Perfect Raw Hummus

hummus1

Happy Raw Wednesday!

I dedicate this post to my friend Heather, who is a hummus fiend, though in truth she is not the only one! Hummus is much adored in the foodie community, and with good reason: it’s creamy, delicious, versatile, and high in protein and fiber. Unfortunately, hummus isn’t raw! The beans used in regular hummus are cooked. Some raw foodists make hummus with sprouted chickpeas instead, but to be honest with you, I find the taste of sprouted beans to be unbearable. For this reason, I’ve been on the quest for a perfect raw hummus recipe for a while. Many of the recipes I found called for nuts, but in spite of my fondness for nut pate, I found them to be really heavy–the opposite, really, of regular hummus.

Which is why it’s ingenious that someone decided to use zucchini as the hummus base. This yields a slightly thinner and greener hummus than the norm, but it’s easy to thicken with tahini and sesame seeds. There are many versions of zucchini hummus floating around: Ani Phyo includes one in her book, and there are several online. The following is my favorite. It is, in my mind, the perfect raw hummus: all of the flavors of regular hummus, with none of the bloating. Best of all, it’s 100% raw.

I was inspired by this recipe, and I found that the olive oil and zucchini yielded a mix that was too thin to be hummus: it was tasty, but more akin to a tahini dressing. So I thickened it up with some raw sesame seeds in addition to the tahini, and voila: an amazingly rich, creamy, and tasty blend. Here’s the recipe:

Raw Zucchini Hummus (yields over 3 cups; you can easily cut this recipe in half)

2 zucchini, chopped
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 cup raw tahini (the Artisana brand is nice; substitute regular tahini if you need to)
4 tbsp olive oil
½ cup raw sesame seeds

Vitamix instructions:

Put all ingredients in your Vitamix and blend to a rich perfection!

Food processor instructions:

Same as above. You may have a hard time blending the sesame seeds, so I recommend soaking them for a few hours first, halving the recipe, and stopping frequently to scape the bowl. You can also omit the seeds entirely, but in that case I also recommend omitting the olive oil to keep a thick consistency.

hummus2

I could honestly have eaten a bowl of this stuff last night along with some crudités, but since I insist on making greens the centerpiece of as many meals as I can, I enjoyed the  hummus scooped into endive leaves and served alongside a big salad of dark greens, tomatos, endive, and fresh asparagus. It was delicious.

salad3

OK guys: it’s your turn! Tell me all about your Raw Wednesday!

xo

This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. Visit my privacy policy to learn more.

Categories: Uncategorized
Dietary Preferences: Raw

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    77 Comments
  1. Hey thanks for the great recipe idea. I have been trying to make raw hummus for two weeks, but keep being unsuccessful at properly sprouting the garbanzos 🙁 I’m also concerned I won’t like the flavor, but your recipe sounds amazing! I am looking so forward to trying this.

  2. delicious!! first time i make hummus of any kind!!! it turned out wow!! i wonder, what about eggplant? can it be made the same way??
    thank you!!!

  3. I believe you it does look really delicious. Like how you kept it raw to preserve the benefits of the foods.

  4. have to jump on the band wagon – OMG HOW FRIGGIN YUMMY IS THIS???!!!!!???!!! Ate a bit too much of it and felt sick, so that’ll teach me 😉 Perfect for taking into work as well and have on my speltcakes!

  5. Holy heckamomma! Just tried your recipe. So delicious and fresh tasting. I didn’t read ahead before attempting so it ended up runny since I didn’t have sesame seeds. I did however have some hemp seeds that I needed to use so i threw those in there. It actually turned out edible and quite tasty although I will have to try as intended once I get some sesame seeds. You’ve made a believer out of me for sure. Don’t know how I didn’t eat like this before actually!

  6. Wow, this is so good! Followed the recipe exactly except for adding an extra clove of garlic 🙂 I try to avoid beans for the most part and so never make hummus, but now that I have this awesome little recipe in my back pocket, hummus is back on the menu! My (omnivorous) fiance just asked me to make him some with carrot sticks to munch on while watching football – proof of a great recipe if you ask me. Next on my list: carrot pulp falafel with tahini dressing. Thanks, Gena, for a great raw hummus option!

  7. Just made this for the first time *right now* and it’s unbelievable! I did of course embellish a little with the recipe…I added tomato, red bell pepper, and jalepeno. I’m amazed at how much it tastes like the cooked hummus I’ve made in the past! No more garbanzos for me! I spooned heaping spoonfuls onto curry flax crackers and am enjoying it as I type. *BLISS*

    Thank you for this recipe!

  8. I’ve been eating raw and juicing for the last week (coming from vegetarian then vegan over the last six months). Your website is an amazing source! Thanks for posting and sharing. I just got a dehydrator yesterday and plan to make my first batch of raw crackers tonight and top them with your zucchini hummus. Yee-haw Raw!

  9. Surprisingly delicious. I love that’s it’s raw and it’s simple to make. It is also much lighter than hummus made with chick peas and there is no real sacrifice in taste. Thanks!

  10. My boyfriend and I love hummus and this recipe and we are always experimenting with new ways to make this amazing food. However, we have both realized through our experimenting process that neither one of us likes tahini! In fact we both really dislike it! However we made a wonderful and delicious discovery tonight – you can substitute almond butter for tahini… and make AMAZING hummus. I’m not sure if almonds and chickpeas are a food combining hazard but neither of us seemed to have any issues with it. This recipe is definitely a keeper and I can foresee us making it many more times in the future. Just thought I would share!

    Here is our recipe for a big batch:

    2 cans of chickpeas
    4 tbps almonds butter
    2 cloves garlic
    The juice of one large lemon
    Water (the more you add the creamier it becomes – we used a very generous amount)

    Just thought I would share (:

  11. I eat hummus with garlic cloves a plenty. I cook the chic peas for 12 minutes with the garlic, cool and mash. I have it with avocado, cucumber, olives, celery, sour cream, tomato,raw onion & nan bread drizzled with sesame oil & heated. Bugger the beano, I have had no help from it, What’s a little ‘wind’ between friends….?

  12. This was just what I was looking for – I used flax seed oil and sunflower seeds and came out delicious – thank you for this recipe !

  13. Is there any way to make this a bit lighter? Or rather what is an optimum serving size?

  14. I tried this recipe and it was so good! Seriously, it’s the best hummus I have ever tasted. Thanks for sharing this recipe! =]

  15. I’ve never tried sesame seeds, but I grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder and it works pretty well. I’m going to try this, it looks delish!

  16. Thank you so much for this recipe! This is the best raw hummus I have made. I tried a couple recipes using sprouted chickpeas and just wasn’t happy with the result. Your recipe rocks!

  17. Thanks for the recipe. I”m going to try this, hopefully, this week. We love hummus on our veggie wraps, but I”ve always made it with either garbanzo beans or soybeans, so it has been cooked. This looks like a great raw alternative.

  18. Hi Gena,

    I’ve tried four hummus recipes. Your Raw Zucchini Hummus is the one I will be making again and again. I read at rawfoodexplained.com that garlic and onion isn’t good for you and I’m pleased to be finding that you have delicious recipes that don’t include them.

    Thank you for the recipe!
    Karen

  19. Other prominent side-effects of this drug class include myelosuppression low blood counts and peripheral neuropathy disabling nerve damage . prednisone contact with reality ambien these drugs include zoloft tertiary care hospital amoxicillin extremely excited about

  20. Jersey California and Texas and in the counties of Philadelphia Pa. prednisone first comes tetracycline prozac urine become compromised ambien specialty sales force zoloft consume large amounts

  21. Gena,

    Hey darlin! It’s so great to “see” your shining face this morning!

    Oh goodness. HUMMUS! Yum yum. If you could put your raw genius to create a version of TJ’s eggplant hummus I might die and go to foodie heaven! I wonder how this would work with a little garlic and eggplant lovin… Is there a way to get rid of the eggplant’s bitterness without cooking it?

    Have a great Thursday day girlie!

    With Love,
    Emily

    • Hey sweets! Same to you!

      I will do my best to oblige you and come up with a great babaganoush!

      xo

  22. You have challenged my hummus preconceptions!I love the idea of hummus not made from chickpeas, though of course I have a not-so-secret love affair with Sabra. Your zucchini version sounds great!

  23. Hey! i am in the process of looking for a juicer and was wondering which one you have. I wanted to breville juice fountain elite, but the store I checked does not have it in stock. They only carry the juice fountain plus but could order the elite for me. (I have a 20% off coupon!) I think yours is the plus. Do you think it’s just as good as the elite? I don’t know much about these, so I’m not sure if the elite is worth two times as much as the plus! Thanks =)

    • Hi Heather!

      I have the plus, not the elite. It has honestly been more than sufficient for my lifestyle, and I highly recommend it! I wouldn’t bother with the plus unless you’ve really got your heart set on it.

      xo

  24. I love hummus but I haven’t had it in awhile because it’s not raw. I haven’t made the raw version yet, I am scared it’s not going to live up to “real” hummus! I need to conquer my fear! 🙂

    • Hey lovely!

      So amazing to meet you!

      You must try this recipe! I’m telling you, I am a total hummus snob and I LOVED it.

      xoxo

      • Great meeting you as well! I brought Thomas and his friend those cookies and they were like, when is the next meeting? LOL! 🙂

        Your friend Cassie is so nice as well, I really enjoyed talking to her (and YOU and Melissa and Heather!).

  25. That hummus looks great! The raw chickpea hummus I made the other week was meh, so I’m excited to try out a better hummus recipe!

    Today I made a dressing with tahini, lemon juice, and raw garlic (ugh stinking garlic made my breath terrible!) with sprouted lentils and zucchini. I loved the dressing (next time I won’t put in garlic) and the sprouted lentils. Here is my post about it:
    http://kitchenpanda.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/i-need-to-stop-spending-so-much-money/

  26. Love this recipe. I’m a big hummus fan!

    Today’s raw snack was a Cinnamon Roll Larabar and today’s meal was a bakery bought organic garden lettuce salad that I stripped down (leaving hazelnuts) and added apples and carrots to. Pictures on my blog post today.

    I promise that next Wednesday will be way more exciting!!

  27. Too bad that part of hummus that disagrees with me is the sesame seeds… I wonder if I could find an alternative because the zucchini idea is so intriguing. This would have been a good switch up for raw Wed. (which was tasty and greens filled, anyway)!

    • I found a recipe for raw hummus with sprouted chickpeas or garbanzo beans (same thing two different names) and it calls for tahini, but only 2 spoons of it, and many people commented on how they omitted it and it cme out great!! Some people sai tamari cn be used for the nutty flavor instead of tahini, and many people added peppers, or basil, sim dried tomatoes ect for big flavor, and no sesame seeds!!! 🙂

  28. What a wonderful idea to use zucchini in the hummus! I’m not currently a raw foodist, but I’ve been following your blog for about a month now and I’m really enjoying new raw ideas – I figure the more raw I can incorporate, the better, right? 🙂 Have a great night!

  29. This recipe looks delicious. I am totally going to take down the recipe and try it sometime soon.

    Great point about food combining and the fact that beans are both a protein and starch. Beans often do a number on my tummy.

  30. Thanks so much for the hummus recipe, Gena. I love hummus and can’t wait to try this out! Have you ever tried making hummus with raw chick peas? I haven’t but I think they taste good raw so I might experiment.

    My raw snack today was some fruit (watermelon and cherries). And for dinner I’ll be having a salad with lots of veggies (carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, tomato….).

    • Hey Sharon,

      As I said in my post, I don’t digest beans well (and don’t love the taste of sprouted beans to boot) so this suits my tastebuds a bit better!

      Gena

      • Hey Gena, What I was thinking of was the raw garbanzo (they’re green and are usually sold still in the pod) not sprouted ones. They taste a bit different than the “regular” bean but I suppose if you don’t like the taste of those you wouldn’t like the raw one either 🙂 Thanks again for this recipe!

  31. OK, so I just left your blog open for like 2 hours.

    I helped son make the raspberry chocolate ganache cake from Ani Phy’s dessert book for our dessert later. Then I made your zuke hummus.

    For lunch I had a sandwich made out of dehydrator bread, avocado, and a BIG pile of alfalfa sprouts.

    For dinner I had a wrap made with your hummus, baby spinach, and more sprouts. It was really good.

    Then, I had an apple for a couple of snacks today.
    Thanks so much. Have a great evening.

  32. Ah yes, hummus is something I eat on an almost daily basis! Your raw version sounds delicious and I love zucchini so I cannot wait to try!

  33. I made zucchini hummus once and LOVED it…I’ve never tried sprouting chickpeas for hummus, but since the zucchini kind was so easy and tasty, I doubt I’ll ever need to try the raw chickpea variety.

  34. I’ve been reading about this raw food challenge and now I know where it came from! 🙂 Your blog looks great.

  35. Looks amazing! I just made hummus for the first time this week – the bean kind though… It was tasty, and I don’t know what took me so long to do it! I love the zucchini base of yours – definitely unique!

  36. Oooooh, I am looking forward to trying this recipe! I have made my own tahini before, and at first I tried using my food processor, but it failed miserably at crushing the sesame seeds. I then tried my non-VitaMix blender and it worked perfectly. Now I have a new food processor, so I’ll try that first, but if not I know my blender will do the trick. I so enjoy your recipes, thanks!

  37. I wish I had stocked up on these ingredients before today! Oh well, there is another raw wednesday next week to look forward to =)

  38. My Raw eats are lame today. I’m fighting a cold that is kicking my butt, and my attempt at mind control to rid myself of it isn’t working according to plan! I had a couple of Abbie’s Raw snickers this morning, before I fought my way to the gym. My appetite isn’t up to snuff, so dinner is going to be a small salad with dandelion, arugala, and whatever else needs to be used before the next grocery run. I just had a bit of raw almond butter on a carrot. If any munchies settle in, the plan is more almond butter on raw cinnamon crackers. I’m hoping for something a little more impressive next week!
    Your hummus looks great. I tried that over the weekend, and because it was so loose, I used it as dressing on a sprout salad! It worked, but it wasn’t the hummus that I had in mind. I’ll have to give your recipe a shot.

  39. oh my! This looks fab, I have all the ingredients on hand but the sesame seeds, I may have to try I love hummus.

    My raw Wednesday is going great. I had a smoothie for breakfast (Coconut water, blueberries, spinach, banana and frozen mango) and then a wrap (peppers, avocado, sprouts, and cucumber in a Ezekiel wrap) I have some carrots and sliced watermelon for later on in the day. I plan on having some raw sauerkraut for dinner not sure what will accompany it.

You might also like