This summer, as I reflected on the now 8 years of hosting this site and the absolutely god-awful photographs I used to post back in 2013, the jalapeño harvest began and I took the opportunity to recreate this ancient Charred Jalapeño Hummus recipe, one of my first ever.
I’m glad to be reminded that even in the dawn of Yup, it’s Vegan, I did understand how to cook stuff to an extent, and came up with a pretty tasty jalapeño hummus dip even if the photographs made it look despondent. On the other hand, why was there red wine vinegar in it?! Oh well, life is a journey.
This recipe has now been updated for the after-times, since I no longer avoid oil; and I think I’m a bit more clear on how to coax flavor out of jalapeños while reducing the heat.
I grew these peppers in my garden and I’m very proud of myself! It’s all about the small victories lately.
To create this charred jalapeño hummus, you’ll start by dry-roasting some jalapeños in the oven. How many, you ask? It kind of depends on your personality and how spicy the peppers are. Peppers can vary, especially if they’re home-grown so you may want to start with 2 peppers and add a third one into the hummus if you want more heat. Here is an article about how to estimate the hotness of jalapeños.
(I roasted 4 because I wanted to keep a couple extras around for the photoshoot).
Let the peppers cool for a while as you prep the other hummus ingredients. I used white beans this time because I was trying to get a green color instead of brown. Chickpeas are totally fine, though. Depending on whom you ask, white bean hummus is an absolutely murderous concept. I’d like to formally remove myself from the debate.
Two garlic cloves is a great amount. Recipes made with raw garlic are not generally a good time to invoke the “I always triple the amount of garlic a recipe calls for” meme.
Tahini, lemon or lime juice (I find that either is good, just don’t mix the two or the flavor will muddle), a bit of ground cumin, good olive oil, and either cilantro or parsley complete the ingredients.
And that’s it! Just blend until it’s smooth, adding warm water as needed. “Hummus” is very easy to make! Season to taste with salt and additional citrus. Don’t skip this step because every batch is different and you need to make sure it’s salted enough!
I know that Sabra, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods all make variations on jalapeño hummus, but I usually prefer homemade. Store-bought hummus has a funny flavor to me. The absolute best hummus seems to come from restaurants and when I figure out how they make it so good I’ll be sure to tell you.
Charred Jalapeño Hummus
Equipment
- Food processor
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 jalapeño peppers to taste, see blog post
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon or lime juice plus more to taste
- 1 3/4 cups cooked white beans or chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley packed
- 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil plus more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the whole jalapeños on a baking sheet and cook for 22-25 minutes, flipping over after 10 minutes, until the peppers are charred with brown/black spots on the outside, have collapsed and are tender. Remove the peppers from the oven and place them in a bowl covered with a plate (this steams them and makes the skins easier to remove).
- Meanwhile, prep the other jalapeño hummus ingredients. To a food processor, add the tahini, garlic, and lemon or lime juice. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the chickpeas or white beans, cumin, cilantro or parsley, and salt. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Remove the stems and skins from the jalapeños. Cut them open and scrape out the seeds. Add the peppers to the food processor and process until smooth.
- Slowly add the oil while the food processor is running. Season to taste with salt, pepper, additional lemon or lime juice, and additional olive oil or warm water as needed to reach your desired texture (hummus will thicken a little bit after it cools).
Nutrition
As is tradition, here is one of my old photos of the initial version of this recipe. *Cringes*
Other tasty hummus recipes on the site:
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Eric Lovelace says
We eat a lot of hummus but I haven’t seen jalepeno hummus — it sounds so good! Here in Georgia I can sometimes get jalepenos from the garden even in December. Now I have another idea what to do with them.
Have enjoyed your recipes over the 4 1/2 years we have been vegan. Thank you.
Sue says
Nice to “see”.you Shannon. Your recipe looks delicious.. And your jalapeños are impressive! Be well. I
Elissa says
I love your sense of humor in this post and the recipe itself looks delicious! Congrats on growing the peppers too – it is a small but mighty victory and I’m glad you’re very proud!