This Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema is an essential ingredient in the Brussels Sprout Nacho recipe that I am sharing on Wednesday. While recreating the nachos at Diego Pops in Scottsdale was the motivation behind this Roast Garlic and Beet Crema recipe, it has so many uses above and beyond topping nachos. Plus, this crema is the most stunning bright pink color.
Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema embraces the flavors of rich roasted garlic and fresh dill, mellowed out by the earthy roasted beet in a creamy sauce. My goal was to recreate the Diego Pop's nachos as closely as possible. But... I wasn't sure how to make the Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema... so I called Diego Pops and asked how they make the sauce. And they gave me a very basic description - which still left lots of room for interpretation. I was told that the crema is made with roasted garlic, roasted beets, sour cream, cream - and the wild card ingredient: Diego Pop's Serrano Ranch Sauce.
So, step one was making ranch. I didn't add the serrano pepper just because I couldn't really taste it in the sauce, and I wanted to simplify what was quickly becoming a bigger undertaking than I had anticipated. This is how the ranch dressing recipe that I recently shared came to life, and it is seriously delicious. I am super proud of it. Some people are proud of their kids, I am proud of my ranch dressing. But, then again, I don't have kids.
The added bonus of making this roasted garlic and beet crema is that you will also end up with ranch dressing.
I know that beets are a somewhat divisive food, but this crema doesn't taste strongly of beets. Their primary purpose is to give the crema it's bright pink color. You see, Diego Pops brings their 6 signature sauces to the table when you order, and these sauce are all color coded. The beets give the sauce a distinctive color that allows Diego Pops patrons to tell the sauces apart.
My primary reason for making this Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema was for the Brussels Sprout Nachos (recipe coming your way on Wednesday), the crema would be a wonderful addition to tacos or a salad. It can also be used as a dipping sauce for fried cheese curds, tater tots, chicken tenders, or vegetables.
The crema does thicken as it sits. You can add buttermilk or cream to thin out the crema as necessary. Or you can keep it thick and serve the crema as a dip.
How to Make Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema:
Roasted Garlic and Beet Crema
Ingredients
For the Ranch Dressing:
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ½ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- ⅓ cup Buttermilk
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Chives
- 1 tablespoon dried Dill more if you love dill
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
For the Roasted Beet Crema:
- ½ cup Ranch Dressing
- 1 clove of Garlic
- ½ a medium Beet roasted
- ¼ cup Sour Cream
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
- You can either buy peeled and steamed beets at Trader Joes (this is an amazing time saver) or you can roast the beet yourself. If you are roasting the beets yourself, do this first. Slice the leaves off the beet, and then slice the beet in half. Place the beet on aluminum foil drizzle olive oil over the top, and then wrap it up in the foil. Place in the oven to roast for 40-50 minutes, until soft.
- Then, roast the garlic. Cut the root end off the garlic, exposing the cloves of garlic. Place in the center of two layers of aluminum foil, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over. Fold the foil up around the garlic, and place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Then remove from the oven and let cool.
- Next, prepare the ranch dressing. Run the garlic through a garlic press. Then place it in a bowl, and mash it with a fork to really break it up. You don't want the dressing to have chunky garlic. Then add the all of the remaining ingredients and whisk.
- To prepare the roasted garlic and beet crema, combine ½ cup of the ranch dressing, the roasted garlic, beet, sour cream, and heavy cream in a blender. You can add additional buttermilk to thin the crema if necessary. I did find that a blender was more effective than a food processor for this task.
- You can store the roasted garlic and beet crema and the ranch dressing in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Notes
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