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Home » Blog » Recipes » Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip (Vegan, Whole30)

Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip (Vegan, Whole30)

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Here’s your new favorite Whole30 and vegan veggie dip: Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip! Courtesy of Tess Masters!

A bowl of sweet potato cashew dip with an array of vegetables arranged around the bowl.

Contrary to popular belief, eating Paleo doesn’t mean your plate is piled high with red meat and bacon. It may have been true for me when I first started eating this waaaay back in 2010—because as a semi-vegetarian indoctrinated in the low-fat, high-carb mantra of the 90s, it’d been a long time since I’d eaten a nice, fatty piece of animal protein, and I was making up for lost meat. But these days, my typical plate consists mostly of vegetables, along with a palm-sized portion of high quality protein. No matter what our dietary stripe, I think we can all agree that eating more vegetables is a good thing.

My friend Tess Masters, who just happens to be a smart, sassy vegan (yes, I’m friends with vegans!), recently released her latest cookbook, The Perfect Blend, and it’s packed with delicious gluten-free and vegan recipes you can blitz up in your blender or food processor. As you’d expected, this cookbook includes some smoothie recipes, but the concoctions that really piqued my interest were the creamy dairy-free dips and sauces. Case in point: I’ve been making the Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip non-stop for the past few weeks. This creamy, savory, and tangy curry-infused dip is so lip-smackingly delicious that I got my non-Paleo pals and mom(!) addicted as well. If you struggle with eating your vegetables, just dunk them in this dip. You’ll be hooked, too!

The front cover of the perfect blend by tess masters.

How can I spend less time making this sweet potato and cashew dip?

For the timing challenged: The two rate-limiting steps in this recipe are roasting the sweet potato (which takes 45 minutes to an hour) and soaking the cashews (Tess recommends soaking the cup of raw cashews in 2 cups of warm water mixed with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for 2 to 4 hours).

Someone pouring water in a bowl with cashews to soak.

To speed things up:

  1. Roast your sweet potato ahead of time and mash it straight out of the fridge and/or
  2. Soak your cashews in 2 cups of boiling water for 10 minutes. I’ve tried both the slow method and the fast method, and the dip tastes fantastic either way. Choose the method that fits how fast you need it to get this dip in your belly!

Ready to blitz your way to happiness?

Time to make Sweet and Potato Cashew Dip!

Makes 2½ cups

Ingredients

  • 1 large orange-flesh sweet potato (e.g., garnet or jewel)
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup (150 g) diced yellow onion
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • ¼ cup (60 mL) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup (140 g) raw unsalted cashews, soaked and drained (see note above)
  • 1 teaspoon mild yellow curry powder, plus more to taste
  • 1½ teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)

Equipment

  • Paring knife
  • Chef’s knife
  • Cutting board
  • Rimmed baking sheet
  • Bowl
  • Fork
  • 10-inch skillet
  • Measuring cups
  • Measuring spoons
  • High speed blender (I own a Vitamix and KitchenAid and both are amazing. The Sweethome rates this Oster model very highly, and it’s reasonably priced. )
  • Silicone spatula

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Prick the sweet potato all over with a paring knife or fork and lightly brush with olive or avocado oil. Place it on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until soft. (If you need more deets on how to roast a sweet potato, you can click here. You might as well throw on a few extra sweet potatoes so you can have leftovers!) Allow the tater to cool, peel off the skin, and mash the flesh with a fork. Set aside 1 cup (250 g) of the mashed sweet potato.

A bowl of cooked and mashed sweet potatoes with a fork in the bowl.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.

Onions sautéing in a pan.

Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Allow the alliums to cool slightly.

Sautéed onions and minced garlic frying in a pan.

Grab your high speed blender or food processor and pour the remaining ¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil with the ¼ cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Add the onion mixture…

Someone pouring oil into a blender with the cooked onions and garlic.

…cup of mashed sweet potato, cup of soaked and drained cashews…

Someone adding cooked sweet potatoes and soaked cashews into a blender.

…spices (1 teaspoon curry powder, 1½ teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika, and ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric), and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

An overhead shot into the blender that has the ingredients for the paleo sweet potato and cashew dip.

Blast on high for a minute until the resulting dip is smooth and creamy.

Blending the ingredients for the sweet potato and cashew dip.

If you don’t have a powerful blender, you may need to periodically stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the container.

An overhead shot of the blended ingredients for the paleo sweet potato and cashew dip.

Serve with your favorite raw and blanched veggies.

Someone pouring the bright orange-yellow sweet potato and cashew dip into a bowl.

The dip will keep in the fridge for about 5 days, but I bet it will be gone sooner than that. Good thing you baked extra sweet potatoes so you can make more dip!

A bowl of the sweet potato and cashew dip surrounded by an array of vegetables.

Slightly adapted, with permission, from The Perfect Blend, copyright 2016 Tess Masters. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.


Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).


PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD

Print Recipe
5 from 5 votes

Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip (from Tess Masters’ The Perfect Blend)

Course: Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: low carb, paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole30
Servings: 8 1/4 cup
Calories: 195kcal
Author: Michelle Tam (adapted from Tess Masters’ recipe)

Ingredients

  • 1 large orange-flesh sweet potato e.g., garnet or jewel
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
  • 1 cup 150 g diced yellow onion
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic about 2 cloves
  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt plus more to taste
  • ¼ cup 60 mL fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup 140 g raw unsalted cashews, soaked and drained (see note above)
  • 1 teaspoon mild yellow curry powder plus more to taste
  • 1½ teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  • Prick the sweet potato all over with a paring knife or fork and lightly brush with olive or avocado oil. Place it on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until soft. 
  • Allow the tater to cool, peel off the skin, and mash the flesh with a fork. Set aside 1 cup (250 g) of the mashed sweet potato.
  • In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onions with a pinch of salt for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
  • Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Allow the alliums to cool slightly.
  • Grab your high speed blender or food processor and pour the remaining ¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil with the ¼ cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar.
  • Add the onion mixture, cup of mashed sweet potato, cup of soaked and drained cashews, spices (1 teaspoon curry powder, 1½ teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika, and ⅛ teaspoon ground turmeric), and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
  • Blast on high for a minute until the resulting dip is smooth and creamy. If you don’t have a powerful blender, you may need to periodically stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the container.
  • Serve!
Tried this recipe?Mention @nomnompaleo or tag #nomnompaleo!

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Fiber: 2g
100

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. raysabove says

    September 1, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Sounds good! Have you ever tried using roasted salted cashews instead? I have a ton of those!

    Reply
    • Michelle Tam says

      September 1, 2020 at 11:10 pm

      I haven’t used it in this recipe, but I bet it would work if you soaked them.

      Reply
  2. Dani says

    January 3, 2021 at 1:53 am

    5 stars
    I love this recipe- it is divine but it makes a lot. Do you think it would freeze ok?

    Reply
    • Michelle Tam says

      January 3, 2021 at 10:44 pm

      I haven’t frozen it before! You may need to blend it again after you thaw it to keep it smooth.

      Reply
  3. Petra Accipiter says

    January 9, 2021 at 7:02 pm

    This looks wonderful. Just one question. Other than when a recipe calls for a little sprinkle of seasoning or paprika I usually cook spices somewhere in the process especially turmeric or cumin. Why not saute the spices briefly with the alliums.
    BTW, I have and just love both your cookbooks…..

    Reply
    • Michelle Tam says

      January 11, 2021 at 10:23 pm

      You can sautés the spices! This is my friend Tess Master’s recipe, so I just followed her directions.

      Reply
  4. Craig Royle says

    April 29, 2021 at 7:05 am

    This was my first time with this recipe and it was so yummy. I use it for a healthy snack during the day and night as I lift alot of weights

    Reply

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