What’s more fun than pizza night? How about pizza afternoon?! This plant-based margherita pizza dip is a delicious snack time twist on everyone’s favorite flatbread. It’s layered with gooey allergy-friendly “cheese” and savory marinara, and served with crispy Enjoy Life Lentil Chips for the perfect pizzeria finish. Even the pickiest kids (and adults!) will delight in this secretly simple, dairy-free combination.
This recipe post is sponsored by Enjoy Life Foods. But the honest opinions, margherita pizza dip recipe, and ideas are from the Go Dairy Free team. The photos were taken by our talented photographer, Hannah Kaminsky.
Plant-Based Margherita Pizza Dip that’s Too Cheesy to Believe
This allergy-friendly, vegan margherita pizza dip recipe was inspired by Enjoy Life Margherita Pizza Lentil Chips. Their pizza chips have a full palate of Italian herbs and spices, underpinned by a tomato base with natural umami notes and incredible flavor depth. We mimicked this combination with two dip layers: Marinara and Dairy-Free “Cheese.” They are delicious together or served as two separate dips.
A Deliciously Easy Solution for Everyone-Friendly Snacking
I like the fact that Enjoy Life Lentil Chips are added sugar-free, top allergen-free and certified vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and kosher pareve. This makes me feel better about serving them to guests. We have a variety of special diet needs to meet, yet all of our friends are able to dig in without worry.
Enjoy Life Lentil Chips also contain 3 grams of protein per serving, but they have a very light, crisp, and almost airy texture. I think it’s easy to keep crunching your way through the whole bag without feeling the least bit weighed down. And I love how these chips stay intact, but then seem to shatter perfectly on impact. To top it off, the savory seasonings are very flavorful, yet balanced, and never too salty. You could certainly enjoy them without a dip, but why?
Choose Your Own Adventure: Margherita Pizza Dip or Nachos
Enjoy Life Lentil Chips are shaped perfectly for scooping dips. Each wavy piece cradles a healthy portion of the good stuff for maximum satisfaction. And in the case of this pizza dip, you can indulge in the marinara dip, the dairy-free “cheese” dip, or enjoy them together! In fact, you can even layer them on the chips, nacho style, for a fun snack or appetizer.
We love to use the Margherita Pizza Lentil Chips with this dip, because it doubles down on the tasty theme. But we also like their Sea Salt and Garlic & Parmesan Lentil Chips with this recipe. The former provides a crispy-crunchy base, but lets the margherita pizza dip take center stage. And the latter adds new layers of pizza-friendly flavors.
Special Diet Notes: Margherita Pizza Dip (or Pizza Nachos!)
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, vegetarian, and top allergen-free. It’s also coconut-free and sesame-free.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
- 1 large (12-ounce) Russet or Idaho potato, peeled and diced
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon chickpea miso paste (can use regular light miso if okay with soy)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Fresh basil, finely sliced or minced
- 1 to 2 bags Enjoy Life Margherita Pizza Lentil Chips
- Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and sauté until browned, but not scorched, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld and the sauce to thicken.
- Add the vegetable stock, potato, and garlic to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the potato is fork tender, about 15 to 18 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the contents of the saucepan to your blender. Add the olive oil, nutritional yeast, miso paste, and vinegar. Puree on high speed until the mixture is completely smooth, scraping down the sides of your blender as needed to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Either chill both components for at least 1 hour for a cool dip or assemble right away to enjoy warm. You can also serve them as two separate dips.
- For a layered dip, spread the marinara into the bottom of a large, shallow bowl and top with the cheese sauce. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh basil, and use Enjoy Life Margherita Lentil Chips for dipping.
More Allergy-Friendly Lentil Chip Recipes
Zucchini Tomato Tarte
Walking Tacos
Vegan Chickpea “Meatballs”
3 Comments
This is an amazing addition to our dairy free adventure. It was yum.
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
The cashew cheese sauce is absolutely easy and delicious and is now my go to recipe for cashew cheese sauce to use in other recipes. Thank you!