Halloween bean dip topped with a vegan sour cream spider web is an easy and fun spooky snack for the season.
Finished with an olive spider, it’s perfect with seasonal tortilla chips for scooping up every last bite. Vegan and gluten-free.
For the past decade or so, my friends and I have taken turns hosting an annual pumpkin carving party.
For the gathering, we always have Halloween snacks and cocktails to nosh on while we plan our jack-o’-lantern designs.
Although the tradition stays much the same year after year, we always make different appetizers and sweets to keep it interesting.
Last year I gave my favorite chipotle black bean dip a terrifying twist by topping it with a vegan sour cream web and olive spider.
Chipotles give the bean dip a wonderful smoky flavor. Along with Mexican spices, tang from apple cider vinegar, and a little sweetness from agave syrup, this is a full-flavored and delicious dip.
It’s finished with a non-dairy sour cream spider web, which offers cool relief from the spicy heat.
Remember it for your Halloween potlucks and get-togethers!
In this post:
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
For the bean dip:
Oil: Avocado oil is my go-to, but use any neutral-flavored cooking oil you like.
Produce: Garlic and onion.
Black beans: Either homemade or canned beans work for this recipe. You’ll need two 15-ounce cans of beans (drained and rinsed), or 3 cups of cooked black beans.
Seasonings: Cumin, ancho chili powder, paprika, granulated onion, and salt.
Ancho chili powder is made with one ingredient – dried ancho chilies. It is flavorful but not hot.
Ancho chili powder can be replaced with standard chili powder, which is a blend of seasonings. Be aware that chili powder blends vary in heat, depending on how much cayenne they include.
Chipotle pepper in adobo: Look for these canned peppers near the salsas, hot sauces, and Mexican ingredients in the shelf stable section of the grocery store. The peppers are canned in adobo sauce, which you’ll also use for this recipe.
Tomato paste: Tomato paste adds umami and depth of flavor. Look for canned, jarred, or tube-style tomato paste in the center aisles of the grocery store near other preserved tomato-based ingredients, like stewed tomatoes.
(If you don’t have tomato paste, it can be replaced with an equal amount of salsa.)
Apple cider vinegar: This adds tang and acid. It can be replaced with white vinegar, rice vinegar, or lime juice.
Agave syrup: This adds a little sweetness to balance the heat in the dip. It can be replaced with your preferred liquid sweetener like maple syrup.
Smoked salt: This adds a subtle smokiness plus salt. Look for it with other flavored salts at the grocery store, specialty cooking stores, or online.
For topping and serving:
Vegan cream cheese or sour cream: For this Halloween dip recipe, you can either use vegan sour cream as-is, or you can thin out and whip vegan cream cheese until it has a sour cream consistency. (See more instructions below.)
Non-dairy milk: You’ll only need this optional non-dairy milk if you’re thinning out vegan cream cheese to make it easier to pipe in a piping bag.
Black olives: Two sliced black olives make up the spider’s body and legs. Canned black olives (the ripe kind that are typically used on pizza) are a good size and shape, but Kalamata also works well for a skinnier spider.
Seasonal tortilla chips: For these pictures, I used leaf-shaped tortilla chips from Trader Joe’s, but any seasonal shapes, flavors, or colors work here – like black and orange or pumpkin tortilla chips.
Step by step instructions
This section shows how to make this recipe at a glance with process photos of the steps. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
1. Saute onions and garlic in an oiled skillet until translucent and fragrant. Then add:
- Drained black beans
- Seasonings: Paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, granulated onion, and salt
- Water
- Chopped chipotle pepper
- Adobo sauce
- Tomato paste
Cook down the water in the beans until it’s mostly gone. Then stir in apple cider vinegar, agave syrup, and smoked salt.
Do you like spicy food? Choose a larger chipotle pepper. If you like things less spicy, choose a smaller pepper or just use the adobo sauce.
2. Transfer the beans to a food processor, blend until creamy, and then spoon the dip into a bowl.
3. Once the Halloween dip has cooled down, you can use a piping bag to top it with a spider web using vegan cream cheese that’s slightly thinned out with non-dairy milk or vegan sour cream.
4. Cut two olives in half. Use one half as a spider body. Cut the other halves into strips, and use six of them for spider legs. Then put the spider onto the web.
Turning vegan cream cheese into sour cream
When I need sour cream for a recipe (like my vegan 7-layer dip), I usually buy Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese instead. Then I whip it with a splash of non-dairy milk until it’s light and creamy.
(Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell vegan sour cream anymore, so this is a good workaround. Plus, the price is really good at $2.99.)
Trader Joe’s vegan cream cheese is very thick and dense, in part because it contains coconut oil, which is solid when cold.
To make it easier to stir or whip, you can let it sit out a while to soften, or put some of it into a microwave-safe bowl. Then microwave for just a few seconds to soften a bit. (Be careful, though. You don’t want it to get warm or liquify.)
Then add a splash of non-dairy milk (about a teaspoon of non-dairy milk per quarter cup of vegan cream cheese), and stir until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
If you’re going to use the entire tub of vegan cream cheese, you can whip it in a blender or food processor instead, which is even easier than stirring.
When using a high-speed blender like a Vitamix, the blades themselves will warm the cream cheese as it whips. So you won’t need much non-dairy milk to blend.
Serving ideas
Serve this spooky bean dip with autumn leaf chips or other Halloween-inspired tortilla chips.
It’s a great snack on its own or alongside these other Halloween appetizers:
- Ghost pita chips
- Halloween charcuterie board
- Air fryer pumpkin seeds
- Peanut butter and chocolate popcorn
(Check out this round-up for all of my Halloween party food ideas!)
Storage
Store leftover Halloween bean dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for about 4 days.
The bean dip also freezes well. (Ideal for planning ahead!)
Freeze the bean dip in a freezer-safe container. When you’re ready to enjoy it, move it to the refrigerator to thaw. Then add the spider web and olive spider just before serving.
If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!
📖 Recipe
Halloween bean dip with spider web (vegan)
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred cooking oil
- ½ cup chopped onion yellow
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans drained and rinsed
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ cup water plus more if necessary
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons adobo sauce
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste or salsa
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon agave syrup or your preferred liquid sweetener
- ½ teaspoon smoked salt
- ¼ cup vegan sour cream or vegan cream cheese (you'll only use about 2 tablespoons for the web design)
- 1 teaspoon non-dairy milk optional
- 2 black olives
Instructions
- Bring a large skillet to a medium heat, and add oil.
- Add onions and garlic to the skillet. Saute until translucent and fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add drained black beans, paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, granulated onion, salt, water, chopped chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and tomato paste to the skillet. Fully combine all of the ingredients, and allow the liquid to cook down until it's mostly gone (roughly 5 to 10 minutes).
- Once the liquid is mostly gone, add apple cider vinegar, agave syrup, and smoked salt. Fully combine, and cook a couple minutes more. Then remove from heat.
- Carefully add the bean mixture to a food processor. Blend on high until mostly smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides. (If you'd prefer a thinner dip, add a Tablespoon of water and blend.)
- Taste for heat and tang. If you'd like a spicier dip, add another chopped chipotle pepper and/or more adobo sauce and blend. If you'd like more tang, add another splash of apple cider vinegar. For more sweetness, add another squeeze of agave syrup.
- Transfer the bean dip to a serving bowl. Allow the bean dip to cool somewhat before adding the vegan sour cream spider web. You can let it come to room temperature on the counter, or cover it and refrigerate.
- If you're using vegan sour cream, skip this step. If you're using a dense vegan cream cheese, it's easier to pipe if it's creamier and lighter. Add the cream cheese to a separate bowl, along with a teaspoon of non-dairy milk. Then stir with a spoon until light and airy.(If the cream cheese is too hard to whip, microwave for just a couple of seconds to soften.)
- When the bean dip has cooled, put about ¼ cup of sour cream or softened and whipped vegan cream cheese into a piping bag or sandwich bag with the tip cut off. (You'll only need about half of that to draw the spider web, but it's easier to pipe clean lines if there's more in the bag.) Then pipe a spider web across the top.
- Cut two black olives in half. Place one half onto the web as a spider body. Then slice the remaining halves into thin strips to be legs. Place 3 strips on each side of the spider body (three on each side).
- Then serve the Halloween bean dip with seasonal tortilla chips for dunking.
Leave a Reply