This vegan sweet potato hummus is a non-traditional spin on chickpea hummus. It has the most wonderful creamy texture and slight sweetness, thanks to cooked sweet potato. You can roast, steam, or microwave your sweet potato—it’s all good! Perfect for dipping, snacks, sandwiches, and more.

This sweet potato hummus may be my favorite homemade hummus. Period.

That’s saying a lot, because I love hummus. And I’ve made many hummus recipes for this blog and my own snacking happiness!

I routinely make green pea hummus, sun-dried tomato hummus, ginger lime edamame hummus, beet hummus, and roasted carrot hummus.

All fun, creative variations on a theme. But really and truly, sweet potato hummus wins.

This hummus has it all. It’s tasty, satisfying, and it has both sweet and salty notes. Even better, the cooked sweet potato makes the texture of this hummus both thick and creamy.

Why sweet potato is a great addition to hummus

I mean, why not?

It’s no big secret that I love sweet potatoes, just about any which way.

I love to put sweet potatoes into salads, burgers, tacos, soup, and even in dessert.

I mash them, roast them, steam them, and bake them.

Sweet potatoes are rich in so many nutrients, including fiber, beta carotene (the precursor to Vitamin A), vitamin C, and vitamin B6. They’re complex carbohydrates can provide even, long-lasting energy to fuel busy lives.

In sweet potato hummus, they contribute not only all of this good nutrition, but also the best texture!

Somehow, the sweet potato hummus is thick without being heavy or overly stodgy. And it is especially, wonderfully creamy.

How to cook sweet potatoes for hummus

I’ve made this recipe many times over, and I’ve experimented with different ways of cooking the potato.

I’ve roasted it, steamed it, and microwaved it.

I can tell you that roasting probably enhances the natural sweetness of the potato most noticeably. So the roasted sweet potato version has the most intensity of flavor.

But this is only true by a small margin, really. A sweet potato is a sweet potato, and all of the above methods work. Here’s how to approach each one of them.

You’ll need one medium sized sweet potato to make the sweet potato hummus.

Roasting

Preheat your oven to 400F. Prick your sweet potato a few times with a fork. Place it on a baking sheet and roast for 40-60 minutes, or until it can easily be pierced with a fork or knife.

Microwave

Prick your sweet potato a few times with a fork. Place it on a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 5-10 minutes (this will depend on your microwave and the size of the potato), or until it can easily be pierced with a fork or a knife.

Steaming

Peel your sweet potato, then cut it into large cubes. Bring a pot of water to a boil and fit it with a steamer attachment.

Steam the potato cubes for 10-15 minutes, or until they can easily be pierced with a fork.

How to make sweet potato hummus

Once your sweet potato is cooked, making the sweet potato hummus is pretty easy!

First, you’ll add cooked chickpeas (I use canned) to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade.

Add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.

Then, add your sweet potato. If you peeled and steamed it, then you can just add the steamed cubes. If you roasted or microwaved it, you can scoop the flesh out of the skin with a spoon and add it to the processor.

Begin processing the hummus, then drizzle in 1/3 cup water. Continue processing until the texture of the sweet potato hummus is quite creamy. Stop once or twice to scrape the sides of the food processor bowl down as you go.

At that point, the hummus is ready to store or enjoy.

Storage and freezing

Sweet potato hummus is a very smart dip to add to your weekly vegan meal prep—or simply to make ahead of time so that lunches and snacks can be easier.

The hummus will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. It can also be frozen for up to eight weeks.

How to serve vegan sweet potato hummus

You can serve this vibrant and delicious hummus however you like, honestly.

It’s a good spread for sandwiches, for one thing. Try it with tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato for a more nutritive alternative to traditional mayo.

The hummus is an excellent snack, of course. I like to eat it with veggies (cucumber rounds, carrots, pepper strips) and whole grain pita.

Sweet potato hummus can also be paired with a veggie burger, in place of the more traditional ketchup or mustard. I really like it with my unfussy sweet potato black bean burgers.

Hummus lovers, this one has your names on it. I hope that you will dip, spread, and snack your way through many batches!

xo