Beet Hummus

The secret to the absolute easiest beet hummus? It’s not exactly earth-shattering: Use canned beets! Canned beets are a fantastic shortcut, and you’ve already got the sieve and can opener out from that can of chickpeas. What’s one more tin? (However, this recipe does also include instructions for fresh beets in case that’s all you have.)

While canned beets are obviously time-saving, they also make for a very tasty hummus. I don’t love canned beets as a salad topping—they’re far too soft and mushy. But for hummus, they’re exactly right. We want something that will break down completely and help the hummus become it’s creamiest, smoothest-possible self.

Jump to the recipe to hit the ground running or read on for a few tips:

Beet hummus tips

1. Just (don’t!) add water

It’s so counterintuitive to me not to add water to a hummus recipe. As I developed this recipe, my Assyrian ancestors were practically screaming “add water—at least just a little bit!!!” through time and space. In general, if you asked me my number 1 tip for making good hummus, it would be to add more water than you’d think.

But we simply do not need water here. Canned beets have a ton of water, even after draining and rinsing. I tried making this with a bit of water added, and it just turned out runny instead of light and creamy. Without water? It’s my perfect hummus consistency.

Speaking of which…

2. Add more tahini if you want it to be more set.

If you blend these ingredients together and you’re not happy with the consistency because it’s too thin for your liking, you can always add a bit more tahini. Even though tahini may sometimes look runny, it actually has thickening properties when mixed with water. Add a bit more, blend it in, and it will set up a bit more (especially after chilling).

If you’re looking at the video/photos in this post and you’re like “that is not my ideal hummus consistency,” you can also add less beet at the outset, and then add more as you go if need be. Know thyself!

3. Avoid pickled beets here

Can you use pickled beets in beet hummus? Probably! But can you use them in this specific recipe? No. It already has a nice amount of lemon, and pickled beets will end up making it way too tart. Could you just scale back the lemon to compensate? Sure—but if you do, the texture will also be impacted. So I can’t in good conscience recommend substituting pickled beets here.

Instead, look for beets that are just “beets, water, [maybe] sugar, salt.” Vinegar, seasonings, etc. will mess up the balance in this recipe.

Highly-relevant hummus links:

Hope you’ll find these helpful!

• Here are some of my favorite hummus topping ideas.
• If you can’t eat sesame or don’t have any tahini on hand, here’s my go-to substitute.
• If you have dry chickpeas instead of canned, here’s my recipe for hummus from dried chickpeas.

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