Easy Beet Hummus Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to hummus to make it taste better? ›

Next, enhance the blank slate of flavor with a few squeezes of lemon juice, a sprinkling of garlic salt, a turn of freshly cracked pepper, a heavy-handed sprinkle of paprika, and a generous drizzle of your nicest olive oil. Bonus points if you have an herby olive oil on hand with a little color to it.

Blend the chickpeas until you end up with a smooth puree. Add the beets, tahini, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and spices to the processor. Blend the ingredients until they turn into smooth, bright pink hummus.

2. Mix in another tablespoons of tahini. And the same goes for tahini, which will make store-bought hummus creamier and more nutty with sesame.

Tahin and garbanzo beans are typically quite bland and since they make up most of the the bulk of the ingredients, without salt, your hummus will be pretty tasteless. I do a few things that elevate my hummus. I sauté my garlic in good olive oil with ground cumin before adding it.

As I'm sure you're aware, chickpeas don't have a lot of flavour to them, so they need some pretty punchy ingredients to make it what it is. Yes, adding things like cumin or paprika will make it more interesting, but at the end of the day, if there isn't enough salt and lemon (acid), it will taste bland and insipid.

Hummus: A Fantastic Snack or Meal Option

Because of the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat that it contains, it works to lower bad cholesterol levels, raise good ones, keep your brain healthy, and fuel your body to live your life to its fullest!

It's already a near-perfect food. That said, we've started adding cold water to our hummus. While it sounds counterintuitive, the water makes the hummus creamy, light, and almost fluffy in texture. It's a trick we learned from Yotam Ottolenghi that has improved our hummus game considerably.

An extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top of any hummus is always a good idea, along with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. You can leave it at that, or you can sprinkle spices and fresh herbs on top for an even bigger impact.

Because tahini is the butter of sesame seeds, you might want to consider a nut or seed butter as a go-to substitute. Other options include greek yogurt and sesame oil. These tahini substitutes will complement your dish since they are all sources of healthy fats and contribute to a creamy consistency.

If you feel adventurous, try replacing the tahini with an equal amount of peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, Greek yogurt, chopped roasted peppers, pitted olives, roasted beets, steamed sweet potato, avocado, or thawed frozen peas, to name just a few possibilities.

Why do you put baking soda in hummus? ›

Solomonov's secret? He uses chickpeas that have been cooked until they're so tender, they're mushy. He cooks his chickpeas with some baking soda, too. According to Bon Appetit, baking soda “raises the pH of the water and helps the little guys break down to a soft, pulpy mass… perfect for an ultra-smooth purée.”

You might need more tahini, garlic, lemon and/or salt and very likely more chickpea water. Add a bit of each as you need, the recipe explains. "Blitz the hummus until very smooth, a few minutes at least. Don't worry about the hummus being too loose; it will thicken as it sits."

A simple touch of fresh chopped green onions, chives, parsley, rosemary or dill is another brilliant way to add more flavor to your hummus. Just add the herb of your choice (or use a mix!), drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt.

This one even doubles as a tasty snack or a light dinner with a few other filling appetizers. Spread hummus on a platter or in a bowl, then top with cool cucumber, tomatoes, olives, artichokes and feta cheese. Each bite is a burst of tangy, bright and creamy flavor!