When you want your food to have a beautiful rose color, skip the funky artificial food dyes and use beets! For this chickpea dip, I added a sweet roasted beet and a squeeze of orange juice to my favorite hummus recipe. The result was this fun pink hummus that’s the perfect healthy snack for kids who love colorful foods. Garbanzo beans are rich in fiber and plant-based protein, while the olive oil brings on some healthy fats!
There was this one hummus recipe that I used to fallback on often during my vegan years. It was probably the food I’d bring most often to potlucks and playdates. It was inexpensive to make but was always a hit.
In hindsight, I’m not surprised that everyone seemed to love my hummus recipe so much. This was back before I was aware of connection between calorie intake and healthy weight management. And so I would very typically add an extremely generous portion of olive oil to my hummus.
When I say “extremely generous,” I’m talking anywhere from ½-cup of EVOO to half of the bottle. Considering that olive oil has 120 calories per tablespoon, this was no light bean dip. It was really rich!
The recipe I’m sharing today is a healthier revamp of my popular hummus. I’ve cut way back on the olive oil without entirely cutting it out. Leaving some olive oil gives you that nice mouthfeel that a little fat can provide.
I suppose you could make a lower fat variation on hummus by leaving the olive oil out. You could thin the dip with some broth, juice, or water.
Honestly, those changes would make me feel like we’re treading a little too closely to the category of bean gruel. I’d suggest keeping some of the olive oil in.
Here’s why I’m really digging my hummus recipe revamp
This hummus is a lower fat and lower calorie version of my original without giving up flavor. That’s not my top reason for loving this one though.
I changed my recipe to make a vibrant pink hummus! The pop of color really makes this appetizer beautiful and unique. All it takes to get this result is the addition of one small chopped, roasted beet. Easy!
Along with providing the showstopping color, the beet provides some additional sweetness. I wish I thought of this years ago when I was regularly bringing hummus to social gatherings. There are a lot of pink-themed events where you could use this one:
- Valentine’s day parties
- Baby showers
- Breast cancer awareness events
- Birthday parties for children who love the color pink
As a breast cancer survivor, I’ve missed so many opportunities to share this pink beet hummus with others! Oh well, at least I have this recipe in my culinary toolbox moving forward.
Don’t forget the squeeze of citrus in this pink hummus recipe
The other change I made to my original hummus recipe was swapping out the lemon juice for orange juice and orange zest. I felt the orange complemented the beets a little better than the lemon. Try it and see for yourself!
There tends to be a lot of nutritional wisdom tucked into traditional recipes, including hummus. For example, the vitamin C from the citrus juice in hummus helps to improve the bioavailability of the non-heme iron in the chickpeas.
In other words, you can give yourself an iron boost when you combine vitamin C and plant-based iron sources. This combination is a constant in hummus recipes.
Another cool example of the inherent wisdom in traditional diets is how the use of amchur in Indian cooking helps to improve the bioavailability of certain minerals (particularly zinc and iron). IMVHO, reconfiguring your diet to more closely reflect traditional dietary patterns is probably a smart move health-wise. It seems we’ve lost our way a bit in modern times with the heavy use of ultra-processed foods.
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the classics with a modern spin, however. This pink hummus is a fun twist on the chickpea dips that are so popular in Middle Eastern cuisine.
There’s a reason that hummus has been gaining worldwide popularity- it is delicious! I hope that you enjoy this roasted beet hummus.
I made a video to show you how quickly you can whip this dip up in a food processor. You can check it out with the recipe below!
And now for the disclaimer…
All recipes on this website may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your medical needs and personal preferences. Consult with a registered dietitian or your physician if you need help determining the dietary pattern that may be best for you.
The nutrition information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. It will differ depending on the specific brands and ingredients that you use. Calorie information on food labels may be wildly inaccurate, so please don't sweat the numbers too much.
For more information on how the three recipe levels may help with a weight management goal, refer to this post. Let's get cooking!
Pink Hummus with Roasted Beets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed (425 grams; from a can)
- 2 tablespoons orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped (Use a small clove, unless you LOVE garlic! I used a big clove in the video. lol)
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 small beet, peeled and chopped (mine was 6 ounces/170 grams after peeling)
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon garlic chives or parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- whole grain crackers, raw veggie sticks, or other dippers of your choosing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Peel and chop your beet and drizzle the beet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Roast the beet for 50-55 minutes, or until soft, stirring and flipping after about 30 minutes in the oven.
- Put the chickpeas, roasted beet, orange juice, garlic, tahini, orange zest, salt, and pepper in the food processor. Turn the processor on and drizzle the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil in.
- Blend the hummus until smooth, stopping the processor several times to scrape down ingredients sticking to the sides with a spatula. (Watch the video!)
- Garnish the hummus with the herbs and sesame seeds. Divide into four portions, and serve with dippers of your choosing, such as crackers or raw vegetables.
Video
Notes
This is a level 3 recipe (weight maintenance and active lifestyles). Hummus is often listed as a healthy snack option by dietitians in nutrition articles. Admittedly, hummus IS packed with whole foods ingredients that I would consider health-promoting, such as chickpeas and tahini. However, if you are trying to maintain the calorie deficit needed for fat loss, I don’t think hummus is a great choice. One small serving of this hummus (¼ of the recipe) provides almost 300 calories. When you add in any dippers (such as crackers), you’ve got yourself a very hefty snack. I used to be able to finish off this entire hummus recipe by myself (with even more olive oil added). I could not understand why I was obese and not losing weight, considering I was eating so “healthy.” A big point of confusion among many is that there are many foods that are considered “healthy” that will not necessarily help you get to a healthy weight (“healthy weight” means having a weight status that puts you at a lower risk of developing chronic diseases). You may be better off limiting these so-called “healthy” options and replacing them with foods that you find satisfying without having to eat them to excess. Instead of using hummus as a snack dip, I prefer to incorporate small amounts into meals. For example, sometimes I make hummus-crusted chicken breasts for dinner. Aside from the nutrition benefits, the hummus provides great flavor to the chicken and helps to keep it moist while cooking. A couple tablespoons of hummus is also a lovely addition to salads. All of that said, I love, love, love this hummus recipe for the folks who have trouble eating enough. This is a *super* snack for active teenagers, certain patients who have difficulty eating due to medical treatments, and others. Nutrition information is for one serving of the recipe.
Nutrition
If you found your way here because you love chickpea recipes, you are in luck! My family does as well. Don’t miss our favorite cheesy and crispy chickpea snack recipe.
I can also show you how to make an awesome gluten-free chickpea pizza crust. SO GOOD!
Is there anything that garbanzo beans can’t do? They’re one of the most versatile legumes you can keep in your kitchen!
And now a few questions for you:
- What are some of your favorite additions to hummus or non-chickpea bean dips?
- Have you ever used hummus as an ingredient in recipes, or do you strictly use it as a dip?
You can tell me your thoughts and leave a rating for this pink hummus recipe in the comments below!
Terrified Amateur says
Beautiful color! Of course, I've read before of "natural" dyes, but figured they weren't quite as effective as are their artificial counterparts
Today's creation certainly proves otherwise.
Summer Yule says
Yes, it was so pretty! I need to be adding beets to more of my food. 🙂
Viorica says
Nice recipe!
Summer Yule says
Thank you so much for leaving a rating! 😀