I’m not a big sports person, but the onset of fall gets me in the mood for game day-style snacking.
Notice I said “style.”
There is no actual game watching going on, just the snacking, which is the best part in my opinion. Thankfully, I lucked out and married John who is the exact same. We prefer Netflix over football any day.
After discovering a Vegan Mexican Cheese that requires no soaking or cooking, I knew I had to do something special with it. This dip immediately came to mind.
Seven layer dips always made an appearance at any sporting event I’ve ever been to, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be made on a random Wednesday when you’re having friends over. Or, if you just make it and then proceed to eat it every day for lunch for an entire week with nothing but chips.
Oops. #soworthit
This vegan queso and those refried beans were meant for each other. Hubba, hubba.
It all comes together like so: (!!)
Ta-da! Isn’t that fancy? And the result is amazing. It’s:
Creamy
Flavorful
Savory
Fresh
Filling
Slightly spicy
& So dang delicious and flavorful
Wave after wave of flavor it gets better with each bite. I found myself going back for seconds, then thirds, then (What? Who said that?).
Make this dip for neighbors, friends, family or just yourself, whether it’s game day or not. You will love the creamy texture, serious cheesiness, fluffy guac and perfect crunch from the veggies. Chips required, obviously.
If you do try it, let us know! Take a picture and tag it #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Bonus points if it’s a selfie of a giant bite entering your face. Cheers!
Vegan 7-Layer Dip
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce can vegetarian refried beans (Trader Joe’s are already seasoned // or use homemade)
- 3/4 cup Vegan Mexican Cheese Spread + hot water (see instructions)
- 1 cup Favorite Guacamole (recipe below)
- 1 cup Favorite Salsa or Pico De Gallo (recipe below)
- 1/2 bell pepper (diced)
- 1/4 cup black olives (optional // diced)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro (optional // chopped)
GUACAMOLE
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 medium lime (juiced)
- 1 pinch sea salt
PICO DE GALLO
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (diced)
- 1/4 cup red onion (diced)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 pinch each salt and pepper
Instructions
- To prepare the cheese layer, scoop out 3/4 cup of spreadable Mexican Cheese and whisk in very hot water until it resembles queso – about 1/2 cup (amounts as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Alternatively, use my Cashew-less Vegan Queso.
- Next, prepare the guacamole by mashing all ingredients together in a bowl and adjusting seasonings to preference. Do the same with the pico de gallo (or just use your favorite salsa).
- To assemble the dip: Spread out vegetarian refried beans, then top with cheese layer, then guacamole, then pico or salsa, then bell pepper, then black olives, then cilantro.
- Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Can be made up to 1 day in advance.
Notes
*The origins of 7 layer dip are rooted more in American culture, but the flavors and ingredients are inspired by Mexican cuisine.
SUSAN K says
I am in the process of making this but not sure what size serving dish I should use. Any insights? Thanks so much! Love your recipes. :)
Hi Susan, we may be too late in getting back to you, but we would say a medium bowl (~6-8 inches wide and a few inches deep) or something similar.
Vivian says
We have made this wonderful recipe many times. It is one of our all time favorites and, yes, we make the spreadable cheese. We have even served it to people who are not vegetarians or vegans and they always ask for the recipe. I could send you a picture of our dinner tonight if you like. Just let me know how. I am not willing to share it myself on social media – privacy issues – but you could share it once you have it if you like.
Hi Vivian! Thanks so much for the lovely review. So glad to hear that everyone always enjoys this dip! Thanks for offering to share a picture, we’re sure it looked great!
Jen says
This dip is amazing. So delicious! I have made this a few times for various gatherings and it’s always a hit and I get many comments about how delicious it is. It’s usually the first thing gone! It’s very easy to make too.
Woohoo! This is great to hear. Thanks so much for the lovely review, Jen!
Rhonda Stallone says
Yum! Took this dish to a friend’s house and everyone loved it! Including the kids. No one knew it was gf and vegan. Win!
Amazing! We’re so glad everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing, Rhonda! xo
AJ says
Not sure what happened but my refried beans ended up as soup! I used my precooked frozen instant pot beans, thoroughly defrosted them first (there was no extra liquid), then poured enough broth over them to just cover. When I blended them up it was very soupy. I thought it would thicken up but it didn’t. So all my other layers sunk into them. It tasted amazing! but because it was so soupy it spilled in my car during transport :(
Bummer! So sorry about this, AJ. Thanks for sharing your experience!
dana says
i kept everything as-is with one significant exception: i subbed out the refried beans for your refried lentils. soooo good! i made the recipe to bring to a potluck game night i have with my family and they requested i make the same thing next time. it’s a hit :)
Amazing! Thank you for the lovely review, Dana! xo
Lauren T says
Loved it!
Woohoo! Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
Jennifer Eubank says
So so good! Thank you!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Jennifer! xo
Jen says
I just made this for dinner. It was absolutely amazing! I made it as is in the recipe and wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks again for another all-star recipe.
So lovely! Thanks for sharing, Jen! This is a favorite of ours, too!
Anne says
Hi, I made this dip for a whole bunch of French and American people and they all loved it!
I’m especially glad with the cheesesauce which is really very easy to make (although I thought is was not going to work when I was making it, but it did and worked out great!)
Really a go-to recipe for apéro!
Love from France.
We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Anne! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Vivian says
This is an absolutely delicious recipe that we have made twice. Since there are only 2 of us, we made a 1/2 recipe. However, we made a full recipe of the Mexican cheese. We froze the half can of TJ’s refried beans in a container and we also freeze the other half of the Mexican cheese. I let them defrost overnight in the frig. The second time was just as tasty as the first. The freezing did not change the quality.
We’re so glad it turned out well! And love that freezing worked well. Thanks for sharing, Vivian!
SS says
Delicious! With quarantine subs as necessary–no black olives or cilantro but still delicious.
Lori says
This was DELICIOUS!! I will absolutely make again Non vegans loved it too!!
Lori says
This was DELICIOUS!! I will absolutely make again
Judith Watson says
This is delicious and easy to make!!!!
Tracy says
This was delicious! I had a pre-vegan lifestyle bean dip that I used to make, but this was WAY superior in taste! I will be making this again. . . . and again . . . . and again. . . . . and . . . . . . . . .
lara says
This recipe seems super yummy. Do you by any chance have a recipe of how to do refried beans rather than buying them ready made pls?
Cant wait to try this combination!
We don’t, but will add it to our ideas list!
Sarah says
Dana the link to the vegan Mexican cheese spread in the recipe doesn’t work anymore…it says there have been too many redirects and thus Safari can’t open the page. Same thing happens when I try to Google it outside of the site/this page. Can you fix it or just list the recipe with it this page please? Thank you!
Hmm, it’s working on our end. Do you mean in post or in the recipe box?
Lisa says
I just tried it on my iPhone as a test and the link in the recipe worked for me. ??
Heather says
If I made this 1 day in advance, will the guac go brown??
Yes, we think so. You could try prepping the other components in advance and then preparing guac and assembling just prior to serving.
Missy says
Had a lady who caters tell me when making guac to leave the pit in and your guac won’t turn brown. I ate some of hers at the reception and sure enough it wasn’t brown and she had made it the day before the reception.
Lisa Laskey says
Another home run! I added a layer of black beans, otherwise stuck with the recipe and vegan queso. Even my non vegan, lactose tolerant friends loved this! A great recipe for a party. Dangerous to have in the house because my husband and I want to sneak back to the kitchen and sneak more.
Nancy says
Hi Dana, this looks amazing. Beans and queso should be warm/hot for this recipe? Can’t wait to make it today.
Either way! Room temp or hot.
Erika Wyckoff says
Do the cashew need to be soaked first
Not for the vegan spreadable cashew cheese!
Stephanie says
This is gorgeous. And the cashew cheese is worth the price of admission!! It was all I could do to keep from eating all of it with a spoon. Headed for an “ignore the super bowl” party and feel well-prepared. Thank you!
Katie says
This dip is simply amazing! I made it for a party with vegans and non-vegans and ALL of the guests loved it. The freshness of the pico de gallo and guacamole on top perfectly compliment the cheesiness of the queso and base of beans. I plan to make this for two more holiday parties that are a couple days apart because both my family and friends need to try this! Key note for the queso, I didn’t get a smooth enough consistency by just adding hot water, so I just threw the sauce in the blender until completely smooth – worked like a charm!
Great! Thanks for sharing, Katie!
Susan says
Made this for some non vegan friends. Everyone thought the queso was cheese!! Ha. Gotcha! Great taste and i loved that i could cheat with some already premade stuff. Thank you!
You fooled them! Glad to hear it was a hit, Susan :D
Lori says
I made this heavenly dip for our Nebraska Cornhusker season opener game – IT IS THE BOMB! I can’t wait for my vegan son to come over and help me gobble it up. I may or may not have eaten the rest of the delicious vegan queso by myself – so, so, so, good! You hit it out of the park with this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Bethany says
I made this for New Year’s Eve. My brother is dating a woman who follows vegan gluten free eating. I too am gluten free. This was so good – I made the cheese spread for the queso layer as directed, except that we were out of garlic powder so I used garlic salt and reduced the amount of sea salt by half. I used a salsa rather than the chipotle in the cheese spread, and used it again for the dip layer. I used yellow bell pepper for great aesthetics and omitted the olives for personal preference. It was delicious with chips and with raw veggies. I think I’ll try it as the fill for a gluten free wrap for lunch! Thank you so much – my brother’s girlfriend thanked me more than once for making this.
Berni says
Made this last night for family. They were absolutely wowed!!! It was really delicious. The cheese spread layer was unbelievably good and SO tasty. I didn’t have any garlic powder for the cheese spread layer so used fresh garlic but didn’t add it until just before the final blend. Also I couldn’t get the chillis in the sauce you used, (I live in rural Wales, UK) so just added a bit of chipotle sauce. And the last thing …..I didn’t notice that my dry mix should have had more cashews in than if I was going to just make the sprinkle – I added them after I ‘creamed’ everything so they left it a little bit ‘grainy. No worries!! It was still amazing. Thank you so much for this and the other fantastic recipes. Berni
Katrwa says
My meat-and-potatoes man loved this! My son wants to bring it for lunch to school. A big hit in our protein-loving household. Very easy ~ thanks! Will check out more of your recipes ~ love anything minimalist!
Mariah says
Made this and brought it to a potluck where I was the only vegan and it was a hit! :) I made it the night before and it was still just as amazing the next evening.
Donna D. says
Made this for a group of non-vegans and they cobbled it up in minutes! Love it!
Christin says
I was asked to bring a “bean dip” to a family party. Since I’m vegan, my brother said he thought “beans” were something I would know, ha! So I made this recipe and it was a HUGE hit! Thanks so much for this simple (thankfully) yet amazing recipe!
Amber says
Have you tried heating this up at all? Would that yield good results? Appreciate all the recipes and can’t wait to try this dip, especially the vegan queso! Who knew it could be so easy to make! Thanks, A
Katrwa says
I did heat up the beans and melted the cheese down over that layer. The rest layered chilled on top. Such a nice juxtaposition with warm and cold, the cheesy and the crunchy,…. totally recommend!
Kate says
Eek! The recipe doesn’t say to soak the cashews. I thought it was weird, but followed the recipe as written and ended up having to use a lot of water to smooth it out. Maybe update?
Mary says
I took the dip to a ladies lunch today. It was such a hit. thanks for the great recipes.
Laurie Stevens says
How long does this keep in refrigerator after making?
recipe easy vegan says
What’s up, after reading this awesome piece oof writing i am ass well cheerful
to share mmy familiarity here with colleagues.
Anukampa says
Incredible. This Dip Looks amazing Olives are my favourite…My husband will love it for sure. Thanks for sharing Am making this for sure for our next friends get together.
Shelley says
Sounds and looks amazing! Where did you find the vegan queso??
Hayley says
Made this for an office party! Told everyone what it was after everyone had a few bites. Everyone LOVED it. Some even went back for 3rds!!
Cydney says
Have made this bean dip twice now, and it’s always a hit! It’s already been requested for my Super Bowl party tomorrow :) Thank you!
Gabe says
Serving size 1/3 cup? Good luck with that one! :-)
Erin Drybanski says
I made this for a New Years party last night and it was completely devoured. Everyone went on and on about how good it was, and they couldn’t believe it was vegan. I made it with the cashew-less queso and it was so so good. Thank you for such a great dish.
Jena @fuelingafitfam says
Who can turn down a seven layer dip?! This looks amazing! I am always looking for delicious healthy party ideas! This will definitely be an option at our Holiday party, along with the Green Chili Queso! Yum!
Abigail says
I LOVED this recipe. Made it for friends and they loved it too! Thanks for such a wholesome, tasty dish!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Abigail!
Timaree says
I just made this for my son’s birthday party (he turned 42 yesterday). He loved it and I thought it was good too. I told him the chili con queso seemed a bit too hot for me and he said it had no heat to him! It workded out so well as I made regular 7 layer dip for everyone else but he got to have it too with your recipe! Thank you, thank you!
Yay! Glad everyone enjoyed it, Timaree!
Candice says
I’ve made this recipe three times for three different groups of people, and all three times I left with an empty container and pleas for the recipe. EVERYBODY loves it!!
Yay! I love this one, too!!
erin says
Just made this for my guests and kinda rudely ate pretty much all of it:D it was great, tanx! I’m sure my friends would of liked it too.
Meg says
This is a great recipe – however, I think the proportion of queso is too little – the entire recipe of queso would’ve been better (otherwise feels overwhelmed by the beans!).
Becky says
Oh my! This looks amazing. Your photos are so beautiful. What a yummy rendition of 7-layer dip. Thanks!
Kati says
Hello! This looks amazing. Although a bit hard to fetch nutritional yeast flakes here in the UK, unless ordering online. I do want to try it at some point but I’m curious as to what chips you are using? Can’t seem to find any chips that look like that here!
Mary Ann says
Not only does this look colorful and exciting…the flavor is out of this world! Thank you so much for this first of many of your recipes that I will be trying!
Dan says
I made this yesterday and it was super delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe. I mashed black beans instead of usino refrieds, spiced them up a bit. So good. The carnists at the party liked it more than their meat dips….and that’s saying something. :)
manchuan says
hi! made this last night for new year’s eve dip. big success, thanks! thanks for adding to vegan options …
Brianna Tickel says
This was AMAZING!!!! My family just ate it for dinner and they all loved it! I didn’t reveal what the cheese sauce was until we were halfway done. And my hubby kept eating! Haha!!
mandy says
This was delicious! Thanks for posting:)
Christina Brichetto says
Brought this to a fish fry/Texans game party. My co-workers ate it within 10 minutes! No one knew it was vegan!! You are awesome Dana!
Thanks, Jackie!
Felicity says
Ha ha Dana, I love it! “Game-day style snacking”. Amen to that. That’s something related to sports watching that I can get on board with! Love your recipes. Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Felicity! Hope you love it!
Sarah says
Oh my! That looks heavenly! I can’t wait to try it. I’ve been on such a Mexican kick lately.
I’m always on a Mexican kick ;D
Danielle says
This looks so perfect!
Not to mention the ingredients!
So much health in one dish!
Ellen Lederman says
This looks gorgeous. You two have the right idea—enjoy treats that are like those enjoyed by football fanatics without having to watch a bunch of overpaid big guys with not-that-high-IQs (there! I said it!) tackle each other…and much healthier, homemade treats as well. This and some Buffalo cauliflower “wings” and we can have our own SuperBowl party!
Bec says
That looks like 7 layers of dip heaven!
Angie Dahlstrom says
You have turned me into a vegan cashew cheese believer with this delicious seven layer dip recipe. Not that I’ve ever been anti-vegan by any means however the commercial vegan cheeses I have tried thus far have left much to be desired. My husband, a huge dairy fan, also loved it and I had to convince him this recipe contained no cheese as your cashew cheese alternative was that good!! Thank you for giving us healthier non-dairy options to try!
Yay! That’s amazing news – husband-approved and impressed!
Caroline says
I am so with you…totally not a sports fan…but love the great snacks! This looks and sounds delicious and so much less guilty than traditional 7 layer dip. Pinning to make soon!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Loving this soooo much!! There’s something so comforting about Mexican dip…I’m all over it!
Vanessa @ VeganFamilyRecipes says
This looks amazing! I’ll take Netflix over football too. However, I think I’ll take this amazing looking dip over Netflixs too. I think it will require my full concentration. Absolutely love it. Stunning pictures!
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
Yum! I think I got progressively more and more hungry as I watched you add on each layer :)
jaime // the briny says
I’m with Medha — there’s some kind of hunger multiplication factor with each layer that went on!
this looks delicious; a refreshing take on the often overly goopy seven layer dip. hooray!
Tracy | Pale Yellow says
I don’t think 7-layer dip should be saved for football games, I always think of it as a NYE food!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
This looks like the perfect thing to eat while I pretend to watch the game :-).
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Now this is seriously a delicious dip! Definitely could devour a bowlful with some corn chips right now.. love it!
Chloe says
oh my god, this looks so unbelievably good!!
Karishma says
This looks like it would warm you right up! I totally agree with you I feel like the snacks are the best part.
jenna @ just j.faye says
Yup, this looks amazing!
Maryea {happy healthy mama} says
This is such a pretty dish! The colors are gorgeous. I love football, but since having kids, rarely watch a whole game. That won’t stop me from making game day snacks though!
Danielle @ Chits and Chats and Chocolate says
It looks so colorful and creamy, I want to just take the whole bowl and eat it with a spoon! And I agree with you; I like keeping the game day snacks, but dumping the game.