Supercharge your regular hummus with all the health benefits of bright pink roasted beets! Not only is it a colorful addition to a crudités platter, but Beet Hummus is full of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients! Shall we?
What is Beet Hummus?
Beet Hummus is a smoothy, creamy dip made of roasted beets and chickpeas blended together, along with garlic, lemon juice and salt for flavor. It's more antioxidant-packed and a bright, colorful twist on traditional hummus.
The best part is, Beet Hummus is so quick and so easy to make!
Ingredients You Need for Beet Hummus
This Beet Hummus recipe requires only a few ingredients, most of which you probably already have.
Here are the ingredients you need:
- Red beet, 1
- Chickpeas, canned for convenience
- Garlic
- Salt
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
These are optional ingredients for mixing into or topping the hummus:
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Paprika or cayenne pepper
- Roasted chickpeas
Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources for Beet Hummus
- Chickpeas. Use good quality canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans, organic if you have access. If you want to start with dried chickpeas, this producer grows chickpeas in California!
- Garlic. Use fresh garlic. You do not have to mince the garlic before adding to the food processor.
- Lemons. One medium size lemon will render about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, so start with two lemons, though you might need three.
- Olive Oil. California grows olives and produces olive oil! I use this California-grown olive oil as a finishing oil, i.e. an oil for drizzling at the end.
- Salt. I use this brand of salt as my everyday cooking salt.
How to Make Beet Hummus
Technically, you could throw everything into a blender or food processor all at once and just let 'er rip; what you end up will be pretty good! But there are a few tiny tips and tricks that can take your Beet Hummus from good to great.
Roast Beets
- Heat oven to 450°F.
- Remove any green tops from beets. Scrub beets, dry off completely, and rub with about 1 teaspoon of avocado oil.
- Wrap beets tightly in foil, place foil pack on a baking sheet, and roast beets until tender, about 40 minutes.
- Remove beets from foil and run under tap water until cool enough to handle. Peel beets by gently rubbing the skins off with your hands—wear gloves if you don't want to stain your hands—or by using two paper towels.
- Chop roasted beets, reserving about 2 tablespoons of chopped beets for garnish.
Make Hummus
Drain chickpeas and rinse.
Optional step to level up: Remove the thin, diaphanous skins from the chickpeas either by gently squeezing each chickpea and popping it out of the skin, or by placing a clean kitchen towel or paper towel on a flat surface, laying the chickpeas in a single layer, and rubbing them gently with a second kitchen towel or paper towel.
Place the chickpeas in a food processor and process until you get a dry, stiff, crumbly mixture. This will take about three minutes.
Add the chopped roasted beets, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse the machine until the mixture moves smoothly in the bowl. The mixture will still be thick and somewhat stiff.
With the machine running, add ice cold water 1 tablespoon at a time until the hummus is smooth and the consistency you prefer. For 1 can of chickpeas, I usually end up using 2 tablespoons, resulting in hummus with the consistency of thick frosting.
Stop the machine and taste the hummus. Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed. Scrape the hummus into a serving bowl, drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil and garnish with reserved chopped roasted beets and fresh herbs.
Pro Tips and Techniques
- Roast ALL the Beets. If you have a bunch of beets, and if you're going to turn on the oven, you might as well roast all the beets in your bunch so they'll be prepped and ready for future use.
- Use pre-cooked packaged beets. To save yourself time, use packaged pre-cooked beets, usually found in the refrigerated part of a produce department at your grocery store.
- Simmer Canned Chickpeas. If you have the time, simmer the drained chickpeas in enough water to cover the chickpeas by an inch and one teaspoon of baking soda for 15 minutes. The baking soda will break down the chickpeas. It doesn't matter if you simmer with or without the skins on. If you leave the skins on, a lot of them will come off anyway. You can skim them out of the pot with a slotted spoon. Drain the chickpeas and proceed with the recipe as directed.
- Let the Beet Hummus rest. If you let the Beet Hummus rest for about 15 minutes before actually serving, the flavors will loosen up and settle into each other. I don't know what the chemistry is there, but it works.
Can I Make Ingredient Substitutions?
- Other Beans. Though "hummus" literally translates from Arabic to English as chickpeas or garbanzo beans, you can definitely use other light colored beans or legumes to make a puréed, hummus-like dip with roasted beets! Cannellini beans aka white kidney beans and Great Northern beans are both good substitutes.
- Lime for Lemon. You can substitute lime juice for lemon juice in this recipe!
Health Benefits of Beets
One 3.5 ounce serving of avocado, which is ½ of a medium sized beet:
- provides 2 grams of dietary fiber
- has only 44 calories per serving
- is good source of folate
- contains betalains, which are anti-inflammatory and have anti-cancer properties
Dietary Considerations and Health Benefits of Beet Hummus
This recipe for Beet Hummus as published, is:
- 100% plant-based, suitable for vegans
- vegetarian
- dairy-free
- gluten-free
- refined sugar-free
In addition to the health benefits of beets above, Beet Hummus also includes the protein-rich and fiber-forward health benefits of chickpeas. 1 cup of canned chickpeas provides 10.7 grams of protein and 9.6 grams of fiber! (source: USDA)
Tools and Equipment
- High power blender to blend the chickpeas
- Food processor
- Silicone spatula
- Garlic press if you want to start with minced garlic, though your blender or food processor will be able to do the work for you!
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
How to Use Beet Hummus
- spoon into small bowls as a dip for veges
- slather on toast and garnish with avocado
- spread in a sandwich or wrap
- dollop onto a grain bowl
- onto a platter for a Loaded Hummus Party Platter
How to Make a Loaded Hummus Platter:
- Spread hummus directly onto a serving platter
- Chop any or all of the following toppings and sprinkle over the hummus:
- tomatoes, fresh or sun-dried
- peppers, roasted or raw
- cucumber
- fresh dill, mint and parsley
- artichoke hearts
- olives
- radishes
- red onion
- roasted beets
- feta
- almonds, pistachios or walnuts
- Drizzle with a little extra olive and oil and lemon juice
- Serve with fresh pita bread, pita chips, or vegetable crudités
Best Creamy Hummus Variations
Beet Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized beet
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas reserve a few whole chickpeas reserved to use as garnish
- 1 clove garlic peeled, crushed, and inner green stem removed
- ¼ cup tahini paste
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
- ice cold water in a small bowl or glass as needed by the tablespoon, for texture
- optional garnish for serving as dip: extra virgin olive oil extra whole chickpeas, chopped fresh soft herbs e.g. parsley, mint, dill
- serve with: mezze vegetable crudites, grilled flatbread, just itself
Instructions
Roast Beets
- Heat oven to 450°F.
- Remove any green tops from beets. Scrub beets, dry off completely, and rub with about 1 teaspoon of avocado oil.
- Wrap beets tightly in foil, place foil pack on a baking sheet, and roast beets until tender, about 40 minutes.
- Remove beets from foil and run under tap water until cool enough to handle. Peel beets by gently rubbing the skins off with your hands—wear gloves if you don't want to stain your hands—or by using two paper towels.
- Chop roasted beets, reserving about 2 tablespoons of chopped beets for garnish.
Make Beet Hummus
- Drain chickpeas and rinse. Remove the thin, diaphanous skins from the chickpeas either by gently squeezing each chickpea and popping it out of the skin, or by placing a clean kitchen towel or paper towel on a flat surface, laying the chickpeas in a single layer, and rubbing them gently with a second kitchen towel or paper towel. The first method is slow, repetitive, and for two cans of chickpeas, takes about 25 minutes. I consider it meditation.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the crushed garlic until chopped. Pour peeled, canned chickpeas into the food processor and pulse until the chickpeas are puréed. The mixture will be thick and may require stopping the machine several times and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the chopped beets, tahini, half the lemon juice, and salt, and pulse until the mixture moves smoothly in the bowl. Add cold water by the tablespoon to the food processor as it is running until the hummus is smooth and the consistency you prefer. I usually end up using 2 tablespoons of cold water, resulting in hummus with the consistency of thick frosting.
- Taste, add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed.
- Scrape the hummus into a serving bowl, drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil and garnish with chopped fresh herbs.
Zoe says
At what point do you add beetroot?
And what prep do you do to the beetroot