beet hummus

I have a little secret to share…for a long time now I’m been hella scared of cooking with beets. Which is a tragedy, because I’m Ukrainian, so beet juice basically runs through my veins. And I love Ukrainian beet soup (borscht) and roasted beet salad. There’s just something intimidating to me about the burly root vegetable that looks like it’s just been pulled from the depths of the Earth.

Alas, my fear has chained me to a life of waiting for beets at restaurants or family gatherings, which is a sad, sad life to live. So when I was wracking my brain on what type of adventurous hummus I wanted to make for National Hummus Day, I thought what better way to both conquer a fear AND create an awesome new recipe than with beet hummus.

So there I was at the store, picking out the rootiest beet I could find and stocking up on plastic gloves. I was ready to conquer this vegetable once and for all. Beat the beet, if you will.

So here I am feeling like I’m looking up at Mount Everest, about to tread into the unknown, and as it turns out, roasting beets is INCREDIBLY easy. Dealing with raw beets might be a different story, but literally roasting a beet is like baking a potato. You pull off the leaves, wash it, wrap it in foil, and wait. Once it’s out of the oven, peeling off the skin and dicing it is even more of a joke. I was so scared for nothing!

Granted, working with beets in any capacity is going to stain everything red, but as long as you have plastic gloves and a large, plastic cutting board, you are all set. I apologize if this story was super anticlimactic, but I find it humorous that I avoided something so great because of an irrational fear. Moral of the story and token of wisdom for the day:

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” — Marie Curie

And I certainly understand beets now.

Now that we’ve beat the beet, what else is there?

Okay, moving on from the beet experience, the rest of this recipe is very simple (not that beets aren’t simple. I’ve learned my lesson!). Here’s what else you’ll need:

Chickpeas This is a given for hummus. Canned chickpeas will do the trick, just be sure to drain and rinse them first

Tahini Classic hummus calls for tahini, but see notes below if it’s not your thing

Lemons You’ll want the zest and the juice to make this hummus pop

Garlic and EVOO Kind of a must for any type of hummus

Toppings I love topping my hummus with a variety of different herbs and spices like parsley, za’atar, pine nuts, and of course, additional olive oil

Enjoy this yummy hummus, and if you were afraid of beets like I was, hopefully this recipe helps you understand them as well 🙂

⟶ the recipe

beet hummus

ingredients

1 large beet

1 can chickpeas

⅓ cup tahini

2 lemons, zested and juiced

2 cloves of garlic

½ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

Handful of parsley, chopped

Dash of salt

Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

30 minutes

Total time

1 hour 30 minutes

~2 cups of hummus

instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub the beet well and wrap it in foil (no need to dry it off completely). Once the oven is preheated, roast the beet for about an hour or until you can easily insert a fork into the center.

Set the beet aside to cool while you prep the remaining ingredients. Place the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and salt in a large food processor or blender. Once the beet has cooled, peel off the skin and chop it into small chunks. Add the beet chunks in a few different waves to the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and process/blend on the lowest speed setting.

Spoon the hummus into a bowl and top with parsley and an extra drizzle of olive oil. Additional toppings you can add include (but are not limited to) za’atar, lemon zest, pine nuts, ground pepper, and sea salt flakes.

⟶ recipe notes

When roasting the beet, I would place it on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any juices that may spill out of the foil
The worst part about peeling beets is having them stain your hands red and risking getting splatters of beet juice on your clothes. To avoid looking like you just covered up a murder scene, wear an apron and plastic gloves while peeling
Some people like their hummus super smooth and others like it a bit chunky. To give it a chunkier consistency, blend everything except the chickpeas, and then add those at the end and blend on a lower setting until you’ve reached the desired consistency. Otherwise, just throw everything in and blend on high speed until smooth

⟶ modifications

I highly recommend it for flavor and texture, but not everyone likes tahini in their hummus. It’s a common allergen and it’s also an expensive ingredient that you might not always have on hand. You can still make delicious hummus by disregarding that ingredient!

⟶ make it ahead & store it

You can roast the beet ahead of time, and then peel it, dice it, and refrigerate until ready to use
It depends on how large your beet is, but this recipe makes a pretty decent-sized batch! You can store the hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week