❤️ 🥦 Best Dip for Veggies | Healthy & Easy in 5 Minutes!

This Greek yogurt pesto dip for veggies is incredibly easy to make and healthy too! It’s made with only 3 ingredients: pesto, Greek yogurt, and kosher salt. This recipe isn’t only easy, it’s healthy too!

Dip for Veggies: Pro Tips

Normally I add these tips at the bottom of my posts. But these tips make this dip for vegetables both beautiful and tasty. I put them here so you wouldn’t miss them!

Tip #1

For a real WOW factor and punch of color, use a red pepper as the vessel for your dip. You can even make a great statement by putting it in a bowl and placing that in a hollowed-out red cabbage like Michael does.

Tip #2

Use kosher salt instead of table salt. Start with a little. Taste it and add more if needed.

Tip #3

When tying the bundles, go EASY. You can use green onions or chives. Green onions don’t break as often as chives do. Have extra on hand, just in case.

Recipe for Veggie Dip

If you’d like to make your own pesto, keep scrolling down for that recipe. This easy veggie dip below uses pre-made pesto, makes about 1 cup of dip for veggies, and approximately 9 vegetable bundles.

Ingredients

Dip

• 1/2 cup pre-made pesto (store-bought or homemade)
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 bell pepper, optional dip container

Fresh Veggie Bundles

• 1 stalk celery
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 medium carrot, washed and peeled
• 1 bunch green onions
• 20 long fresh chives

Instructions

For the dip

1. Wash the red bell pepper and cut the top 1/2 inch off. Remove the seed core and set the pepper aside.
2. Mix together the yogurt, pesto, and salt. Taste and add more salt if necessary.

For the bundles

1. Wash and cut the celery, peppers, and carrot into narrow (1/4 inch by 3 inch) long strips.
2. Cut off the roots of each green onion stalk. Cut the green onion* down to 3 inches.
3. Bundle the vegetables together into 9 groups with at least 1 of each veggie in each group.
4. Tie with a long fresh chive stalk.

*Green onion note: For an optional flavor boost, try dry roasting your green onion in a skillet over medium heat.

Don’t add any oil. Lay them down in a dry pan and let them cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they start to brown. Flip them over and let them lightly brown on the other side. Then add them to your bundles.

How to Make Homemade Pesto

Aside from basil, pesto is made with a handful of easy-to-find ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. It calls for fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pine nuts.

I like to toast the pine nuts to keep the pesto from going rancid. I’ve made pesto with both walnuts and pecans when pine nuts are scarce.

Pesto Ingredients

• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, washed, dried & stems removed
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, ground or freshly grated
• 1/2 cup light virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Pesto Instructions

1. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until it forms a loose paste. Add more olive oil if needed. Tasted and add more salt or lemon juice if desired.

Pesto Tips

Toast your nuts. This may seem like an unnecessary step, but believe me, this little step makes a big difference. Cooking with raw nuts can give your end product a rancid flavor. Toasting them not only prevents this but also gives what you are making a deeper buttery nuttier flavor.

Toast nuts by putting them in a dry (no oil or butter please!) skillet over medium heat. Watch them carefully! Move them around gently and remove them when they start to turn brown. If you are toasting brown nuts like walnuts or pecan, remove them from the pan when you start to smell their nutty aroma.

Use the freshest ingredients possible. Fresh garlic cloves, IMHO, are far superior to chopped garlic in a jar. Juice from a fresh lemon tastes way better any what is squeezed from a yellow plastic lemon.

Variations for Pesto Vegetable Dip

Above is a simple recipe for a pesto greek yogurt dip for veggies. I use Greek yogurt because I like the sharp tanginess of it. It creates a creamy dip without a lot of saturated fat.

Pesto is a powerhouse of flavor. You don’t need to add dry herbs, garlic powder, or fresh herbs to the dip because all of those are packed into the pesto.

If you’re not a fan of Greek yogurt, try using regular plain yogurt. Just please make sure it’s unsweetened! I’ve also used sour cream (full fat) in place of the yogurt and that’s yielded excellent results as well.

If you have sundried tomatoes on hand, mince up a tablespoon and stir those in. I’ve also found a squeeze of lemon is good on just about everything, including this dip.

To spice it up, stir in a dash or 2 of your favorite hot sauce. Or try this recipe for a healthy keto buffalo chicken dip that’s great with a vegetable tray.