Beet Hummus

Beet Hummus - a super creamy beet hummus featuring roasted red beets, tahini, lemon and lots of garlic. A fun variation on regular hummus that’s bright pink and delicious!

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🥣 How to make Beet Hummus: 
• 💭 Tips, Tricks and Tools
• 🥬 Nutrition
• 🍽 Serving Suggestions
• 📖 Recipe
• Beet Hummus

I am a huge hummus fan and I love our Basic Hummus, but this roasted beet hummus is such a fun variation. The bright pink color will add some vibrant style to your next snack board! 

This hummus is also a great way to use up any leftover roasted beets sitting in your fridge (perhaps from our Beet Halloumi Quinoa Bowl). It’s definitely a bonus if your beets are already roasted. 

This Beet Hummus takes regular hummus and simply adds roasted beets. I love using it in bowl meals or as a dipping for raw veggies. 

🧾 Ingredients

The biggest thing I can stress about making great-tasting hummus is high-quality ingredients. If you start off with rancid olive oil or old tahini, you’re going to end up with bad tasting hummus. That’s just a fact. 

Beets - For that bright pink color, go with red beets, but any variety will work. Make sure to scrub your beets and peel them, but don’t toss the peelings. Toss them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Then roast them for crispy beet skin chips. 

Also, if your beets came with greens, use those too! Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper or use them instead of basil to make a beet green pesto.

Chickpeas - You can use canned or dried chickpeas for this recipe. Using dried chickpeas? Simply soak them before cooking them up. I’ve tested both, it just depends on how much time I have and if I’ve thought ahead! I do like the flavor of cooked-from-scratch chickpeas better, but it’s a close call as they both result in a tasty hummus.

Either way, I recommend overcooking the chickpeas a bit so they get extra creamy. If you are using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse them, then transfer to a small pot with water and let it boil for 10-20 minutes. 

Some hummus aficionados recommend boiling them in baking soda, but I haven’t noticed a big difference. If you don’t have the extra time to boil them, it’s not a big deal. Your hummus will still be tasty, but likely not as creamy. 

Removing the chickpea skins can also make your hummus a touch smoother. But again, I don’t notice a big difference and this can be pretty tedious work.

But if you find yourself with a pile of chickpea skins, don’t toss them! Drizzle in olive oil, salt and pepper, then roast for a couple minutes for a crispy treat! Roasted chickpea skins add a seriously good crunch to almost anything. Try them for yourself.

Tahini: Don’t skimp on the tahini. I’ve found the quality of tahini can make or break your hummus.

Tahini can be found in most grocery stores either with the other nut/seed butters or in the ethnic foods section. You can also make your own by combining sesame seeds with a little sesame oil and blending in a food processor. 

Lemon juice: Use the real stuff. Get yourself a good juicer and save the zest for later (use it in the zesty gremolata for our Date Night Pasta!). 

Olive oil: Quality makes all the difference. Look for a high-quality extra virgin olive oil if you can.

Garlic: In a pinch you can use garlic powder or pre-minced garlic, but I recommend using whole cloves. I like my beet hummus very garlicky so I use about 5 cloves depending on their size. Feel free to reduce or add in more if you like your hummus extra garlicky. 

Salt: I use sea salt or Himalayan sea salt. 

Cold water: This will help make your hummus super creamy. If you find your hummus isn’t blending together or you want it a bit thinner, just add another 1-2 tablespoons of cold water. I find 4-5 tablespoons is the right amount for my liking. 

Start with 1 tablespoon and add more until you reach your desired consistency. The temperature is important here too. Adding cold water helps keep the mixture from getting too hot in the food processor - which can help keep the olive oil and tahini from going rancid - heat is not their friend.

You can also use the chickpea liquid, just stick it in the fridge while you’re cooking the chickpeas to cool it down a bit. 

Toppings: Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top and then sprinkle a little salt, sesame seeds, parsley, and either sumac or freshly ground black pepper on top. Feel free to mix it up! Add Everything Bagel seasoning, red pepper flakes, chopped roasted beets, nuts/seeds. You do you!

🥣 How to make Beet Hummus: 

1 - Mise en place: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and peel your beets. Then slice off the ends (the root and the stems) and roughly chop your beets. *Reminder - don’t toss the beet greens or beet peelings 🙂

2 - Roast your beets. Arrange your peeled and roughly chopped beets on a lined baking sheet. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and stir until coated. Roast about 30 minutes or until beets are fork-tender. You want them to be quite soft. 

3 - Overcook chickpeas (optional). Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then transfer to a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. The chickpeas should be falling apart.

Drain the chickpeas and stick them in the fridge for a couple minutes. This helps keep the mixture from getting too hot in the food processor. Tahini and olive oil don’t do well with heat. 

Boiling your chickpeas is optional, but the idea here is we want super soft chickpeas so they blend up into delicious creaminess. I’ve found some canned chickpeas to be super soft and others not so much.

You can skip this step if you’re short on time, but if your chickpeas are on the harder side, I recommend boiling them to soften them up a bit. 

4 - Blend: Add garlic, olive oil, tahini, salt, lemon juice and cold water to a food processor. Blend until smooth. 

5 - Add beets, chickpeas and ¼ cup water or chickpea liquid and blend for about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides every once in a while.

Make sure to blend for at least 5 minutes for really creamy hummus. Add in about 3-4 tablespoons of cold water or chickpea liquid until it reaches your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. 

6 - Top with a drizzle of olive oil, sesame seeds, parsley, sumac (optional) and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

💭 Tips, Tricks and Tools

The only tools you’ll need are a food processor and a scraper. That’s it!

I know blending for 5 minutes seems like a lot, but trust me, your hummus will be super smooth and creamy. 

Traditionally (and in my opinion), hummus is best served immediately, not chilled. If you do prepare it in advance, let it come to room temperature before serving. 

Peeling the beets is a must for super creamy beet hummus, but don’t toss those beet skins. Toss them with olive oil and a little salt and pepper and roast them to make crispy beet skin chips. So good.  

Beet greens: If your beets came with their greens attached, use those too! Saute with olive oil, salt and pepper or use them instead of basil to make a beet green pesto.

Don’t let the lemon zest go to waste! Zest the lemon first, and use the zest in our Date Night Pasta or Lemon Dutch Baby Pancakes.

If you are using canned chickpeas, save the liquid (a.k.a aquafaba) and use it in place of the water. Doing this will lend itself to a slightly deeper chickpea flavor. You can use the aquafaba in a ton of delectable recipes. 

Chickpea skins: If you do decide to remove the chickpea skins, drizzle in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for a couple of minutes for a crispy treat! TBH sometimes I peel them just to make crispy chickpea skins. They’re that good.  

🥬 Nutrition

Beets are a great source of fiber, folate, manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. The compounds that give them their bright color also have beneficial health effects and serve as antioxidants. 

This beet hummus is a good source of plant-based protein and is gluten-free and vegan. 

🍽 Serving Suggestions

• As a dip with veggies like carrots, cucumber, celery, or with pita bread or chips. 
• As a spread on a sandwich, burger or wrap. 
• Thin it out with more lemon juice, water and olive oil for a simple salad dressing. 
• Spread over naan or pita bread for a super quick pizza meal. 

More delicious dips:

Did you enjoy this pink hummus as much as we do?

Comment below! And rate the recipe to let us know how it turned out! Not cooking today? Save this beet hummus recipe for later by pinning it to your Healthy Appetizer Recipes Board and make sure to tag us on Instagram @crooked.carrot to show us your healthy hummus creations!

📖 Recipe