Hummus: the fall edition.
The first sweet potatoes just came out of the ground here in Massachusetts, and as per usual, I am entirely enamored by all of the deep orange tones, spindly roots, and quirky shapes lined up at the farmer’s market. I love seeing the different shapes/sizes each varietal yields, and can’t help but buy all the long skinny ones, the short plump ones, that random giant oversized one that no one even knows how it got so big and could probably feed us for a week, that weird one that grew at a right angle, the one that has so many roots it looks like it’s growing hair, etc.
Long story short: I’m a sucker for a sweet potato.
My first mission upon coming home with, say, twelve more potatoes than I need for the week (yes, I do have vegetable impulse purchase issues) is to cut and roast most of them to be used in salads, smoothies, soups, and hummus throughout the week!
For this hummus, the usual suspects like chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, and olive oil are all here, but to amp up those warm, cozy fall vibes, we’re adding plenty of cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and roasted sweet potatoes into the food processor to make SPICY SWEET POTATO HUMMUS!!
The end result is the prettiest pale orange-tinged dip with a subtle kick of spice and lots of sweet potato goodness in every bite.
Let’s make it!
First, a sweet potato gets diced and roasted with a little oil and salt. While that happens, chickpeas get drained and rinsed, all of our hummus flavors get blended together (tahini! lemon! garlic! spices!) and, when the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, they join the food processor with the chickpeas and a minute later, you’ve got hummus.
Hummus lovers: you’re going to want to add this fun flavor to your fall dip rotation, asap!!
Hummus haters: if you’re a fan of sweet potatoes, I think you’re going to fall in love with this hummus. The subtle sweetness of the sweet potato combined with cinnamon and cayenne transforms this into such a special dip.
Even Kevin, who isn’t that crazy about hummus, happily dunks away into this one. It’s just so dang tasty.
I’ve been loving it with pretzels as an afternoon snack, and the leftovers make a particularly tasty spread on sandwiches, too.
So, be sure to grab a few sweet potatoes at your next trip to the market, and let’s make some hummus!
Love hummus? Try my CLASSIC HOMEMADE HUMMUS / ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH + HERB HUMMUS / 7-LAYER HUMMUS DIP / SPICY BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER HUMMUS / GARLICKY EVERYTHING BAGEL HUMMUS / or AVOCADO HUMMUS.
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your spicy sweet potato hummus and share it with me on Instagram so I can see!
SPICY ROASTED SWEET POTATO HUMMUS
Time: 45 minutes Yields: 3 Cups
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sweet potato (plus olive oil and salt, for roasting)
- 1 14-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup water
- juice from 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- optional: crushed red pepper flakes and extra olive oil, for topping
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dice the sweet potato into small cubes, and pile in the center of a sheet pan (feel free to peel your sweet potato before dicing, if preferred. I tend not to, since it will all be blended up anyway). Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with a generous pinch of salt. Toss with your hands, then spread the potatoes out on the pan.
- Roast sweet potatoes for 15-20 minutes in the oven, until tender and starting to brown around the edges.
- While sweet potatoes roast, place all remaining ingredients EXCEPT chickpeas into the bowl of a food processor or high powered blender. Blend on high until combined.
- Add chickpeas and blend for 1-2 minutes, until smooth. Once sweet potatoes have finished roasting, measure out 1 cup of them and add to the blender, again blending until smooth. Depending on the power of your food processor/blender, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times to ensure every chickpea and sweet potato gets fully combined.
- Taste and add more cayenne or salt, as needed, to achieve your spice/salt preferences.
- If serving immediately, transfer hummus to a large bowl, swirl with a spoon, and top with a generous glug of olive oil and a few pinches of chili flakes. If storing for later, simply pour directly into a storage container and keep in the fridge until ready to use. Hummus will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
NOTES:
This hummus isn’t overly spicy- if you love heat, consider tossing a few chili peppers into the oven to roast with the sweet potatoes, double the cayenne called for in the recipe, or adding a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce into the hummus!
It is likely that you will have more than 1 cup of cooked sweet potatoes after roasting 1 whole potato. You can certainly use it all in the hummus for a more sweet potato-forward hummus, use it as a topper like I did here in the photos, or simply save and use in dinner later in the week! Alternately, if you already have leftover cooked sweet potatoes in the fridge, just measure out 1 cup and use it here, skipping steps 1-3.