This roasted garlic white bean dip has a secret ingredient: cottage cheese! It lends a super creamy texture and healthy protein boost to each bite.

I went through a Giada phase back in the early 2000s.

I mean, didn’t we all?

She was mesmerizing with her perfect outfits, always manicured nails and delicious fresh Italian food. I could literally spend hours on Food Network watching Everyday Italian (and every other show after she went on to do).

This resulted in no less than 4 cookbooks of hers (which I still have today) gifted to me by family members who knew my obsession over the years.

*This roasted garlic white bean dip is made in partnership with Muuna cottage cheese.

There’s obviously more recipes than I could ever make in those books but one of her simplest appetizers, a white bean dip, is one I’ve made countless times both for parties and even when it’s just the two of us to snack on before dinner.

It’s simple, it’s easy and it’s different enough from all the regular party dips out there to stand out without being too weird and polarizing.

Kind of like this vegan spinach artichoke dip.

It’s also what inspired this roasted garlic white bean dip today.

There’s one thing about Giada’s dip that while not unhealthy per se, annoys the macro-counting me these days:

the fat content.

Her recipe uses olive oil to give the dip that creamy consistency (almost like you’d do with pesto) and if we’re being honest, I don’t really enjoy using up my fats for the day on oils.

Um hello, that’s why things like nut butter, exist.

This is when the idea to use cottage cheese popped into my head.

One of the things I love best about Muuna is how creamy and smooth the texture is (this is not the lumpy cottage cheese from your childhood!).

It’s great for snacking straight up but in this case, it also lends itself perfectly to adding to the roasted garlic white bean dip for that creamy, silky texture you want out of a dip.

The bonus is the fat content is greatly reduced since it replaces the olive oil and you get an added protein boost (a whopping 19g of protein in just one 5.3 ounce container of their 120 calorie low-fat plain cottage cheese and only 4g of sugar!).

That’s why I use cottage cheese in these perfect protein pancakes!

You know what this means, right?

Now you can have your dip and your nut butter with dessert.

Winning!

Oh and ps- there are 2 ENTIRE heads of roasted garlic up in there. You’re both welcome and warned. #notdatefood

Roasted garlic fan? You’ll probably be a fan of this roasted garlic whipped goat cheese recipe too.

Love this roasted garlic white bean dip recipe?

This roasted eggplant fennel pizza and roasted garlic Greek yogurt smashed potatoes are more great roasted garlic recipes to try.

Or try out this olive oil bread dip for another tasty option!