This carrot hummus recipe makes a roasted carrot and chickpea dip with cumin and sesame seeds. Deliciously addictive, the Middle Eastern-inspired dip is light, bright and healthy, and fantastic served with crispy pita chips or crunchy crudités. It can also be used as a spread on sandwiches and baguettes or as a base for salads and vegetable sides.
As delicious as it is, I resisted sharing a carrot hummus recipe here for many years after first sampling a carrot, tahini and chickpea dip in the Austrian capital of Vienna, of all places, way back in 2010, on the yearlong global grand tour that launched Grantourismo.
We’d lived in the Middle East and travelled the region for over a decade before we first came across an orange carrot ‘hummus’, pink beetroot ‘hummus’, and other crazy coloured dips (green wasabi ‘hummus’, yellow curry ‘hummus’ etc) at the Turkish food shops at Vienna’s Naschmarkt.
Call us purists, but at the time we could never have brought ourselves to call a Turkish-Austrian carrot chickpea dip a ‘carrot hummus’. But, oh, how the world and what we eat in it has changed in 13 years, and cuisines evolve after all, for better or worse.
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Now let me tell you all about this carrot hummus recipe, which makes a delicious roast carrot and chickpea dip.
Carrot Hummus Recipe for Roast Carrot and Chickpea Dip with Cumin and Sesame
This carrot hummus recipe will make you a scrummy roasted carrot, tahini and chickpea dip with cumin and sesame seeds. We first tasted this vegetable ‘hummus’ dip, a modern twist on traditional hummus, way back in 2010.
We were in Austria near the end of the 12-month global grand tour that launched Grantourismo and we’d just arrived for our two-week stay in Vienna. We were exploring the nearby Naschmarkt, taking stock of the food that locals were buying and eating, as we’d done in every city, town and village we settled into that year.
It was on that quest to seek out the quintessential dishes of the place that we discovered this decidedly modern take on the traditional Arabic mezze or Turkish meze called hummus, a tahini and chickpea dip served as a starter, appetiser or side dish right across the Middle East.
As we explained in the post on those ‘crazy flavoured dips’ (link above), after almost a decade living in the MidEast and travelling widely around the region, both for holidays and for work as guidebook authors, we’d never come across these colourful ‘hummus’ dips before.
Despite our initial trepidation, we actually enjoyed them and tried lots of different flavours, from bright pink-purple beetroot ‘hummus’ to flavours such as curry and wasabi ‘hummus’. While those vibrant dips were unique for the time, and kicked off a food trend, these days they’re normal.
We’re probably amongst a minority reluctant to describe these colourful chickpea and tahini dips as ‘hummus’, but there we are. Food changes and is transformed by those who make it and consume it, just like fashion, music, and art.
Just a few tips to making this delicious carrot hummus recipe – or carrot chickpea tahini dip if you prefer.
Tips to Making this Carrot Hummus Recipe for Roast Carrot and Chickpea Dip
As usual, I only have a few tips to making this delicious carrot hummus recipe. Firstly, use the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford. It’s worth it for the flavour and I find that I use less of a delicious high quality olive oil.
Do stir your spices in with the extra virgin olive oil in a dish or jar (I actually make much more than this recipe calls for and keep it on hand) and use a silicone pastry brush to lightly coat the carrot pieces in the spiced olive oil. (Avoid olive oil sprays as aerosol cans are harmful to the environment.)Â
By using a silicone pastry brush, you’ll ensure all the carrot pieces are covered in the spiced oil, the spices and therefore flavours are distributed evenly, and nothing goes to waste. There’s no need to do a Jamie Oliver and splash the olive oil over the veggies.
When it comes to roasting the carrots, 30 minutes at 200°C or 390°F results in soft evenly-roasted carrot pieces for me. We have a small oven and I use a large oven tray. The carrot pieces are small, around 2cm in diameter, and when I lay them out I ensure there’s plenty of space around each piece.
If your carrot pieces aren’t soft enough at 30 minutes, roast them for a little longer. It doesn’t matter if there’s a little char on them, as that smokiness adds a nice flavour.
When you drain the chickpeas, do keep the brine as you may need it later. Transfer the chickpeas, garlic powder (you can use minced garlic if you prefer), extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, a teaspoon of ground cumin, lemon juice, salt, and carrot to a food processor or blender, and pulse until well combined and smooth-ish.
Sometimes I’ll add some chilli flakes, which give the dip a little heat, but ground Aleppo pepper would also be great.
If it’s too dense, and that will depend on how well-cooked the carrot is (if it’s soft it’s going to blitz quickly and if it’s not, it won’t), then add a little chickpea brine as needed. Just add it gradually because if you add too much it will be runny.
Taste and adjust the seasoning (add more salt and pepper if you like) and spices (add a little more cumin or ground paprika or the chilli flakes) to suit your palate, then pulse again to ensure they’re well combined. Transfer the dip to a bowl and refrigerate until you need it.
Just before serving, drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle on black and white sesame seeds (or cumin or sumac) garnish with some sprigs of fresh coriander (or fresh mint if you like), and serve with crunchy crudités or homemade crispy pita chips. So good!
Carrot Hummus Recipe for Roast Carrot and Chickpea Dip
Ingredients
- 450 g carrots – 2 large carrots - chopped into 2cm pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
- ¼ tsp ground paprika
- 400 g canned chickpeas
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp tahini paste
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt – or to taste
- more extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- ½ tsp black and white sesame seeds
optional garnish
- sprigs of fresh coriander
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 200°C (390°F).
- In a small dish or jar, stir the olive oil, salt, one teaspoon ground cumin, chilli powder, and ground paprika to combine well.
- Lay the carrot pieces out on a baking tray, ensuring there’s space around each piece, use a silicone pastry brush to brush the spiced olive oil over the carrot pieces, then roast the carrots for 30 minutes or so until soft, and remove to cool.
- Drain the chickpeas, but keep the brine, and transfer the chickpeas, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, a teaspoon of ground cumin, lemon juice, salt, and carrot pieces to a food processor or blender, and pulse until well combined and smooth. If too dense, add a little chickpea brine as needed.
- Taste and adjust seasoning and spices to suit your palate, pulsing again to ensure they’re well combined, then transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
- Just before serving, drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle on black and white sesame seeds, garnish with some sprigs of fresh coriander if you like, and serve with crunchy crudités or crispy pita chips.
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our carrot hummus recipe as we’d love to hear how it turned out for you.
This is a lovely recipe. Like a more complex hummus!
Hi Lilly, So pleased you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking time to drop by and let us know :)