Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

My easy roasted red pepper hummus is made with sweet red bell peppers, chickpeas, garlic, and tahini. It’s super simple to make and tastes much better than the hummus you can buy at the store.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Recipe Video

After falling in love with how easy it is to make hummus at home, we’ve been playing around with more of our favorite store-bought hummus flavors. I love roasted peppers, and am excited to share this roasted red pepper hummus recipe with you! It’s creamy, smooth, and so delicious.

Roasted bell peppers add a smoky sweetness to the hummus. We roast the peppers at home (it’s easy), but if you are short on time, you can use jarred roasted peppers. Serve with veggies, in sandwiches, with pita bread or flatbread.

Easy roasted red pepper hummus

Key Ingredients

  • Red Bell Peppers: I roast red bell peppers for this hummus, blend them in, and use them as a topping. If you don’t want to roast your own, most stores sell jarred roasted bell peppers, which also work.
  • Chickpeas (or garbanzo beans): These are the base of this red pepper hummus. You can use canned chickpeas or cook them from scratch. I use both, but homemade chickpeas have a slightly better flavor. If you do cook your own chickpeas and have some leftover, I highly recommend this smashed chickpea salad.
  • Tahini: Use a high-quality, drippy tahini. You can buy it at the store or use my homemade tahini recipe. For more ways to use tahini, try our creamy tahini sauce or this tahini dressing.
  • Lemon: Fresh lemon juice is key to making great hummus.
  • Garlic: I use one small clove, but feel free to add more if you prefer a stronger garlic taste.
  • Ground Cumin and Salt: These two spices enhance the flavor of the hummus, and the cumin adds a bit of extra richness and spice.
  • Olive oil: Olive oil gives hummus a rich and smooth texture.

How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

You asked for more hummus recipes, so here we go. Adding roasted bell peppers to hummus is one of my favorite ways to spice it up. If you’ve seen our original hummus recipe, you know that making the best hummus at home is easy. This red pepper hummus recipe is simple. We’ve added two roasted red peppers to our original recipe.

I roast the peppers myself (although store-bought roasted peppers will do the trick). To roast peppers for this hummus, I remove the core and cut my peppers into a few flat pieces so they don’t roll around on me. Then I place them, skin-side up, onto a baking sheet, slide them under the broiler, and broil until the pepper skin chars.

It only takes 10 minutes to roast the peppers. Then, I add them to a resealable plastic bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap and set them aside. They steam a little, which helps the skin pull away from the pepper, making it extra easy to peel. You can see how easily it peels away in the photo below.

How to roast peppers for hummus

When you have roasted red peppers, you can make your hummus. I use a food processor and blend my tahini and lemon juice first, which helps to cream the tahini and lemon juice, guaranteeing the creamiest homemade hummus.

Whipped tahini and lemon juice for hummus

Then, I blend in olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt, and the chickpeas. When all chickpeas have been added, I add my roasted red peppers and blend until smooth. At this point, the hummus is usually a bit thick, so I drizzle in a bit of cold water or aquafaba. Then it’s ready to serve! I love saving some of the roasted pepper for chopping and placing it on top so everyone knows they are about to dig into red pepper hummus.

Easy red pepper hummus

Ways to Serve Red Pepper Hummus

I love serving this red pepper hummus with a variety of veggies. Sliced carrots, celery, cucumber, radishes, snap peas, cauliflower, and even roasted broccoli are perfect for dipping. It’s also amazing with homemade bread. I especially love this homemade pita bread or this quicker no-yeast flatbread.

We often make hummus bowls and fill a bowl with salad greens, some cooked quinoa (here’s my quinoa recipe), hummus, some homemade labneh or feta cheese, and a drizzle of tahini sauce.

Easy red pepper hummus made with sweet red bell peppers, chickpeas, garlic, and tahini.

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

I love this roasted red pepper hummus so much. When we first figured out how to make hummus, we were shocked at how easy (and fast) it was. In this recipe, we’ll blend in roasted red peppers and serve the hummus with more on top. The recipe includes instructions for roasting the peppers, but you can substitute them with jarred roasted peppers.

Makes 6 Servings or 1 1/2 cups

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

2 red bell peppers or substitute 3/4 cup chopped jarred roasted peppers

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 ½ cups (250g) cooked chickpeas

1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice, 1 large lemon

1/4 cup (60ml) tahini, see homemade tahini recipe

1 small garlic clove, minced or finely grated

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch cayenne pepper, optional

2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45ml) water or aquafaba

Salt to taste

Directions

  • Roast Peppers
  • 1Move an oven rack so that it is about 5 inches from the broiler. Turn the oven broiler on.

    2Remove the core of the peppers, then cut them into large, flat pieces.

    3Arrange pepper pieces, skin-side up, on a baking sheet. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes until the pepper skin has charred.

    4Add peppers to a resealable plastic bag, seal it, and then wait 10 to 15 minutes until cool enough to handle. (Or, add the peppers to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.)

    5Gently peel away the charred pepper skin and discard. Reserve 1 to 2 pieces of the peeled roasted pepper pieces to use as a garnish, then roughly chop the rest.How-to-Roast-Peppers-Step-2

  • Make Hummus
  • 1In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.How to Make Hummus-Recipe-Step-1

    2Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, cayenne, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then process for another 30 seconds or until well blended.

    3Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the remaining chickpeas and process them until thick and relatively smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

    4Add the roughly chopped roasted peppers, saving 1 to 2 pieces for use as a garnish. Process until smooth.

    5The hummus will likely be too thick and still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of cold water or aquafaba with the food processor turned on until you reach the perfect consistency. Taste and adjust as needed.

    6Finely chop the reserved peppers. Spoon hummus into a bowl, make a small well in the middle and add the chopped peppers.

    7Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week. Freeze, covered with a thin layer of olive oil, for up to one month.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • How to cook dried chickpeas: Use canned or home-cooked chickpeas for this recipe. To see how we cook dried chickpeas, see our simple tutorial here. We have included three methods, including in the slow cooker.
  • Aquafaba is the starchy liquid in a can of beans (or the bean cooking liquid). You can use this instead of water in the last step of the recipe. Before using, taste it to see how salty it is. If it is salty, hold some of the salt in the ingredient list back, and then season to taste after adding the aquafaba. See our deep dive into aquafaba here.
  • Blender: A food processor is best for making hummus, but a high-powered blender will work. Be sure to scrape the sides down a few extra times as you make it.
  • Tahini & lemon juice are not creaming: Depending on your food processor, the blade might not come into contact with the tahini and lemon juice. You need to increase the amount of liquid in the food processor, so add the olive oil. If they still do not cream, add a tablespoon of cold water.
  • Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/4 cup / Calories 168 / Total Fat 11.1g / Saturated Fat 1.5g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 279.9mg / Carbohydrate 14.2g / Dietary Fiber 3.8g / Total Sugars 3.5g / Protein 4.9g
AUTHOR: Adam Gallagher
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251 comments… Leave a Review
  • Linda October 21, 2024, 5:00 pm

    This recipe is so delicious. I don’t like tahini so I just add a bit more olive oil and omit the water. I also used a jar of roasted red peppers. Thanks for these recipes!

    Reply
  • Janice Mary Wolfe October 1, 2024, 9:54 am

    I made this recipe in two steps. I prepared the beans the night before, allowed them to sit for a few hours to cool, and refrigerated them until the next day. Then, the skin from the beans was removed quickly, and I was delighted with the process. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly as written. I bought a high-quality tahini, which is essential for the final flavor. I was blown away by how this recipe came out. I have tried many other recipes and have had poor results. This is a keeper! I love that it stays fresh, refrigerated for a week, and can also be frozen. I am on Weight Watchers, and this is a PERFECT snack with fresh veggies. Thank you so much! I have subscribed to your newsletter and look forward to exploring new recipes!

    Reply
  • Abdi sarraf June 30, 2024, 12:47 am

    I don’t recommend adding aquafaba it vanishs tahini flavour and increase the taste of chickpeas

    Reply
  • Katie Kratz June 25, 2024, 7:56 pm

    I love this hummus! I use a haberno infused oil when making this… so I hate to ask but how many calories would you say is in this dish? Thanks

    Reply
    • Adam Gallagher August 7, 2024, 6:59 pm

      Love the infused oil addition! All of the nutrition facts are at the bottom of the recipe 🙂

      Reply
  • Diane June 13, 2024, 3:30 pm

    A wonderful recipe! Even better the next day. I will make this again.

    Reply
  • AB May 7, 2024, 7:47 pm

    This is delicious! I will make it again. Thank you for this great recipe!

    Reply
  • Cory March 6, 2024, 9:56 pm

    The recipe is missing a step between #2 and #3. It doesn’t state “add the chopped roasted red peppers, and blend until smooth” The recipe video has this step included but not the recipe text

    Reply
    • Joanne June 10, 2024, 5:47 pm

      Hi Cory, I’ve made sure the recipe is correct. There was a small update and this step was lost. Thank you for letting us know.

      Reply
  • Nancy February 26, 2024, 7:46 pm

    Excellent, comes together quickly. I used 3 cloves of roasted garlic and a small drizzle of red pepper oil. Loved it.

    Reply
  • echobanurse February 23, 2024, 9:27 pm

    I love this recipe! I made a double batch today with 1/2 going to freezer for later. If I have time I’ll bake some sourdough discard crackers and eat the hummus with it. Take the time to make the homemade tahini. It makes a huge difference in the flavor.

    Reply
    • Joanne June 10, 2024, 5:48 pm

      So happy you gave the recipe a try and used homemade tahini! Thanks for coming back!

      Reply

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