Homemade gluten-free hummus has steadily gained popularity recently – and with good reason! This hummus recipe is flavorsome, creamy, and (best of all) it is an easy hummus to make. Serve with lightly toasted pita bread or crunchy vegetables.
This homemade hummus has its roots in Middle Eastern fare. It is a dip made with mashed chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. It is delicious and healthy at the same time because the chickpeas are a great source of protein, fiber, manganese, and vitamin B6.
What Can I Eat Gluten Free Hummus With?
There are so many options for what you can eat hummus with! Here are some of my favorites:
- Add an extra serving of vegetables into your day by using vegetable sticks as dippers.
- carrot sticks
- broccoli florets
- mange tout (snow peas)/ sugar snaps
- thin apple wedges
- thick slices of red or yellow pepper (capsicum)
- zucchini (courgette) sticks
- flash-fried asparagus stalks
- dried apricots
- radish slices
- cauliflower florets
- baby corn
- Use pita bread (as is or lightly toasted) to dip into your hummus.
- Try some of your favorite crackers as hummus dippers.
- Spread hummus instead of butter on your lunchtime sandwich.
- Make vegetable kebabs (cherry tomatoes, baby corn, green pepper) and drizzle with hummus.
- Use hummus as a pizza base instead of a tomato-based pasta sauce.
- Replace salad dressing with hummus (use extra lemon juice to make the hummus a little more runny).
If you’re wanting to dip bread in the hummus, save some leftover bread and make my delicious homemade bruschetta recipe.
You can buy it in stores, but my homemade recipe for hummus is so quick & easy to make. And you can even customize it a little to suit your taste. There really is a noticeable difference in taste between this one freshly made and one bought from the store. My kids say this is the best hummus!
I make up a double batch, then put some in the kids’ school lunchboxes. Add some crackers and vegetable sticks to dip, and kids love it!
Give it a try and let us know how you go in the comments section below.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a protein naturally found in wheat, rye, and barley. It is also found in foods like pasta, pizza, cereal, and bread. Although there are no benefits of eating gluten, some people are naturally allergic to it. If they consume it, they experience serious health issues.
Variations
There are a few ways you can customize this recipe to make it more suitable to yours and your family’s needs. Have a look at some of my suggestions:
Spicy Hummus
If you’re looking to add a little ‘pizzazz’ to your homemade hummus recipe, just a little pinch of dried chilli flakes will do it! I usually include the chilli flakes because I love spicy foods, but you can include as much or as little as suits your tastes.
Sweet Potato Hummus
Peel, trim, and cut into cubes 1 cup sweet potato.
Steam it in a pot on the stove for 10 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender.
Use a fork or a potato masher to mash it, then set it aside to cool.
Once cooled, stir it into the hummus until it is well combined.
The sweet potato makes the hummus a bit creamier, and is certainly more filling, so keep that in mind when serving it as an appetizer – you don’t want your guests to fill up on yummy hummus when you’ve got a delicious meal following!
Spinach & Feta Hummus
When processing the garbanzo beans (or chickpeas) with the tahini, add in 1 cup baby spinach.
Omit the cumin.
When the hummus is made, stir through 3.5oz (100g) crumbled feta cheese as the final step before serving.
If I have them, I also like to sprinkle a handful of toasted pine nuts to the top of my spinach & feta hummus – they add a delicious flavor and crunch.
Roasted Red Pepper (Capsicum) Hummus
Trim, de-seed, and cut into large chunks 1 red pepper (capsicum).
Red is my favorite because it’s slightly sweeter than the other varieties of pepper (capsicum), but you can certainly use yellow or orange peppers instead.
Place the pepper on baking paper on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and roast in a moderate, preheated oven (350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C) for 15 minutes, or until the pepper (capsicum) has softened.
When roasted, drain the oil away, and blend the pepper in a blender (or use a stick blender) until smooth, then stir into the hummus.
Roasted Eggplant Hummus
Cut 1 medium sized eggplant into 1/2 inch (1cm) slices.
Place slices on baking paper, on a baking tray, and drizzle generously with olive oil.
Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven (350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C) for approximately 8 minutes, turning the slices over once after 4 minutes.
When the eggplant is tender, remove from oven, drain the oil away, and blend the eggplant in with the hummus at the final stage of the recipe process.
Alternatively, use a hand held stick blender to puree the eggplant, then stir it through the hummus until well combined.
Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
To make a delicious sun-dried or semi-dried tomato hummus, just place 1/2 cup sun-dried or semi-dried tomatoes in the blender and blend until smooth.
Add to the hummus and stir through well.
White Bean Hummus
If you’re not a fan of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), why not try a white bean hummus instead? You can use navy beans, cannellini beans, or great northern beans. The recipe is the same as the basic hummus recipe – just switch out the garbanzo beans (chickpeas) for your favorite white bean!
Red Bean Hummus
Just as the name suggests – it’s hummus made from red beans! My suggestion is to use red kidney beans. Drain well, and make exactly as instructed on the recipe card – just switching out the garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and replacing with kidney beans. Delicious!
I’d love to hear how you go with making this, and I hope you and your family enjoy the hummus as much as me and my family do. Also, do you have any suggestions about what else could be dipped in the hummus? Leave me a note in the comments section (below).
Until next time…!
Love & hummus, Bella X
Recipe
Gluten Free Hummus
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Food processor (ideal but not essential)
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) (about 14 oz or 400 grams)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 large lemon (to yield approximately ¼ cup juice) (squeezed)
- 2-3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (good quality)
- 1 tablespoon tahini (either hulled or unhulled)
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
- pinch ground paprika (to garnish)
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)
Instructions
- If you have access to a food processor, process the tahini and lemon juice together for a couple of minutes. You will have to stop and scrape the blades and the sides of the bowl a couple of times. This processing effectively 'creams' the tahini, making it a little more smooth and light. However, if you don't have a food processor or don't have time, please don't worry about this step.
- One heaped spoonful at at time, add the chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) to the tahini and process again for 1 minute. If you don't have a food processor, you can fork mash the chickpeas. Alternatively, you can use a stick blender.
- Add in garlic, ground cumin, chilli flakes (optional), 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of water.
- Continue to blend.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- The consistency of the hummus will depend on the particular chickpeas you use. Sometimes your hummus will be ready as it is, but most times you will need to add a little more olive oil and water.Please note: Add them a very little bit at a time because if you add too much and the hummus becomes watery, the only way to thicken it again is with either more chickpeas or more tahini – and both will throw the delicate taste balance off slightly.
- Keep blending until all ingredients are well combined and your dip is a dollop-y (I think I just invented that word!) consistency.
- Scoop the hummus out into a serving bowl and garnish with a little sprinkle of paprika – for a zing of color.
- Serve with lightly toast wedges of pita bread, crackers, or use crunchy vegetable sticks (like carrot, celery, cucumber, bell peppers/ capsicum) to dip into your hummus.
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THANKYOU!!! I have always bought hummus but decided to try your recipe and discovered that it’s so easy and way tastier than any that I’ve ever bought. I did use a little less oilive oil than you suggested and instead blended in a little more water. THANKYOU!
Thanks very much for your feedback, Emmanuel – I really appreciate your time. That’s a great suggestion to replace a little of the oil with water 🙂
My wife made this hummus for me for Valentine’s Day, bless her cotton socks! The addition of the chili in the hummus made it amazing as we love spicy food.
What a great wife you have! All the best to both of you 🙂
Very tasty and easy, thank you.
Loved it!