Blended Up Canned Artichokes Make The Base For A Simple, Delicious Dip

While their fleeting seasonal availability may make fresh artichokes special springtime delicacies, many argue that jarred and canned artichokes can be just as delicious. Preserved artichokes save us the tedious effort of cleaning, preparing, and cooking artichokes while also isolating and, in turn, providing more of its meatiest, creamiest parts. While jarred artichokes are often marinated, super flavorful, and firm, canned artichokes can be bland and mushy.

While canned artichokes might not be as suited for eating whole atop a salad or pasta, they're the perfect foundation for a simple and delicious dip. Blending canned artichokes will transform their mushy, watery consistency into a creamy base while concentrating their distinct vegetal savoriness. Plus, using canned artichokes as a foundational ingredient in a dip provides the opportunity to enhance and complement their flavors with a myriad of seasonings, condiments, and other common dip ingredients.

Canned artichokes are creamy enough to be a worthy dairy substitute for vegan or dairy-free dips, and they can improve the texture and flavor of well-known dips from a wide range of global cuisines. You can draw inspiration from popular artichoke dishes as well as popular dips for seasoning ideas. Canned artichoke hearts and artichoke bottoms are common products in most grocery stores. For an easier, smoother artichoke base, artichoke bottoms are less fibrous than artichoke hearts. However, if you want a variable texture to your dips, you can blend the bottoms and add whole or chopped hearts along with the rest of your dip ingredients.

Since artichokes are a common Mediterranean crop, their most popular flavor pairings come from the Mediterranean culinary traditions of southern Europe and the Middle East. Of course, the most obvious application for artichokes in dip is the famous cheesy and creamy spinach artichoke dip. Adding creamy blended artichoke bottoms to the cream cheese and spinach would underscore the artichoke flavor even more.

Another simple vegan artichoke dip idea blends canned artichokes with dijon, vinegar, olive oil, and garlic for a creamy, well-balanced profile of tangy, earthy, and savory flavors. And, you could upgrade the dip by swapping fresh garlic for roasted garlic. Blended canned artichokes would add heft and savoriness to a myriad of Mediterranean mezze dips, from baba ganoush and hummus to muhammara. They'd complement the nuttiness of tahini and the earthiness of olive oil. You could roughly blend canned artichokes to give a chunky and vegetal upgrade to an olive tapenade.

Because artichokes are a famous pasta and pizza topping, you could create a dip based on these applications. For example, you could blend canned artichokes with whipped ricotta, Italian seasonings, parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes. If you're worried about the lingering metallic taste that often plagues canned vegetables, you can soak the drained and rinsed artichoke hearts in ice water for a few minutes before draining them and blending them. Blanching them also works, as does adding a pinch of baking soda to their soaking liquid.