Versatile AND Good For You?

Many dips contain good amounts of vegetables or fruit and almost all fresh dips contain vegetable, rapeseed or olive oils meaning they are high in beneficial unsaturated fats and light on unhealthy saturated fats.

Served as a snack with a selection of healthy crudités (instead of crisps and tortilla chips), they’re a tasty way to help you on your way to 5-a-day.

Houmous works effectively as a vegetarian alternative to meat. The different varieties of houmous such as roasted pepper or roasted vegetables come with the natural benefits of added vegetables.

Salsa is naturally high in flavour but low in fat and calories (one tablespoon contains only 10 calories) making it the ideal dip to satisfy the most weight conscious taste buds. It is made from tomatoes, onions and chillies so is a great provider of antioxidants such as lycopene (which give tomatoes their red colour) and quercetin, a flavonoid antioxidant.

Tzatziki is made using Greek yoghurt and cucumber. Greek yogurt contains bone friendly calcium. There are only 20 calories in a level tablespoon of tzatziki making it another dip ideal for those watching the calories.

The nutritious avocado, which is guacamole’s main ingredient, provides antioxidants such as vitamin E and blood pressure-regulating potassium. One tablespoon contains only 25 calories.

Houmous is made with healthy chickpeas and sesame seed paste, so it’s rich in fibre as well as being a good source of protein and a range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (beneficial plant compounds). It also contains folate which is needed to make healthy cells and blood. One tablespoon contains only 45 calories.