This cold vegan fruit dip is made extra creamy and rich with vegan cream cheese and fresh strawberries. It's the perfect dairy free appetizer to serve for picnics, Valentine's day, Mother's day and more. Enjoy it with your favorite fruits, Vegan Apple Fries, and chocolate cookies.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Great for hosting. There is nothing guests enjoy more than a delicious dip with an array of dippers to choose from. If you love this fruit dip, you'll also love serving my Vegan Sugar Cookie Dip and Vegan Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board. If you want to serve a savory dip alongside this sweet fruit dip, try one of The Best 20 Dairy Free Dip Recipes (vegan).
- Simple. Making homemade dip couldn't get any easier. All you need is 6 ingredients and 10 minutes to prep.
- Naturally gluten free. In addition to being vegan, this healthy fruit dip is gluten free. It's also made without marshmallow fluff and made without most of the top 8 allergens (it only contains tree nuts).
Ingredients and Substitutions
- vegan cream cheese - This is the magic ingredient for making the best fruit salad dip. It makes the dip thick in texture, tangy to balance the sweetness and ultra creamy. There is unfortunately no substitute that can match the texture and flavor of vegan cream cheese. You can find vegan cream cheese at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or most larger grocery stores.
- coconut milk - It is important to use the thick coconut milk from a can. Refrigerated coconut milk in a carton is too thin and watered down and will make your dip runny.
- strawberries - I only recommend using fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries contain too much excess water content and will water down the consistency and flavor of the dip.
- maple syrup - A versatile sweetener to help sweeten up your vegan fruit dip to taste while keeping it refined sugar free. If necessary, you can substitute another liquid sweetener of choice, like agave nectar. Use your leftover maple syrup to make my Just Egg French Toast, or Maple Pecan Vegan Donuts.
Step by Step Instructions
- Process all ingredients together. Place the vegan cream cheese, strawberries, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon in the food processor and process for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the processor and process again for an additional 30 seconds until mostly creamy and smooth.
The dip should be mostly smooth with a bit of texture from small chunks of strawberry.
- Chill for 1 hour. Transfer the fruit dip to a bowl or a container with a lid and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour to thicken.
- Serve. Serve this simple vegan dip with your favorite fruits and dippers of choice.
Best Dipper Recommendations
One of the best parts of vegan fruit dip is how versatile you can be with the dippers. You can stick with just fruit for a healthier dip, or serve with a combination of fruit and dessert-like dippers for an indulgent treat.
Use some of these recommendations to inspire you to make this fruit dip customized to your own taste.
- Vegan Apple Fries
- fresh apple slices
- fresh figs
- peaches
- pineapple
- melons
- banana slices
- strawberries
- chocolate biscotti
- Biscoff Butter Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- pretzels
- chocolate covered pretzels
- vegan graham crackers
- vegan marshmallows
To learn how to create a beautiful spread, check out my tips for making a charcuterie board in my Dairy Free Charcuterie Board post.
FAQs
Although you can freeze fruit dip in theory, I do not recommend it. Dips made with cream cheese often separate when thawed and can lower the quality and texture of the flavor of the dip. This vegan fruit dip is so quick and simple to make, it's best to make it fresh and enjoy as soon as possible.
Yes! Fruit dip is best served chilled, so making it the night before is a great option to prepare for a party or gathering. Just make sure to cover the dip tightly with either a lid or plastic wrap before refrigerating overnight.
This vegan fruit dip will last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
If you are hoping to prep both your vegan fruit dip and dippers the night before, you are in luck. Cut strawberries along with other fruits like melons, pineapple, peaches, figs, etc. can be cut and prepped for a platter the night before. To keep the fruits as fresh as possible, tightly cover them before storing in the refrigerator. The only fruits you may want to avoid prepping the night before are apples and bananas because they will brown.
Expert Tips
- Make sure you have enough time to chill your fruit dip. Although this dip only takes 10 minutes to prepare, factor in an additional hour of chill time.
- Sweeten to taste. Start with 1 to 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and add an additional tablespoon if you think your dip needs more. It's always easy to add more sweetener and hard to correct it if it's too sweet.
More Vegan Appetizers You'll Like
Creamy Vegan Fruit Dip
Equipment
- 1 Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 8 oz vegan cream cheese softened
- 1 cup fresh strawberries
- 2 tbsp coconut milk from a can, use solid portion on top
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor (or blender) and process for 30 seconds.
- Whip down the sides of the processor and blend again for 30 seconds.
- The fruit dip should be 80% smooth, with some small chunks from the strawberries. If it is not mostly smooth yet, repeat step #2.
- Pour the fruit dip into a bowl or container with a lid and allow it to sit for 1 hour in the refrigerator.Note: this is not necessary, but is recommended, as it allows the dip to thicken up.
- Serve with your favorite fruit, cookies, vegan apple fries and anything else you desire!
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