Pumpkin Hummus Recipe for Roast Pumpkin and Chickpea Dip with Dukkah

Our easy pumpkin hummus recipe makes a roasted pumpkin and chickpea dip drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with dukkah, the Middle Eastern condiment of crushed nuts, seeds and spices. Serve it as a healthy snack with warm flat bread, crunchy pita chips or crispy vegetable crudités or as an appetiser with an array of Middle Eastern mezze.

This pumpkin hummus recipe for a roast pumpkin and chickpea dip with dukkah, makes one of our best Middle Eastern style recipes and best homemade hummus recipes – along with our recipes for authentic hummus, beetroot hummus, carrot hummus, and more traditional hummus dishes such as hummus with spiced beef, hummus balila and balila salad.

Serve our pumpkin hummus with other Middle Eastern mezze or dips and starters, such as muhammara, baba ganoush, muttabal, and labneh, alongside traditional accompaniments, such as crunchy cucumber spears, radishes, pickles, olives, and crispy pita chips or warm flatbread. Arrange the lot on a platter if you’re feeding a crowd.

Along with other mezze, our pumpkin hummus makes a fantastic side for Middle Eastern mains, such as garlicky shish tawook, kofta meatballs and kofta kebabs, served with Middle Eastern spiced rice with nuts and raisins, and salads such as tabbouleh and fatoush.

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Now let me tell you about this pumpkin hummus recipe for a roast pumpkin and chickpea dip with dukkah.

Pumpkin Hummus Recipe for Roasted Pumpkin and Chickpea Dip with Dukkah

If you’re a pumpkin lover like me – I adore everything from pumpkin soup to pumpkin pudding – and you enjoyed our Middle Eastern roasted pumpkin doused in a yoghurt, lemon and garlic sauce, and showered with dukkah, the Egyptian condiment of pounded nuts, spices and seeds, you’re going to love this pumpkin hummus recipe.

Along with forming a part in a proper Middle Eastern feast – whether served as a starter or appetiser, as one of an array of mezze, or as a side dish to traditional Arabic mains – I also love to use this pumpkin hummus as a base for salads and vegetable side dishes.

I use this pumpkin hummus as I do a traditional hummus, other vegetable hummus, or white bean dip, generously spreading the hummus thickly across a serving plate to form a creamy base and vehicle for roasted or grilled vegetables or a fresh crunchy salad veggies.

I love to pile a mountain of grilled or roasted vegetables on top, as I did with this Middle Eastern cauliflower dish, green beans with almonds, baby corn on creamy white beans, and the roasted pumpkin dish, above. That last dish was drizzled with a lemony yoghurt garlic sauce but you can douse on some quality extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on dukkah, nuts, seeds, or spices.

I recommend doing the same with salad ingredients, as I did with this beetroot, arugula and feta salad and cucumber salad on butter bean puree, inspired by the Middle Eastern balila salad, above, and this Antalya style Turkish white bean salad, which makes a white bean spread that’s topped with a salad of cherry tomatoes, purple shallots, fresh herbs, jammy eggs.

Our pumpkin hummus recipe will also make you a healthy snack or light meal for work, school or home. You could pack a container of pumpkin hummus in a lunch box or picnic basket with any combination of crunchy vegetable crudités.

You can also use this pumpkin hummus as a layer on pita bread, baguettes, rolls, and sandwiches, just as you might spread some garlicky toum on pita before piling on chicken to make a shawarma, or spread pâté on banh mi or num pang and use it as a base for cold cuts or char siu pork and salad. Just a few quick tips to making our pumpkin hummus recipe.

Tips to Making this Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

I only have a few quick tips to making our pumpkin hummus recipe, as it’s super easy. Don’t be deterred by the length of time to make this recipe, as most of that is time for the pumpkin to roast, and that’s essentially set and forget. The rest of the prep is quick. The first thing to do is put the pumpkin on to roast.

What Type of Pumpkin to Use in this Pumpkin Hummus?

Back home in Siem Reap, I would normally use the dark-green camboja pumpkins, which the Portuguese took from Cambodia to Japan way back in the 16th century. That explains why they’re known as kabocha or Japanese pumpkin or Japanese squash.

Here in Australia right now, there’s an abundance of butternut pumpkin or butternut squash around that I’ve been cooking with, but you can use whatever kind of pumpkin or squash that’s in season that you can source and afford. Keep in mind that seasonal pumpkin will be more affordable.

Make a Spiced Oil and Use a Pastry Brush to Evenly Coat the Pumpkin

After peeling and chopping the pumpkin into uniform pieces so they bake evenly, I spread them out on a baking tray and cover the pumpkin pieces in extra virgin olive oil, salt, ground cumin, a little ground paprika and chilli powder or flakes. Ground Aleppo pepper would also work. But you could really use any kind of spice combination.

I recommend combining the extra virgin olive oil with the salt and spices in a small bowl or jar first, then after laying the pumpkin pieces out on the oven tray, use a silicone pastry brush to coat the pumpkin pieces in the spiced oil.

This way you’ll be able to more evenly coat the pumpkin and won’t waste the extra virgin olive oil, which can be expensive these days. Don’t do a Jamie Oliver and splash the olive oil all over the vegetables straight from the bottle. Most of the oil will end up on the tray rather than the veggies.

How Long to Roast the Pumpkins

Depending on the pumpkin and size of the pieces – I aim for around 2-3cm in diameter – you’ll probably need to roast the pumpkins for around 25-30 minutes at 200°C or 390°F or until they’re soft enough to easily slide a fork into them. If your pumpkin pieces aren’t soft enough, roast them for another 5 minutes or so.

Use a Blender or Food Processor

When the pumpkin pieces are done and have cooled down a little, drain the can of chickpeas, keeping the brine, then transfer the chickpeas, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, teaspoon of ground cumin, lemon juice, salt, and pumpkin pieces to a food processor or blender, and pulse until well combined and smooth.

You can use dried chickpeas instead of canned chickpeas, of course, if you prefer. See this post for tips to using dried chickpeas in hummus, courtesy of Terence, who was taught to make hummus by a Lebanese work colleague when we lived in Abu Dhabi.

Getting the Hummus Consistency Right

If the pumpkin hummus is too dense, add a tablespoon of chickpea brine and pulse again. If you need to add more brine, continue to add more, little by little. Take care not to add too much brine, as it’s hard to come back from if it ends up too runny. To save it, you’ll need to add either more roasted pumpkin or more chickpeas. You could also try adding breadcrumbs or stale bread to save it.

Taste and Adjust to Suit Your Palate

Make sure to taste your pumpkin hummus before transferring it to a bowl, and feel free to adjust the spices and seasoning to suit your palate, then pulse it again to ensure the spices are well incorporated.

Finishing the Pumpkin Hummus

Transfer the pumpkin hummus to a container or bowl and refrigerate it until you’re ready to eat it. Just before serving it, drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil and shower with a couple of tablespoons or so of dukkah.

Hummus Serving Suggestions

Serve the pumpkin hummus as you would any hummus with warmed flat bread, crispy pita chips or crunchy crudités as a snack, starter or appetiser.

Alongside classic Middle Eastern mezze accompaniments such as cucumber spears, radishes and crunchy pickles, consider other raw vegetables that are brilliant for dipping and scooping: carrot batons, celery sticks, green beans, asparagus spears, capsicums strips, baby corn, lettuce and cabbage leaves, and broccoli and cauliflower florets.

Storage Tips

If you have leftover pumpkin hummus, store it in a well-sealed glass jar or airtight plastic container in the fridge and it should last 3-4 days.

Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

Pumpkin Hummus Recipe for a Middle Eastern Style Dip

AuthorLara Dunston

Our easy pumpkin hummus recipe makes a roasted pumpkin and chickpea dip drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with dukkah, the Middle Eastern condiment of crushed nuts, seeds and spices. Serve it as a snack with warm flat bread, crunchy pita chips or crispy vegetable crudités or as an appetiser with other Middle Eastern mezze.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course dip, mezze

Cuisine Middle Eastern, Arabic

Servings made with recipeServings 1 Large Bowl

Calories 1571 kcal

Equipment

1 Baking Tray

Mason Jar

Silicone Pastry Brush

Food Processor

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cumin - divided
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp ground paprika
• 500 g pumpkin - peeled, deseeded and chopped into 3-4cm pieces
• 400 g canned chickpeas - drained
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt - or to taste
• 2 tbsp dukkah

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat your oven to 200°C (390°F).
• In a small jar or bowl, vigorously stir the olive oil, salt, one teaspoon ground cumin, chilli powder, and ground paprika to incorporate well.
• Spread the pumpkin pieces out on an oven tray, making sure there’s space around each piece, use a silicone pastry brush to brush the spiced olive oil over the pieces of pumpkin, then roast the pumpkin for 25-30 minutes or so until soft, remove, and set aside to cool.
• Drain the tin of chickpeas, keeping the brine, then transfer the chickpeas, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, tahini paste, teaspoon of ground cumin, lemon juice, salt, and pumpkin pieces to a food processor or blender, and pulse until well combined and smooth.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning and spices to suit your palate, pulsing again to ensure they’re well combined. Transfer the pumpkin hummus to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to eat.
• Just before serving, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil onto the pumpkin hummus and sprinkle on a couple of tablespoons or so of dukkah. Serve with warmed flat bread, crispy pita chips or crunchy crudités.

Notes

If the pumpkin hummus is too dense, add a tablespoon of chickpea brine and pulse again, and continue to add little by little if needed; take care not to add too much liquid to the dip – if you do and it ends up too runny, you’ll need to add either more roasted pumpkin or more chickpeas or try breadcrumbs or stale bread to save it.

Store in a well-sealed glass jar or airtight plastic container in the fridge and it will last 3-4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 1571kcalCarbohydrates: 105gProtein: 35gFat: 121gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 22gMonounsaturated Fat: 77gSodium: 3508mgPotassium: 2700mgFiber: 25gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 43102IUVitamin C: 59mgCalcium: 349mgIron: 15mg

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our pumpkin hummus recipe as we’d love to hear how it turned out for you.