for my Spinach and Artichoke Dip, I find the “pine nut cream” works perfectly.

Moving on from the mayo, did you know you can use your Spinach and Artichoke Dip for more than just dip?

4 Tasty Creations Using Spinach and Artichoke Dip:

1. Spinach and Artichoke Chicken
2. Artichoke and Spinach Linguine 
3. Pizza 
4. Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms 

Mayo Free Spinach and Artichoke Dip

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Ivy Larson
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: Appetizer
• Cuisine: Clean Eating

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Description

A party standby, everybody needs a recipe for a good Spinach and Artichoke Dip. This cleaned up version is rich and creamy without the mayo.

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Ingredients

• Two boxes (14 ounces each frozen artichokes)
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (divided)
• 5 large handfuls organic spinach
• 2 shallots (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Unrefined sea salt (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• White pepper (to taste)
• Pinch of nutmeg

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the artichokes on a large cookie sheet and drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil and salt to taste. Roast for 40 minutes. Remove artichokes from oven and set aside to cool. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
2. Use a mezzaluna or knife to finely chop the spinach. Set spinach aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat; add the shallots and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, spinach and lemon juice and cook until spinach is completely wilted, about 2 minutes. Set shallot and spinach mixture aside.
4. Add the water, pine nuts, white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg to a high speed blender (such as a Vitamix); process until smooth and creamy. Transfer the pine nut mixture to a food processor. Add the roasted artichokes and process until ingredients are well-blended. Spoon the artichoke mixture out of the food processor and transfer to the skillet with the shallots and spinach. Stir to incorporate all ingredients. Transfer the artichoke-spinach mixture into a small casserole dish.
5. ]Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

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