Step up your hummus game this fall with this flavor-packed butternut squash hummus! It's rich, creamy, just a tad sweet, plenty savory, and flavored with roasted garlic and smoky seasonings.
Do you love stuff in your hummus? I sure do! And no, I'm not talking about all those hummus flavors in the grocery store. They're fine and all, but they really are just that: hummus with a little flavor. I'm talking about blending in ingredients that add big texture and taste. Think dill pickle hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, or jalapeño hummus. If you REALLY love stuff in your hummus though, you can't beat butternut squash hummus.
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With this particular spin on hummus, squash isn't just an accent ingredient. We're adding a seriously generous amount of it, which means tons of flavor and a real change in texture. It's thicker than your average hummus (you can really pile a ton on a pita wedge), and full of classic fall butternut squash sweetness.
Since the flavor is quite a bit different from regular old hummus, I've also switched up the seasonings a bit. You'll be roasting most of the garlic for a mellow, buttery flavor, and adding some smoky spices. It's one of the most unusual (and addictive) hummus variations you'll ever try!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Butternut squash. You'll only need a pound, so this is a great recipe for using a baby butternut, or what's left of a larger one after making butternut squash soup or butternut squash pasta.
- Olive oil. Use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Garlic. You'll be using an entire bulb — whoa! Don't worry though — most of it will be roasted garlic, which has a super mellow flavor and none of the bite of raw garlic.
- Chickpeas.
- Lemon juice. Stick with fresh lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Tahini. This is a type of sesame paste that's a key ingredient in hummus. Look for it in the international section of the grocery store.
- Spices. You'll need ground cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne pepper.
- Salt.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Prepare. Start by preheating your oven to 400°F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roast the squash. Toss butternut squash cubes with some olive oil and arrange them on your baking sheet. Pop it in the oven and roast the squash until the pieces are nice and tender, and a bit browned.
Roast the garlic. First, break off one clove and save it for later. Cut the top off the rest of the bulb, drizzle it with olive oil, and pop it into the oven. Roast until the cloves are golden and super soft.
Tip: The squash and garlic can be roasted a day or two in advance and refrigerated, or frozen up to two months.
Load the food processor. In with the chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, spices, and salt, as well as the roasted squash. Squeeze your roasted garlic and transfer the soft cloves to the food processor, too, and throw in that reserved clove.
Blend. Run the machine until your hummus is smooth. It'll be very thick, so feel free to thin it with some water. When it's done, give it a taste and add more salt, lemon juice, spices, or whatever you see fit.
Serve. Your butternut squash hummus is ready! Dig in with pita bread, or, if you prefer, some crackers, chips, or veggies.
Variations
- Make it spicy. Use some extra cayenne pepper, or add your favorite hot sauce.
- Squash swaps. Most sweet winter squash will work in place of butternut. Try acorn, delicata, or kabocha squash.
- Bean swaps. Go really non-traditional and replace the chickpeas with cannellini beans, lentils, or kidney beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep! The recipe includes no gluten-containing ingredients.
You can, but you'll need to soak and fully cook them first. You'll need about 1 ¾ cups of cooked chickpeas.
That's part of the charm! Butternut squash makes this hummus thicker than traditional hummus. You can thin it with a little water if you prefer a looser consistency.
It'll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Butternut Squash Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Smoky Butternut Squash Hummus
Ingredients
- 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups)
- 5 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large garlic bulb
- 1 (15 ounce/425 gram) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
For Serving
- Pita bread
- Olive oil, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss the butternut squash cubes with ½ tablespoon of the olive oil and arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Remove one clove of your garlic and reserve it for later. Cut the top off of the rest of your garlic bulb. This should expose the tips of each (or most of) the cloves. Place the rest of the bulb on a sheet of foil and drizzle it with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Wrap the garlic loosely in the foil.
- Place the garlic and butternut squash into the oven. Roast the squash until the pieces are tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes, flipping once about halfway through. Roast the garlic until the cloves are very soft and golden brown, about 40 minutes.
- Carefully open the foil holding the garlic. Let both the garlic and squash cool for a few minutes, while you gather the remaining ingredients.
- Place the chickpeas, remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, and salt into a food processor bowl. Add the roasted butternut squash. Squeeze the roasted garlic to extract the soft cloves from the bulb, then add them to the food processor bowl, along with the reserved clove of raw garlic.
- Blend everything until smooth, thinning with water if desired. Taste the hummus and adjust any seasonings to taste.
- Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired, and pita wedges.
Notes
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on ingredients, brands, portion sizes, and preparation methods.
Delicious and a lovely appetizer to share. I repurposed the leftovers for a pasta sauce.
Very good!
Can you freeze this?
Yup! I freeze it all the time!
Just made it and it is delicious indeed! Although I added more lemon juice and vegetable broth to thin it out and make it more like shop bought hummus consistency. And knowing what ingredients are going into this hummus (all organic) makes it taste even better! Just need to slice some celery sticks and voila! Thank you!
Yay! I'm glad you like it!
I can’t have chickpeas. Is there something to replace it with and still have the humus taste?
Can you have other legumes? Cannellini beans or even lentils would work well!
What a great dish to serve guests at parties! I just wanted to let you know I have a website (Simply Creative Recipes) where I showcase recipes that I find and I am linking to this post if you don't mind. Please feel free to submit any recipes to my site if you'd like.
Awesome! Thanks for the link love - I will definitely check out your site!
Boat loads of butternut squash, you lucky girl! I live in a bizarrely squash void part of the world, but butternut is the one kind I can usually find. I love the idea of lightening up hummus with the squash, and a whole bulb of roasted garlic.... oh my!
Haha! Yeah, I really can't complain about being overrun with butternut squash. I'm glad you can get it in your neck of the woods - I wouldn't want to spend an Autumn without it. :) Thanks Katie!
Aw... I love love love love love butternut squash (although i live in the uk and very few squashes are widely available, butternut is thankfully the only one that is!) i cant wait to try this (i also loved smoked paprika- so this recipie is ideal). Now i just have to get someone to cube the squash for me :P
Thanks Ana! I love butternut squash and smoked paprika too - the combo turned out really nice here. Glad to hear you'll be able to get your hands on some squash - sometimes I see pre-cubed squash at the supermarket. That might make things easier. :) Enjoy!
Oooh, this looks delish! I love butternut squash and I love hummus—I can't wait to try the two of them together! :)
Me too! And I was so pleasantly surprised at how well the two went together. Enjoy :)
You sold me with the description! Putting squash in hummus is a great idea. I'm so excited for butternuts to start coming in the next couple of weeks here.
Haha! Awesome! I did get really into the description on this one - glad it worked. Enjoy!
I'm regretting not picking up that butternut squash I was eyeing at the farmers market this morning! This sounds great. Can't wait to try it next weekend!
I know - butternut squash is one of those things I'm always afraid to grab because I'm not sure if I'll get to use it. I was glad to have a bunch of free ones given to me this year - all of which went to good use. Hope you get to try this next weekend!