Vegan Loaded Baked Potato Dip

OMFG. This Vegan Loaded Baked Potato Dip will make your eyes roll back in your head. It’ll make you run around outside in the snow without your shoes on screaming about how good it is. More than anything, it’ll remind you that you gave up nothing in the food-flavor department by going vegan. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

It’s so good.

Let me put it to you this way: After seeing how popular the original is on Pinterest and deciding to veganize it, I figured it would be good. Really good, even.

But. I was blown away by how delicious it actually turned out to be. It’s creamy, bacony, and when combined with a hearty potato chip it tastes just like a loaded baked potato- vegan style.

And let me just tell you that I needed some decadent yumminess in my life right now. We sold the house (again… the first buyers fell through) and we closed on it at the beginning of January. After having those first buyers flake on us though, I was understandably skittish about the whole process. When you think about it, sellers take a lot of risk by entering into another contract or lease in order to be out of the house before closing. I knew the next house would be a rental for now, but I was terrified of signing a lease on the new place, paying movers to take all the furniture there, moving the pets, etc… then having the buyers back out the morning of closing. The thought of being stuck with both a mortgage and a lease freaked me out. Worrying about this unlikely situation was literally keeping me up at night.

So we did what many people do when faced with a problem: we threw money at it. We negotiated with the buyers to rent the house back from them for a month after closing. It was expensive but it also meant I didn’t have to sign a lease or hire movers until after the whole thing was a done deal. Money well spent, in my opinion. But it also had an unintended consequence: without an actual “move date” it has allowed me to become the world’s worst procrastinator. We’ve already moved, and the majority of our stuff is either with us or in storage, but there are still about a million things left at the house. Things I definitely don’t need, probably don’t want, and certainly don’t know what to do with. And guess what? It’s stressing me out! And the end of the month is rapidly approaching. And even after we get all the stuff out, we still have to clean. But I can’t clean until after I get rid of the stuff… and I can’t seem to rally myself to deal with the stuff… so I can’t clean. Do you see my dilemma?

You know what? I’m just not going to think about it right now. I’m just going to eat my loaded baked potato dip and pretend everything is alright. I think that’s an okay plan for now.

Vegan Loaded Baked Potato Dip (makes about 2 cups)

Adapted from non-vegan/vegetarian recipe. Note: The original recipe states this dip will last up to a week if refrigerated in an airtight container. Mine only lasted a day, so I can’t attest to that 🙂

Ingredients:

• 8 slices tempeh bacon (I used smoked maple by tofurky)
• a couple pinches of smoked applewood sea salt
• 8 ounces vegan sour cream
• 1 cup Daiya shreds (I mixed cheddar and pepper jack)
• scant 1/4 cup sliced scallions
• Potato chips for serving (I used Ruffles- they’re accidentally vegan and very hearty!)

Directions:

1. Fry tempeh bacon in a pan according to package instructions, adding a pinch or two of the smoked sea salt for extra bacony flavor. When it’s done, slice into slivers.
2. While that’s cooking, mix the cheese, sour cream and scallions. Add the bacon and another pinch of the smoked sea salt, then cover and refrigerate for an hour. Serve with chips of your choice!

Enjoy!