Sun-Dried Tomato & Cashew Spread with Celery & Pepper
A tangy, savory whipped cashew spread flecked with sun-dried tomato, fresh basil, garlic, and lemon, scooped up with crisp celery boats and sweet red bell pepper strips.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is a snack for anyone who wants something that feels indulgent and rich but is built almost entirely from whole plants. The cashews whip into a creamy base that stands in for a soft cheese dip, while sun-dried tomatoes and garlic give it the deep, savory backbone people usually reach for in a party spread. Served with crunchy celery and sweet pepper, it turns a handful of pantry ingredients into something you would happily set out for guests or keep in the fridge for your own afternoon slump.
The cashews need a soak before anything else. Raw cashews are dense and chalky, but hot water rehydrates them so the food processor can break them all the way down into a smooth, spoonable cream rather than a grainy paste. Blending them with the concentrated sweetness of sun-dried tomato, the sharpness of lemon, and the umami of nutritional yeast builds layers of flavor that taste like they took far longer than they did. Folding the basil in at the very end with just a few pulses keeps it fresh and green-tasting instead of muddy.
Creamy fat, plant protein, and fresh crunch in every bite. The cashews and olive oil bring richness that lingers and keeps you full, the nutritional yeast adds a cheesy savoriness without any dairy, and the raw celery and pepper give cool, watery crispness that balances the density of the spread. It is the kind of snack that feels like a treat while quietly delivering fiber, healthy fat, and a real dose of vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 celery stalks, cut into boats
- 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
Instructions
- Soak the cashews: Place the raw cashews in a heatproof bowl and cover them with hot water. Let them soak until they turn plump and soften enough to dent easily with a fingernail, about 30 minutes (or use just-boiled water and soak 15 minutes). Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the same bowl to soften alongside the cashews, since a leathery tomato will not break down and turns up as chewy specks in a smooth spread. Drain everything well in a fine sieve and shake off the excess water.
- Prep the aromatics and vegetables: Peel the garlic clove. Stack the basil leaves, roll them into a tight bundle, and slice across into thin ribbons, then give them a rough chop; set the basil aside. Trim the ends off the celery stalks and cut each into short, scoopable boats, because the natural channel down a celery stalk is what holds a spread this thick. Core and seed the red bell pepper and slice it into slim strips for dipping.
- Blend the spread: Add the drained cashews, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, and salt to a food processor along with a splash of fresh water. Run the machine until the mixture climbs from gritty to thick and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides once or twice. Add a little more water only as needed to keep it moving, since every spoonful thins it and there is no taking it back out. Aim for spreadable rather than runny, about the texture of a soft dip.
- Fold in the basil: Add most of the chopped basil and pulse just a few times so it streaks through the spread without turning it green. Taste, then adjust with a pinch more salt or a squeeze more lemon until the flavor is bright and savory.
- Serve: Spoon the spread into a bowl, smooth the top, and drizzle lightly with olive oil, which keeps the surface from drying into a skin while the bowl sits out. Garnish with the reserved basil and arrange the celery boats and red pepper strips alongside for dipping.
Variations
- Extra garlicky: Blend in more garlic, or roast the cloves first for a mellower, sweeter depth that spreads more evenly through the base.
- Spicy kick: Blend in a pinch of red pepper flakes or a spoonful of harissa for gentle heat that plays off the sweet sun-dried tomato.
- Briny and bold: Pulse in a few pitted olives or a spoonful of capers at the end for a salty, briny tang.
- Herb swap: Trade the basil for fresh parsley, dill, or chives to shift the spread toward a brighter, greener flavor.
- More dippers: Round out the platter with cucumber rounds, endive leaves, or radish halves for extra color and crunch alongside the celery and pepper.
Storage & Leftovers
Store the spread in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where it keeps well for about four to five days. Press a piece of parchment or plastic directly onto the surface to keep the top from drying out, and keep the cut celery and pepper in a separate container so they stay crisp.
This spread is meant to be eaten cold or at room temperature, so there is no reheating involved. If it has firmed up in the fridge, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes and stir in a splash of water or a little olive oil to loosen it back to a scoopable texture.
To get ahead, make the spread a day or two in advance; the garlic and sun-dried tomato flavors actually deepen as it rests. Wait to fold in the fresh basil until closer to serving so it stays bright, and cut the vegetables the morning you plan to serve them.
Notes & Tips
- Do not skip the soak: Soaking is what separates a silky spread from a gritty one. If you are short on time, a quick soak in just-boiled water softens the cashews in about a third of the time.
- Choose your tomatoes: Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes are already soft and blend in quickly; drier, bagged ones need soaking first or they will leave chewy bits in the finished spread.
- Water in small doses: Add water a splash at a time while blending. Too much at once turns the spread thin and hard to thicken back up, so err on the side of stiff and loosen gradually.
- Season at the end: Sun-dried tomatoes and nutritional yeast both bring saltiness, so taste before adding more salt, then brighten with lemon if it tastes flat.
- Save some basil for the top: Reserving a little chopped basil to garnish keeps the color fresh and signals the flavor before the first bite; blending all of it in tends to dull both.
- Double it for a crowd: The spread scales easily and holds for days, so make extra when you have the food processor out and use it through the week as a dip or a sandwich filling.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Cashews, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon do the work in the blender. The cashews make it thick and creamy, the tomatoes make it tangy and deep red, and the lemon keeps a spread this rich from feeling heavy.
- Cashews blend into something genuinely creamy because of how soft and starchy they are, and they carry plant protein and monounsaturated fat that keep an afternoon snack sitting with you.
- Sun-dried tomatoes bring the sweet-sour concentration you taste first, chewy before they are blended and jammy afterward, and their lycopene and potassium come concentrated the same way the flavor does.
- Celery stalks are cold, watery and stringy in the good way, and strips of red bell pepper are sweeter and firmer, snapping as you bite. Both are mostly water, and the pepper is loaded with vitamin C.
- Nutritional yeast and raw garlic push the whole thing savory and sharp, olive oil smooths the texture, torn basil goes in at the end for sweetness, and a little salt makes the tomatoes taste more like themselves.
- As you eat, feel how cold and wet the celery is against a spread that is thick and deeply savory, and let the snack have its own few minutes rather than sharing them with a screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this without a food processor?
A high-speed blender works well, though you may need to stop and scrape more often and add a touch more water to keep the blades moving. Soaking the cashews thoroughly matters even more with a blender, since it does more of the softening work.
My spread turned out grainy. What went wrong?
The cashews likely were not soaked long enough or were not fully softened before blending. Cover them with fresh hot water, soak until they dent easily, then blend again; running the machine a little longer also helps smooth out any remaining grit.
It came out too thick to dip. How do I fix it?
Blend in fresh water a splash at a time until it loosens to a scoopable, creamy texture. A little extra olive oil or lemon juice will also thin it while adding flavor.
Can I use roasted cashews instead of raw?
Raw cashews give the cleanest, creamiest result and let the tomato and basil flavors come through. Roasted, salted cashews will make the spread noticeably nuttier and saltier, so if you use them, hold back on the added salt and taste as you go.