Sweet Potato Hummus
Description: This sweet potato hummus is bursting with flavor—it's savory, a little sweet, and spicy if you wish. Enjoy it as a snack with pita wedges and veggies, or use it as a spread! This recipe yields about 3 cups of hummus (a lot!).
Ingredients
- 1 medium-to-somewhat-large sweet potato (8 to 14 ounces)
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- Zest of ½ lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 to 3 tablespoons cool water, as needed
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- Up to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for spice)*
- Optional garnishes: Olive oil, cayenne pepper, or sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the sweet potato on the middle oven rack or in a baking dish for 45 minutes to 1 hour. It will yield to a gentle squeeze when it’s done baking.
- While the sweet potato is cooling, combine the tahini, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt and cumin in a food processor. While processing the mixture, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of the water. Blend until the mixture is super creamy, pausing to scrape down the bottom or sides as necessary (you may need to add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of water if your tahini was thick).
- Add the drained chickpeas and process until the mixture is completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Once the sweet potato has cooled enough to handle, use a knife or your fingers to peel off the skin. Discard the skin and add the sweet potato flesh to the food processor.
- Blend until the mixture is completely smooth, about 1 minute. Taste, and blend in a pinch or two of cayenne pepper if you’d like your hummus to taste spicy. Enjoy as is, or garnish it with a drizzle of olive oil, a light sprinkle of cayenne pepper or sesame seeds. This hummus will keep well in the refrigerator for about 1 week.