It only takes four or five ingredients to make our deliciously Cheesy Smashed Chickpea Spread! It’s the perfect snack on busy days and packs quickly for a delicious savory lunch. We especially enjoy its cheesy goodness with pretzels as a dairy-free dip.

And once you make your first batch, you’ll find yourself looking forward to the chance to share this no-cook wonder! This nutritious savory spread is one that you can feel good about using in at least a thousand ways. Well, maybe that’s stretching it a bit, but you get the idea.

Whether you’re dipping fresh veggies or spreading this generously as a sandwich filling, the taste does not disappoint.

You can make an easy appetizer out of Cheesy Smashed Chickpea Spread. Serve it up as a starter at your next party paired with your favorite drinks and watch it disappear! Free of cholesterol, lactose, gluten, and soy, this is a dish that you and your guests will enjoy without worry.

On that note, we want you to know that we’re about sharing recipes that help you make food that get oohs and aahs.

You’ll notice that the ingredients we suggest for our plant-based vegan and gluten-free dishes are organic whenever possible. We believe in fueling the body with natural, real, whole foods. And we steer clear of fillers, packaged ingredients with additives or anything unclear and too hard to pronounce.

Our dishes are created to achieve flavors that “sing in your mouth” without a boatload of work.

We point you in the right direction when it comes to combining healthy ingredients. And then, all that’s left to do is to let nature do its thing and create fantastic taste!

We strive to make our recipes deliver on flavor so that your experience with plant-based eating equals nothing less than delicious!

So, guess what prompted us to create this Cheesy Smashed Chickpea Spread? Besides just giving us grownups a simple, no-cook go-to for quick and easy, healthier munching, we’ve been thinking about foods that pack well for lunch. When asked by  Raise Vegan magazine to think of some kid-friendly lunches that travel well, we naturally thought of something both dippable and cheesy.

What child do you know that you know that doesn’t enjoy dippy stuff and cheese-y flavors? For that matter, what adult would say no to that?

So we’ve been thinking of the little ones in your life that need something new and exciting in their lunchbox! And thankfully, what we’ve landed on here will please young and old alike. Who can say no to cheesy?

5 FUN WAYS to enjoy decidedly Cheesy Smashed Chickpea Spread:
Serve it as a dip with fresh vegetables.
Spread it on crackers or rice cakes.
Enjoy it as a dip with baked pretzels or chips.
Layer it on a sandwich instead of mayo or dairy-free cheese.
Roll it into a wrap as a protein-packed filling!

And if you want to keep this deliciously spreadable dip as healthy as can be, make it using either our homemade oil-free sunflower seed mayo or oil-free cashew mayo!

So if you’re in the mood for something vegan and cheesy that’s oil-free, gluten-free, plant-based, soy-free and delicious, you’ve come to the right place! And don’t let labels or titles decide what time of day you eat this – we’ve been known to enjoy this one for breakfast!

Happy Eating!

Cheesy Smashed Chickpea Spread

VEEG

• 5
  Prep:
• 0
  Cook Time:
• Yield: 4 Servings

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Here’s a super new spreadable that came to us by thinking out of the box, or rather, from dreaming up some fun stuff to put inside the “bento box,” as the case may be. When someone asked us to think of some kid-friendly lunches that travel well, we naturally thought of something dippable and cheesy. What child do you know that you know that doesn’t enjoy dippy stuff and cheese-y flavors? For that matter, what adult would say no to cheesy? But this stuff isn’t just for the little ones to munch on; as we mentioned, this protein-packed new spread is grownup delicious, too!  And when you pack something this nutritious for lunch, it means that you can afford a little treat like these awesomely healthy 20-Minute Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookies! This recipe makes enough cheesy chickpea spread for about four individual half cup servings.

Ingredients

• one 15 oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained with liquid (aquafaba) reserved
• 4 tbsp of either our homemade oil-free sunflower seed mayo, or oil-free cashew mayo, or a storebought plant-based variety of mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp of nutritional yeast - We like this unfortified brand the best.  A terrifically economical bulk opportunity is listed in the notes, if interested.
• a pinch of sea salt to taste
• an optional, but suggested, 1/2 to 1 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice or a tiny bit of vinegar to taste

Instructions

1. Begin by draining the chickpeas and putting them into a food processor along with all of the other ingredients, saving the lemon juice to last to add as a final seasoning after tasting. If you want a little cheesy tang, add a bit of the lemon juice or vinegar to taste. If you think it needs more cheesiness, add a bit more nutritional yeast and possibly another dash of salt. And if it seems too thick, add a little of the reserved chickpea broth to thin it down. Alternatively, you may choose to mash the chickpeas and other ingredients together by hand using a potato masher or large, sturdy fork. And by the way, if you like your dip smooth, blend it up how you or your little ones prefer. Chill or eat right away as either a dip, spread, hearty sandwich, or wrap filling!

Notes

• If you happen to go through nutritional yeast as quickly as we do, you may want to take this opportunity to purchase it in bulk. You get three times as much for less than twice the price of the regular 8 oz size package - it's like getting another 8 oz free!
• We used our sunflower seed mayo in this recipe to keep it plant-based and oil-free! If you wish to make this deliciously spreadable dip as healthy as can be, make it using either our homemade oil-free sunflower seed mayo or our oil-free cashew mayo!
• Here are some helpful chickpea measurements to consider.  Cans of chickpeas sizes are fairly standard and are usually about 400g/15 ounces which yield 250g (1 1/2 cups) of beans once drained. And if you decide to cook dried chickpeas from scratch, chickpeas roughly double their weight once cooked. So to get 250g cooked chickpeas, you need to prepare 125g (3/4 cup) of dried chickpeas.

Nutrition

% DV

Calories Per Serving: 143

• Total Fat 3.1 g 5 %
• Saturated Fat 0.2 g 1 %
• Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
• Sodium 167.2 mg 7 %
• Carbohydrates 18.8 g 6 %
• Fiber 5.4 g 22 %
• Sugar 1.7 g ---
• Protein 8.7 g 17 %
• Vitamin A 0 %
• Vitamin C 1 %
• Iron 8 %
• Calcium 5 %