Homemade Carrot and Broad Bean Hummus

For so many years I bought hummus from the supermarket- it was quick, easy, healthy-ish and I’d just never really thought of making it at home! But after visiting Greece and eating so much amazing hummus, I realised I was missing out on the homemade hummus game. Fast forward a few years and plenty of experimentation, and this recipe came to be- broad bean, carrot, and garlic hummus! Trust me, it’s delicious, and no way near as complicated as it sounds.

What is hummus?

If you’ve never tried hummus, you’re seriously missing out! Hummus is a dip typically made from chickpeas and tahini, lemon and some spices (typically cumin and garlic). It’s a Middle Eastern dish but is also commonly found in the Mediteranean. You can buy it in pretty much any supermarket in loads of different flavours and variations, but it’s definitely worth making your own!

What equipment do I need to make homemade hummus?

I always thought that hummus would be complicated to make, but in fact it is so easy. The only ‘specialist’ equipment you will need is a high powered blender or a food processor. In this recipe, I fry off some of the ingredients in a saucepan to soften them up first. After that, it all just goes straight in the food processor!

How to make this hummus

Start by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the chopped carrots, and season well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes. You don’t want to stir the carrots too regularly here, as you get a nice brown caramelisation on them when they sit in the pan. 

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more until the garlic is fragrant. Then, add the broad beans and chickpeas. Cook for 5 minutes more over a low-medium heat until the carrots are soft. You can cover the pan for this time if your carrots still feel pretty hard- add a little water if it’s sticking. Leave to cool slightly.

Next, add the cooled contents of the pan to a high speed blender or food processor along with the lemon juice, tahini, peanut butter, cumin, salt and pepper. Turn the blender on to high and process until smooth, pushing down the sides as needed. With the blender running, stream in 5 tablespoons of cold water, until the hummus is light and creamy. Streaming the cold water in is really important to get the hummus super smooth in this recipe. If it doesn’t feel like it’s getting smooth, feel free to add in a couple of tablespoons of cold water more.

Homemade Hummus ingredients

The most essential ingredient of all hummus recipes is chickpeas. You can use canned chickpeas or home-cooked dried chickpeas in this recipe. Some people prefer the flavour of home-cooked chickpeas, but I love the convenience of canned. For a smoother hummus, you can remove the skins from the chickpeas before adding them to the blender. It takes about 10 minutes and if I have the time I like to do this. But it definitely isn’t essential!

I’ve used one of my favourite seasonal ingredients in this recipe- broad beans (if you love broad beans too, check out this crispy roasted broad bean recipe). They’re a nutritious ingredient which also add a great creamy texture to the hummus.

Carrots add a lovely warm colour, as well as a subtle earthy sweet flavour.

In this recipe I used equal parts peanut butter and tahini. This was mostly an accident as I was short on tahini when I was testing. It turned out that the peanut butter worked quite well with the carrot and cumin, so I kept it this way. If you don’t like the flavour of peanuts or have an allergy, you can use tahini for the full amount instead.

If you don’t like tahini or nut butter, and just prefer a chickpea-vegetable paste, you can leave it out. I would recommend adding in a quarter cup of olive oil to replace some of the fat, and to loosen the mixture up.

I love garlic so this recipe is pretty garlicky. If you don’t like food so garlicky, feel free to reduce the amount of garlic to your taste.

If you like things a little bit spicy, add a quarter to a half teaspoon of paprika to the blender- it’s a really yummy addition!

What to serve with hummus

Homemade hummus makes for a really tasty dip to enjoy with toasted pitta or crunchy raw veggies. I like pepper, carrot sticks, cucumber, and even radishes.

It’s also a great addition to a salad or buddha bowl, can be enjoyed in sandwiches and wraps, alongside tofu shakshuka, or spread on slices of wholegrain toast!

How long does hummus keep?

Homemade hummus will keep for about 5 days in the fridge (if you can make it last that long!). It also freezes reasonably well- remove from the fridge and allow it to defrost at room temperature before eating. Keep it in the fridge for no more than 3 months.

For another delicious dip…

Try this roasted red pepper and aubergine dip– it’s full of delicious Mediterranean favours!

And for more healthy alternatives to store bought snacking favourites…

Try these almond muesli slices, homemade granola, vegan savoury muffins or banana breakfast bars.

Homemade Carrot and Broad Bean Hummus

Chloe from Forkful of Plants

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Mediterranean

Homemade hummus is definitely the way to go. This garlicky carrot and broad bean version is a delicious take on the simple recipe!

5 from 10 votes

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Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g carrots chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• 150 g broad beans fresh or frozen
• 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 40 g tahini
• 40 g peanut butter smooth
• 1 lemon juiced
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp cold water

Instructions

 

• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the chopped carrots, and season well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes, until slightly browned.
• Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add the broad beans and chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes over a low-medium heat until the carrots are soft. You can cover the pan for this time if your carrots still feel pretty hard- add a little water if it’s sticking. Leave to cool slightly.
• Add the contents of the pan to a high speed blender or food processor along with the lemon juice, tahini, peanut butter, cumin, salt and pepper. Turn the blender on to high and process until smooth, pushing down the sides as needed.
• Next, with the blender running, stream in 5 tablespoons of cold water, until the hummus is light and creamy. You can use more or less water depending on the power of your blender and the desired thickness of your hummus.
• Top with olive oil and sesame seeds and enjoy!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!