Love the spice and tang of harissa sauce? Us too, and you’ll want to dip everything from celery to the corner of your next sandwich in Chef Jacobs’ Creamy Moroccan Harissa Dip recipe.
If you are looking to serve your crudité, kale chips, or even pizza crusts something other than ranch dressing, this Middle Eastern dip is for you. It’s got all the mild heat, tang, and deep flavor of traditional, homemade harissa sauce (and once you know that recipe, you’re an honorary Moroccan) combined with the creamy goodness of a salad dressing or dip. Did we say salad dressing? Because this stuff is killllllllller on a bed of crunchy lettuce loaded with tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta.
Dip all your tastiest things
Anyway, harrisa dip can be made two ways– sweet or spicy. The only difference between the two is if you decide to add some hot peppers to the mix! Enjoy!
READ MORE: Hellmann’s Vegan Spread is Officially a THING!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of red bell peppers (about 6-8 peppers)
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 cup of Hellmann’s mayo (please, don’t use the ‘other’ stuff… the creamy texture is so essential here)
- 2 small, hot peppers if desired. If you’re into mild smokey heat, try using half of a chipotle pepper here, or ripened fresh reds for more kick.
Recipe
- Soak peppers in ice cold water for an hour until softened.
- Pull out the stems and deseed the peppers.
- Place the peppers with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor.
- Blend until turned into a paste.
- Mix in the mayo and serve!
If you’re feeling really wild, you can top skinless chicken breasts with a generous layer of this harissa dip, sprinkle with some bread crumbs, and bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown– you’ll have a rich, exotic chicken dinner that requires nothing more than a side of rice or salad, and everyone will think you worked way harder than you did.
