Easy Roasted Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

There's never a bad time for hummus. This savory dish makes a perfect dip for chips and crackers, a spread for wraps and sandwiches, a smear for breads, and so much more! Whether integrated into breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or as a snack or app, there's just never a bad time for this classic Middle Eastern staple. On the other hand, there is a perfect time for roasted pumpkin hummus, and that time is fall.

Blending some cubes of roasted pumpkin into a hummus recipe makes for a beautiful blend of flavors. It's faintly sweet, it has a mild earthiness, and it has that roasted subtlety that's like capturing autumn on the taste buds. Just don't use your old jack-o-lantern as the source for the pumpkin, because that will taste...just awful. You want the fresh stuff. 

Chef and recipe developer Susan Olayinka of The Flexible Fridge has come up with an easy and delightful recipe for roasted pumpkin hummus that will be a hit all season long, and what's more, you can use this recipe year-round by replacing the pumpkin with another can of chickpeas.

As you probably guessed, you'll need some pumpkin for this recipe. Get about 12 ounces of it, whether you are cutting chunks fresh from the pumpkin yourself or buying it pre-chunked at the store. (If you must use canned pumpkin puree, that's fine as a fall-back — just look for one that's not sweetened and, of course, skip the roasting step, and leave out the added water in the recipe.) 

You'l also need garlic cloves, a can of chickpeas, a lemon, some tahini, cumin, salt, some water, olive oil, and, as optional toppings, sesame seeds, chopped parsley, and a bit more lemon.

Start things off by preheating the oven to 320 F. Peel, de-seed, and chop the pumpkin into cubes. (You want between 12 and 13 ounces of peeled, approximately 1-inch cubes here.) Place those cubes of pumpkin on a baking tray, and drizzle with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. 

Next, place the prepped pumpkin in the oven and roast it for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, peel the garlic and prep your other ingredients.

After the pumpkin is finished baking, remove from oven and cool slightly. Place the pumpkin in the blender along with the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic cloves, cumin, salt, water, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Note that you can also use a food processor for this recipe, and in fact, if you have one large enough to accommodate all of the ingredients, it's preferred.

Blend all of the ingredients on high for 30 seconds, then take the top off the blender (or food processor), and scrape down the sides with a silicone spatula, pushing all of the chunky bits down toward the blades. Now, blend again for another 30 seconds, and repeat the steps once more if needed to combine everything.

Finally, pour/scrape/scoop the finished hummus into a serving dish and, if desired, top with the optional sesame seeds, parsley, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few squirts of fresh lemon juice, and enjoy. Olayinka says the hummus will keep well for three or four days in the fridge.