White Bean Dip
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This white bean dip made with creamy cannellini beans is what I like to call Italian hummus. It’s the perfect appetizer or snack topped with jammy roasted cherry tomatoes and scooped up with garlicky slices of crostini.
White Bean Dip
A delicious good for you dip recipe I’ve been making forever, the perfect appetizer or snack to throw together for any occasion. It comes together in no time in your food processor, the hardest part is waiting for the tomatoes to get jammy roasting in the oven, and trust me: you definitely want to make the tomatoes! I really love it topped with our marinated roasted peppers or artichoke hearts.
Ingredient Notes
- White Beans – Canned creamy cannellini beans are what you need here. Rinse and drain them well before blending with the herbs and spices. If cooking beans from scratch you will need 3 cups of cooked beans or so.
- Garlic – Finely grate 2 large garlic cloves before blending as to extract all the flavor but without having any larger pieces floating around, nobody likes biting into a piece of raw garlic.
- Lemon – Squeeze one juicy lemon to balance out and tame the garlic.
- Parsley – Italian flat leaf parsley is used to freshen up the flavors of the dip. It’s important to use the Italian versus the curly parsley which lacks in flavor but makes for a beautiful garnish. Alternatively you could swap it for basil and go for a different flavor profile.
- Olive oil – Cold pressed extra virgin, I only used a little bit to help emulsify the dip into luscious goodness. It can be replaced with tahini or water for an oil-free version and it still tastes amazing!
- Pine Nuts – totally optional but nutty toasted pine nuts really make the perfect garnish here. You could take things over the top with a drizzle of basil pesto too.
About the Roasted Tomatoes
This truly is the best topping for this dip. You can roast between 400″ to 450″ F keeping a close eye on and catch them right when they collapse into that magical jammy texture. It’s extremely important to use cherry tomatoes and not the grape variety. Cherry tomatoes are juicy and tender and get sweet and jammy during roasting with herbs like rosemary and thyme. On the other hand grape tomatoes have tough skins and are on the dryer side for a tomato so they won’t yield the result we are after here, to be frank they are quite disappointing when it comes to roasting but good for snacking on fresh.
On Storage
Blend your dip while the tomatoes are roasting and store it in the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes or so. I think it tastes best made a day ahead as all the flavors get a change to marry overnight. I do like to have the tomatoes roasted fresh for a contrast of hot and cold when serving but this is all a personal preference.
Serving Ideas
- Crostini & Bruschetta
- Marinated Roasted Pepper Salad
- Topped with Giardiniera
- Pizza Bread
- Tomato Olive Salad
- Tomato Cucumber Basil Salad
- Italian Focaccia
- Homemade Crusty Bread
- Marinated Artichoke Hearts.
how to make Italian white bean dip
Italian White Bean Dip
Ingredients
- 2 x 15 oz cans cannellini beans (drained & rinsed)
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1/3 cup Italian flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (tahini or water)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt or to taste
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts for garnish
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425”F.
- Rinse and drain the tomatoes well then add them to a 9 x13 inch roasting dish. Toss together with the olive oil, rosemary, thyme and salt and roast for about 30 minutes giving them a shake half way. Your tomatoes are done once they have burst and released their juices and they start to get jammy as the sauce evaporates.1 lb cherry tomatoes, 1 sprig rosemary, 6 sprigs fresh thyme, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 pinch fine sea salt
- Meanwhile drain and rinse the cannellini beans. Add them to a food processor or blender with the seasonings, herbs and oil and process until creamy to your liking. Adjust seasonings to taste with sea salt and more lemon juice. Transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate until ready to serve.2 x 15 oz cans cannellini beans, 1 lemon, 2 garlic cloves, 1/3 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp fine sea salt
- When ready to serve transfer the bean dip to a shallow bowl or platter and top with the roasted cherry tomatoes together with some of the juices from the bottom of the pan. Finish with a drizzle of cold pressed olive oil and serve with garlic crostini, your favorite pita chips or flatbread. Garnish with toasted pine nuts.1/3 cup toasted pine nuts for garnish
Video
Notes
- Crostini - To make crostini slice 3/4 inch thick slices of baguette and grill in a cast iron griddle until charred grill marks form. Rub with garlic, lightly brush with olive oil and season with a pinch of fine sea salt. Serve with the dip.
- Parsley - Italian flat leaf parsley is used to freshen up the flavors of the dip. It's important to use the Italian versus the curly parsley which lacks in flavor but makes for a beautiful garnish. Alternatively you could swap it for basil and go for a different flavor profile.
- Pesto - A drizzle of basil pesto makes for a nice garnish and really compliments the dip.
10 Stars for from us for this bean dip! Topped it with your marinated pepper salad because the tomatoes didn’t look so good and it was gone in a blink. I’m planning to make it again this weekend with lots of bruschetta, so delicious and so easy. Highly recommended and approved by the entire family!