Vegan Kimchi Queso Dip | Easy Vegan Appetizer Recipe - Simply Quinoa (2024)

A healthy spin on queso dip, this vegan kimchi queso is easy to prepare, made with only pure, whole food ingredientsandstill has all the flavor of the traditional recipe. Enjoy this dip warm withyour favorite tortilla chips!

Everyone has a vice, right? For some, it's ice cream. Others it's cookies. Or even potato chips. For me though, my vice? Tortilla chips.

Open a bag of tortilla chips around me and I'm donezo. They're one of those snacks that I have a hard time controlling myself with. Portion control, in general, isn't a strong suit of mine, but I'm a goner if tortilla chips are in the mix. Plus, they're like pretty much the ultimate dipping vessel.

When it comes to dips, I'm honestly not that picky. Of course, guacamole is always on the top of the list, but I also adore salsa (fresh or jarred), bean dips, hummus, and now…vegan kimchi queso!

How to Make Vegan Queso Dip

Like many vegan cheese dips, the base of this recipe is soaked raw cashews. The cashews get blended up with nutritional yeast, hot sauce, and a few spices and then warmed on the stove so it gets nice and thick.

Then you can just stir in the kimchi and serve it with your favorite chips!

Why Do You Need Starch to Thicken?

The other trick? Tapioca starch.

I know it sounds a bit out of place, but here's the thing: when you heat tapioca starch up it acts as a thickener which gives this queso dip the perfect texture.

Instead of it just being a thick sauce, it gets a little stretchy, so it almost has that cheese-like pull. It's incredible! Andpromise, it doesn't affect the flavor at all.

After all, it's also about the texture when it comes to queso!

What the heck is Kimchi?

Okay, we can't leave today's post without talking about the addition of kimchi.

If you don't know what kimchi is, let's do a quick recap:

Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish made of fermented vegetables and spices. The base is usually cabbage but can be made with a variety of different veggies. What's great about kimchi is that, just like other fermented dishes, it's filled with good-for-your-gut bacteria. It's something I highly recommend that everyone incorporate into their diet on a daily basis to keep your gut healthy and strong.

And adding it to queso dip?Healthy AND delish!

For the flavoring options, we're using sriracha sauce, kimchi juice, and smoked paprika to give it a lovely spice, but also mashing up the classic Mexican flavors with an Asian spin. And you guys, it's amazing!

This is hands down one of my FAVORITE dips of all time!

I served it warm with scallions and cilantro on top, with a big bowl of yellow corn tortilla chips. It was gobbled up by all my girlfriends and the only downside is that I wish I had made two batches!Hope you enjoy it as much as we did 🙂

xo Alyssa

More Healthy Vegan Dips to Try:

• Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Pumpkin Hummus
• Vegan Caramelized Onion Dip
• Healthy Refried Bean Dip