This Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip is so easy to make and totally restaurant-worthy, perfect for any occasion! It's made with canned beans, roasted garlic, fresh sage, and soft goat cheese. It's extra creamy, garlicky, and flavorful. Serve it with chips, crackers, or crudites. Perfect for the holiday season!
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Why You'll Love This White Bean Dip
Flavorful and light - Cannelini beans and goat cheese make the dip extra creamy while roasted garlic (yes, the whole bulb!) and sage add a ton of flavor. The dip has only a touch of olive oil, much less oil than store-bought dips, so it's very light too. Pine nuts and crispy sage on top really bring it together and make it totally restaurant-worthy!
Great for the holidays - This dip is fancy enough to be served at a holiday party, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other celebration. However, it's still easy enough to make for a Friday family dinner. You really can't go wrong with this dip, and it's always a hit!
Easy to make - While roasting garlic, toasting pine nuts, and frying sage might sound intimidating if you've never done it, it's all much easier than you think! The oven does most of the work for the garlic, and you can toast the pine nuts and prep everything else while the garlic roasts.
Ingredients
- Canned white beans - You can always cook your own beans for this, but I always use canned beans to speed things up. For this dip, I used cannellini beans, but butter beans would be great here too.
- Roasted garlic - You'll need a whole head of garlic for this dip! Once you roast it, it develops a delicious, deeper, caramelized flavor. It's nowhere near as pungent as raw garlic, so you don't have to be hesitant to use the whole head. For more tips, head over to How to Roast Garlic in the Oven.
- Soft goat cheese - Creamy goat cheese or regular cream cheese helps to make the dip extra creamy. You can use dairy-free cream cheese if needed.
- Olive oil - Extra virgin olive oil adds flavor, it emulsifies with the other ingredients in the blender, and ties everything together.
- Lemon - You'll need both lemon juice and lemon zest, so I recommend using fresh lemon here. Use organic lemons for lemon zest whenever possible.
- Sage - You'll need fresh sage for both the dip and the garnish. The dip has raw sage, and the rest is fried in butter for garnish. It crisps up beautifully and adds a ton of flavor to the dip.
- Butter - I highly recommend using butter, not oil, for frying the sage. It adds so much more flavor. I use unsalted butter and sprinkle the sage with salt while it's still hot, but you can use salted butter instead as well. You can use vegan butter.
- Toasted pine nuts - This is totally optional, but I also like to add some toasted pine nuts as garnish. They add crunch and more flavor. You don't need any oil for this; they release oil when you heat them up.
Variations and Substitutions
- Make it vegan-friendly - You can fry the sage in vegan butter and add dairy-free cream cheese to the dip instead of goat cheese to make it fully vegan.
- Different beans - I use cannellini beans in this recipe, but you can use any other white beans you have, like lima beans (butter beans), navy beans, or great northern beans.
Step-by-Step Instructions
There are 3 steps to this recipe. First, you'll roast the garlic, then blend the dip, and finally fry the sage leaves in butter. I recommend doing that right before serving because they can lose their crispiness if they sit for too long.
White Bean Dip
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Carefully slice the top of the garlic bulb off to reveal the cloves.
- Wrap the garlic bulb in foil and place it in a small baking sheet.
- Drizzle the cloves with olive or avocado oil and wrap in the foil.
- Roast for 40-50 minutes until soft and caramelized. Be careful when opening the foil; there will be hot steam. Allow it to cool slightly before removing the cloves.
- Toasted pine nuts (optional): While the garlic is roasting, you can toast some pine nuts in a dry pan until golden brown. Toast them over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool while you make the dip.
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- Add white beans, soft goat cheese, fresh sage, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper to a food processor.
- Add the roasted garlic - use a fork to pull off the roasted garlic cloves, peeling some of the skin to get them out, or simply squeeze them out.
- Process until smooth. You may need to scrape the sides a few times.
- While the food processor is running, stream in the olive oil.
- Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Store in the fridge until ready to eat.
Crispy Sage
- Remove the sage leaves from their stems, making sure they’re completely dry. If there’s water, they won’t crisp up.
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the fresh sage leaves, giving each out enough space.
- Lower the heat to avoid the butter burning, and fry the sage for 2-3 minutes. I like using tongs to turn the leaves carefully to get them extra crispy.
- Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to drip off any excess butter.
- Serve the dip topped with the fried sage leaves. You can crush some of them and stir them into the dip. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
Serve the dip with your favorite crackers or chips. I like to serve it with either simple salty crackers, Mary's Superseed Crackers, or my favorite local garlic parmesan crackers. If you want to keep it lighter, serve it with crudites like sliced bell peppers, carrots, or cucumbers.
Storing Make-Ahead Options
You can store the dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. I don't recommend freezing the dip because the texture might turn more grainy after defrosting.
You can definitely make this dip the day before, and I actually recommend this! It gives the dip some time to thicken and for the flavors to develop.
You can toast the pine nuts ahead of time as well. The only thing I recommend making right before serving is the crispy sage.
FAQs
I strongly recommend roasting the garlic, but if you really want to speed things up, you can add 1 grated clove of garlic and ¼-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder instead. It won't have the same caramelized garlic flavor, but it will be garlicky! Remember that raw garlic is much more pungent than when it's roasted.
Similar Dips
If you're looking for other dips for your party or holiday table, check out any of the four recipes below! They're all tried and true and so good! To see all the latest ones, head over to Dips, Dressing, and Spreads.
- Whipped Ricotta Dip
- Whipped Feta Dip with Hot Honey (a reader favorite!)
- Roasted Eggplant Dip
- Beet Dip with Goat Cheese
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Print📖 Recipe
Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip with Sage
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Dip
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip is so easy to make and totally restaurant-worthy, perfect for any occasion! It's made with canned beans, roasted garlic, fresh sage, and soft goat cheese. It's extra creamy, garlicky, and flavorful. Serve it with chips, crackers, or crudites. Perfect for the holiday season!
Ingredients
White Bean Dip
- 1 garlic bulb
- 1 tsp olive oil or avocado oil
- ¼ cup pine nuts (optional)
- 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed (13.5 oz can, I used cannellini)
- ¼ cup soft goat cheese (or cream cheese)
- 4-5 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Crispy Sage
- A handful of fresh sage leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt (omit when using salted butter)
Instructions
White Bean Dip
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Carefully slice the top of the garlic bulb off to reveal the cloves.
- Wrap the garlic bulb in foil and place it in a small baking sheet. Drizzle the cloves with olive or avocado oil and wrap in the foil.
- Roast for 40-50 minutes until soft and caramelized. Be careful when opening the foil; there will be hot steam. Allow it to cool slightly.
- Toasted pine nuts (optional): While the garlic is roasting, you can toast some pine nuts in a dry pan until golden brown. Toast them over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool while you make the dip.
- Add white beans, soft goat cheese, fresh sage, lemon zest, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper to a food processor.
- Add the roasted garlic - use a fork to pull off the roasted garlic cloves, peeling some of the skin to get them out, or simply squeeze them out.
- Process until smooth. You may need to scrape the sides a few times.
- While the food processor is running, stream in the olive oil.
- Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Store in the fridge until ready to eat.
Crispy Sage
- Remove the sage leaves from their stems, making sure they’re completely dry. If there’s water, they won’t crisp up.
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the fresh sage leaves, giving each out enough space.
- Lower the heat to avoid the butter burning, and fry the sage for 2-3 minutes. I like using tongs to turn the leaves carefully to get them extra crispy.
- Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to drip off any excess butter.
- Serve the dip topped with the fried sage leaves. You can crush some of them and stir them into the dip. Enjoy!
Equipment
Notes
Storing: Store the dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I don’t recommend freezing it, the texture wouldn’t be the same.
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