Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is a smoky, spicier take on traditional hummus.

It still has the classic ingredients of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon. But the earthy original is given a lightly sweet and smoky edge with roasted red pepper and Spanish paprika.

For extra spiciness I add cumin and Aleppo pepper too. Crank up the heat with chilli flakes if you like.

So this hummus can be made in around ten minutes, I use tinned chickpeas and roasted red peppers from a jar.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is great with bread, crackers, and vegetable crudites. Or enjoy as part of a mezze style meal with lots of small dishes to share.

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I love a classic hummus.

Chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, a splash of water (or chickpea cooking liquor), and salt. For me, there’s another essential ingredient: ground cumin.

But, like many of us, I also enjoy hummus (or should that be houmous?) with a few different ingredients and flavours added.

I’ve already posted two: Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus and Roasted Beetroot Hummus.

Maybe purists don’t consider those versions to be hummus at all.

But, as far as I’m concerned, so long as it contains largely chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon, then it’s probably okay to call it hummus.

And today I have another version. Lightly sweet, smoky, and spicy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

ROASTED RED PEPPER HUMMUS

INGREDIENTS

To make this richly flavoured hummus, you need only a handful of ingredients.

• chickpeas
• roasted red peppers
• tahini (sesame paste)
• lemon juice
• garlic
• spices
• water

For convenience and speed, I’ve used tinned chickpeas.

If you prefer to buy dried and cook them yourself, of course you can. Just remember to put them to soak the night before. If cooking them yourself, save the cooking liquor and use that instead of water in the recipe.

For a super-smooth hummus, you could remove the skins by pinching each cooked chickpea between thumb and forefinger. But I don’t bother.

Roasted peppers in a jar are a real boon for speedy recipes like this.

Whether you use these or roast your own, you’ll need around 160 grams to make the hummus. This is the approximate weight of 2 – 3 peppers after roasting and skinning.

What I love about this Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is that the familiar earthiness and creaminess brought by the chickpeas and tahini is not only sweetened by the peppers, but is also given a smoky, warm kick with spices.

I always add ground cumin to my hummus. One of my favourite spices, I think it accentuates the earthy tones.

Here, to highlight the smokiness from the charred peppers, I add a generous amount of Spanish smoked paprika too.

For mild, warm heat that’s also a little sweet, I add Aleppo pepper flakes. If you want a hotter hummus, replace these with chilli flakes or chilli powder.

You’ll also need salt and pepper, of course.

MAKE HUMMUS TO YOUR TASTE

To make the hummus, the ingredients are simply whizzed together in a food processor, blender, or you can use a stick blender.

The important thing though, is to taste, taste, and taste again!

Everyone has a different idea of how lemony, how garlicky and, in this case, how spicy they want their hummus. So I recommend adding these ingredients a little at a time and see how you go.

While you can eat the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus right away, I think it’s better chilled for thirty minutes to an hour. This will help to meld the flavours and also firm it up a little.

If necessary, the hummus can happily sit in the fridge for up to five days.

SERVING ROASTED RED PEPPER HUMMUS

I think this hummus looks lovely with a few chickpeas and a little chopped red pepper piled on top.

So, when prepping, I hold back some of the ingredients and stir together.

I like a few extra pinches of spices too, along with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Then just dive in!

I made some of my Rye, Spelt & Sesame Crackers to go with this batch and they were perfect partners.

Scoop up the creamy, smoky, spicy dip and enjoy the contrast with the crunchy, wholesome crackers.

You can also spread it on the crackers or on bread, perhaps topping with some of the whole chickpeas and chopped pepper. I find slices of cucumber a pleasant, fresh addition.

Great as a light meal or starter, you could also eat Roasted Red Pepper Hummus as part of a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern mezze style meal with lots of dishes to share.

Ones I think would go well include:

• Lamb Kofte Kebabs
• Roasted Radishes with Garlic & Lemon
• Green Bean Salad with Garlic & Mint
• Aubergine with Tomatoes, Chickpeas & Yogurt
• Aubergine & Beetroot Moutabal
• Lebanese Spicy Potatoes
• Baked Falafel
• Pea & Mint Baked Falafel
• Quick Flatbreads (no yeast)
• Socca: chickpea flour flatbread
• Homemade Pitta Bread

While you can buy all sorts of flavoured hummus these days, there’s really no substitute for making your own just how you like it.

If you’ve made my Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, I’d love to hear what you thought.

Leave a comment and don’t forget to rate the recipe.

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Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

This lightly sweet, smoky and spicy version of traditional hummus is made in just 10 minutes with tinned chickpeas and roasted peppers from a jar.

Course Appetizer, Condiment

Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, Vegan, plant-based

Keyword chickpeas

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 0 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 4 or more

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 225-250 g cooked chickpeas (1 standard tin, drained) reserve a few for a garnish if liked
• 2 rounded tbsp tahini
• 2 lemons juice only
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated
• 2 rounded tsp ground cumin
• 1 rounded tsp smoked paprika
• ½ - 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes or chilli flakes
• salt and black pepper
• water as needed
• 160 g roasted red peppers from a jar drained, de-seeded, chopped into quarters

Garnish (optional)

• a few cooked chickpeas
• a little finely chopped roasted red pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• ground cumin
• smoked paprika
• Aleppo pepper flakes, chilli flakes or powder

Instructions

1. Put in the bowl of a food processor or blender the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, pepper or chilli flakes (use less than the full amount of lemon and seasonings if preferred: you can always add more after tasting).

   Add a splash of water and season with a little salt and pepper.

2. Process until well combined (add a little more water if necessary, but only just enough for the processor to work), taste and add more lemon, garlic, spice or seasoning if needed.

   Add the prepared roasted peppers and process again. Taste to check seasoning once more than process until your desired consistency is reached: process for less time if you want the hummus to have flecks of red pepper, longer to completely combine.

3. Hummus can be eaten straight away but is better transferred to a covered contained and chilled in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

4. If serving with the garnishes: stir together the chickpeas and chopped pepper, seasoning with a pinch of the spices and a little olive oil. Pile into the middle of the hummus and sprinkle over more spices and olive oil if liked.

   Serve with bread, crackers, raw vegetables or as one of several dishes in a mezze style meal.

   Will keep up to 5 days covered in the fridge.