How to Add Probiotics to Your Guacamole or Bean Dip

When it comes to appetizers many people believe that dips are the villain, nutritionally speaking. I believe this stems from the fat phobia many of us have. This belief couldn’t be further from the truth.

Dips like guacamole, bean dips, and cultured dairy based dips, like ranch, contribute satiating fats, important vitamins, and delicious flavor.

To boost these dips even more you can add probiotics to them. The double punch of health fats and beneficial bacteria will make dip the nutritional focal point of your snack or meal.

How to Add Probiotics to Your Dip

Almost all dips have an acidic component to them. This might come in the form of lime juice in a guacamole, lemon juice in a white bean dip, or the naturally occurring lactic acid in cultured dairy products.

If you’d like to instantly add probiotics to your dip you can use whey from cultured dairy products as your acidic component. Whey contains vitamins, minerals, and probiotics. It isn’t quite as tangy as vinegar or citrus juices so you may want to use a bit more and always add to taste.

You can further up the probiotic count by allowing your dip to sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen, to allow the whey to culture the naturally occurring sugars in your dip.

This is especially helpful in a bean dip as beans contain a complicated and hard to break down sugar called an oligosaccharide. These sugars are what can often cause digestive discomfort and distress after eating beans. The fermentation action provided by the whey can minimize the sometimes embarrassing after effects of eating bean dips.

Recipes

Guacamole

• 2 large hass avocados, pitted and mashed
• 2-3 tablespoons of whey, or to taste
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and cover with a lid. Eat straight away or allow to culture for 8-12 hours. The surface of the guacamole will oxidize and produce a brown color. This is still perfectly edible and can be eaten as is, stirred in, or scraped off if you prefer.

Hummus or Bean Dip

• 3 cups of your favorite hummus or bean dip recipe
• 1/4 cup whey

Mix up your favorite hummus or bean dip recipe and either replace half of the lemon juice with whey or add whey to the existing recipe. Allow to culture at room temperature for 12 hours - 3 days, depending on temperature. Taste every 24 hours and adjust fermentation time to your liking.

Obviously cultured dairy-based recipes already contain whey and probiotics. For added nutrition you could also replace a bit of the acidic component with whey for an extra dose of probiotics.

So the next time you are putting together an appetizer spread make nutritious, probiotic-rich dips the focal point, not the villain.

Related Articles & Recipes:

• Fermented Vegetable Expert Advice Articles, How-to Videos and Recipes
• Salt vs. Whey vs. Starter Cultures
• Choosing Fermenting Equipment
  
• Sauerkraut Recipe
  
• Cultured Carrot Sticks
  
• Naturally Pickled Green Beans
  

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