Sour cream and onion dip is my all time favorite dip… ever!!! I had it for the first time when I lived in New York for three years as a small child. Eating potato chips with dip was a completely foreign concept for me. In Japan, we eat chips by themselves without exception, so I didn’t know there could be such an option. The 6 year old me was skeptical at first, but I was converted right then and there after the first bite. That tangy onion flavor paired with the salty crunchy potato chips… Can it get better than that? I think not. So I was heartbroken to say the least, when my beloved sour cream and onion dip was nowhere to be found, when I returned to Japan. But hey, you gotta keep going with your life, and soon my young brain was distracted with other things.
Fast forward to 2005. I moved to LA from Japan, and guess what one of the first things I did was? You guessed it. I was on a mission to find me some sour cream and onion dip. I scoured the snack aisles at Ralphs and found a jar of the dip. I did an awkward happy dance on the spot! (Awkward because I can’t dance to save my life.) I rushed home with a bag of potato chips, and was sadly disappointed. It wasn’t the same and I was never able to find the right one. Then I became vegan…
I forgot about my love affair with sour cream and onion for years, till one day, I saw something at my local Sprouts. Vegan and gluten free sour cream and onion potato chips from Earth Balance.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. It can’t be! I grabbed one and of course ate the entire bag by myself in the car at the parking lot. And then, ding!! Why can’t I make a raw vegan version myself? Or more like why haven’t I already? So I did. And here you go. You can eat it with carrots, celery, cucumber, jicama, etc to keep it raw, or if you’re feeling naughty, potato chips. I like making double or triple batches of this, and using a partial amount to make them into sour cream flavored kale chips!
Here, I cut jicama with a crinkle cutter and cut the slices into a potato chip shape, and colored and flavored it with olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt, to make raw “potato” chips. It doesn’t taste exactly like potato chips, but made a great crunchy and savory vehicle for the dip.
My life is now complete. And now, yours is too. . . Your welcome.
By the way, the reason I couldn’t find the right dip? It was because I was searching for the pre-made jar kind. Apparently, I needed the packet kind according to my husband. Oh well, you live and learn, not that I can eat that stuff now anyway.
- Sour Cream and Onion Dip
- 1 cup cashews (soaked for 4+hours and drained)
- 1 juice of lemon
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Some chopped chives for garnish
- Equipment: high speed blender
- Raw Jicama "Potato" Chips (optional)
- 1 jicama
- 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water
- A dash of olive oil
- Soak cashews in water for 4 hours. Drain the water, and rinse.
- Put all ingredients except for the chives into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth. Add a tiny bit more water if needed to help it blend smoothly.
- Place into a serving dish and garnish with chopped chives.
- Peel the jicama and slice into chip shapes. You can use a crinkle cutter if you like. In a small bowl, whisk together the nutritional yeast, salt, olive oil, and water.
- Toss in a few slices of jicama at a time in the nutritional yeast/olive oil mixture until evenly coated and the jicama is yellow in color. Set aside. Repeat until all the jicama slices are coated.
- Dab the excess moisture on the jicama slices with paper towel or dish towel. Or dehydrate at 115℉ (46℃) for 1-2 hours until the jicama slices' surface are dry.
- Serve with sour cream and onion dip.
raw vegan sour cream and onion dip with jicama "potato" chips
Yay! First blog post! This recipe is excellent. If you are lactose intolerant, this is a great alternative to dairy.