With this smoky & meaty Tomato Dip I’ve confused a couple of omnivores when I told them it’s actually vegan. Soy granule is perfect for the meaty texture.
If I’d had to choose one dip that I’d have to eat for the rest of my life, this would be it! This smoky & meaty Tomato Dip is my signature dip that I serve at parties pretty much every single time. I’ve confused omnivores more than once, because no one would believe that it’s vegan. The soy granule is perfect for that meaty consistency and the liquid smoke makes is super smoky.
When you’re looking for the ultimate meat alternative in bolognese-type sauces, I can highly recommend soy granules. Not only can you store them for years, but the consistency is so meat-like – no one would notice a difference if you season is right. I’ve been using soy granules as an alternative for meaty chunks in sauces since I started going vegan and it made the transition so much easier. I still use them for various dishes like Spaghetti Bolognese, Lasagna or in Chili.
- 1 cup soy granule
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 1/4 cup tomato puree*
- In a medium sized pot, pour the soy granule and add the water. Turn on the heat on low and stir until the soy granule has soaked up the water (takes about 1 minute).
- Add the olive oil, spices, liquid smoke and dried herbs and give it a good stir.
- Add the tomato puree and slowly turn up the heat to high until the sauce is bubbly and hot. Reduce the heat again and let it cook on low heat for about 5 minutes. After the sauce has thickened a bit, it's ready to serve. At this point you can add more salt, garlic powder, liquid smoke or onion powder to taste, even chili powder if you want to spice it up. I recommend to serve this dip with corn tortilla chips, but it's awesome with crackers, breadsticks or over pasta too!
*I used store-bought tomato purée (with salt, no additional herbs) for this recipe - it's often canned or in cartons, not to confuse with tomato paste which is thicker in consistency.
If you give this smoky & meaty Tomato Dip a try I’d love to hear how it turned out for you! Leave a comment or post a picture on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
Well I think I need to invite you over for a party ;)
Yes, yes, yes! That would be amazing :) But you just want me over for the food :((
My first thought when I saw this was bolognese turned dip! Well no actually my first thought was gimme gimme! The smokiness sounds great too. I really should not be trusted around this stuff with a bag or tortilla chips :D
You’re so right, Natalie, it’s actually a Bolognese Dip – that would have been a good name too :) I love the soy granule with liquid smoke, no one will ever notice this is a vegan dip :D
OMG this looks so delicous!!! So need to try it out :)
thanks Edith! Yes, you should :) Everyone loved it so far!
Ohhh this dip looks delicious! I’ve never seen liquid smoke here but I think I should buy it online, I keep seeing recipes that use it.
I ran out of liquid smoke a few days ago and I’m dying over here! I don’t know what to do with my life :D I need to order it asap too because we can’t get it in stores here anywhere, unfortunately. I really like the stuff and it’s very intense, so you’ll only need small amounts and the bottle lasts a long time :)
I saw this recipe on foodgawker and had to click over to see what made it so “meaty”…. and I’m definitely impressed! I love that you used soy granules for texture and liquid smoke for flavor. It looks and sounds so good!! :D
Thank you so much, Sarah! This is exactly the sauce how I made it when I started to go vegan and I’ve been using it for different purposes (Spaghetti Bolognese, as a dip or even on pizza (a Lahmmacun-kinda thing)) ever since. I love the soy granule because the texture is so meat-like and you can store them at room-temperature for years, so it’s a good thing to always have at home.