Not-So Cheesy Dip

Super Bowl 2018 is tomorrow! I love watching a good football game, but who are we kidding, I’m all about the snacks. Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest food consumption day behind Thanksgiving…yikes! So in my opinion, either you embrace it or hide in a dark hole somewhere. I’ll opt for the first option.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the little piggies in a blanket, wings, and copious amounts of dips. But I’m also a lover of trying to create spins on recipes to make them healthier…without sacrificing flavor.

I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just another dietitian showing up to the party with a “healthy” appetizer. But I kid you not, this not-so cheesy dip will leave you wanting more and gives you a nice antioxidant punch, providing you with a little extra energy to get through the whole game without dozing off. Still no promises over here (I do love my sleep).

The special ingredient to this dip is nutritional yeast. This is my first time using nutritional yeast in cooking and I foresee a lovely relationship blooming 🙂 Nutritional yeast provides a great cheesy flavor without all the saturated fat from full-fat cheese (and all the toots, am I right?).

Nutritional yeast is a nutrition powerhouse. It’s packed with protein, fiber, B vitamins, and folate. Plus, it’s low in calories (only 60 calories per 1/4 cup!), saturated fat, and sugar. The cheesy flavor hints provides a great substitute for all my dairy-free friends.

Between the vitamin A-packed butternut squash and B vitamin-loaded nutritional yeast, this dip passes the nutrition panel with flying colors. Lastly, this dip is seriously so easy to make. You can’t beat 7 ingredients (not counting the water, because well, it’s water) that you throw into a food processor. Voila!

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Not-So Cheesy Dip

Course Appetizer

Servings 4 people

Author Elizabeth Weber

Ingredients

• 1/2 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed I roasted a whole butternut squash
• 1/4 cup Mexican cheese blend, shredded
• 1/4 cup Nutritional yeast
• 1 Chipotle pepper in adobe sauce, canned
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
• 6 tbsp. Water
• 1-2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, peel, seed, and cube the butternut squash. Lightly grease a baking sheet and spread the butternut squash evenly. Drizzle with the olive oil.

2. Bake the butternut squash for 30 minutes flipping halfway through.

3. Once the butternut squash is done, combine the squash, chipotle pepper, salt, garlic powder, cheese, nutritional yeast, and water in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add additional water until desired consistency. 

4. Serve immediately with tortilla chips or refrigerate for later use. 

Recipe Notes

This recipe is for about 4 people (makes 1 1/4 cups), but if you are having a larger get-together, using the whole butternut squash and doubling the other ingredients will work for closer to 8 people. 

Happy noshing!

-EAW