Last March my husband and I were walking through Trader Joe’s and we came upon their Chipotle Black Bean Dip. We immediately put one in our cart, and once we cracked the jar open it was love at first bite! As with most food that I enjoy, I was inspired to recreate it in my own kitchen. And so I did!
This bean dip rocks because of its smoky, chipotle-y, and super rich flavor. I like to eat mine as an appetizer or snack with plantain chips, but they’re also awesome with normal tortilla chips, nestled in a taco shell, or as a side dish in your next south of the border themed meal.
The bonus: this is the easiest thing to make. Ever. AND, it’s healthy. TJ’s version has sugar and food additives. By making it yourself you have the benefit of knowing exactly what is in your bean dip. Are you excited? I am! 😛
Sidenote – if you don’t want to or don’t have the time to make your own copycat bean dip, it’s not the end of the world. Besides the less-than-desirable ingredients, I think TJ’s version is pretty clean and I would DEFINITELY still buy it myself. You gotta make compromises and sometimes that means you eat food additives and a little more sugar than you’d like. Not the end of the world.
But if you’re a DIY-er like me, have a few spare minutes, and totally geek out over squeaky clean ingredients, read on!
So what’s in my copycat dip? Let me tell you:
Extra-virgin olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Tomato paste
Coriander
Chili Powder
Smoked Paprika
Chipotle powder, optional
Black beans (shocker, I know!)
White vinegar
The biggest surprise is the chipotle is optional. In order to get the desired chipotle flavor, I had to add a whole heck of a lot of chipotle which made it unbearably SPICY! I compensated by adding in smoked paprika, and the taste of my copycat recipe still ended up a good replica for TJ’s version. And you can still add in very small amounts of chipotle powder, just be careful!
Nutrition
Black beans are a good source of folate, manganese, magnesium, thiamin and fiber. One serving of this has about 9 grams of protein. If you want to make this dish a fun project, you could sprout the beans which will increase the protein content by 15-30%! If you sprouted the beans and paired this dish with some rice (if you can tolerate it) you’d have a complete protein and a good vegetarian meal (I’d still add lots of veggies though).
Chinese Energetics
Black beans are warming and sweet and correspond with the energetics of the Kidney. They are good for reproductive organs and tonify Yin and Blood. The black beans can be sprouted in this recipe, and sprouting is energetically most relevant in spring and summer. Sprouting makes the food super vital and abundant in Qi.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ of a medium onion, diced finely
- ½ tsp minced garlic (~1 clove)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1.5 tbsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp of chipotle powder, optional (be careful, this will add a lot of spice)
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1 15.5 oz can of black beans (drained), or 1 ¼ cup of soaked, sprouted and cooked black beans
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add olive oil to the pan and then the onion. Sauté for five minutes or until onion becomes translucent.
- Add garlic, tomato paste, and all spices. Continue sautéing for a few minutes until the tomato paste darkens. Take pan off the heat.
- Combine the tomato mixture with black beans and white vinegar in a blender or food processor. Blend until desired consistency (I like it with no chunks). Add salt to taste and enjoy!
