The Best 5 Minute Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

A vibrant and flavourful twist on the traditional dip, this 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus is a real winner for everyday lunches and snacks. Yummy!

My family and I are HUGE fans of this creamy, sweet and smokey 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus dip! The recipe is so quick and easy to make, it can be on the table in just 5 short minutes and ready to spread on some warm, crusty bread or generously dunked into with some freshly cut veggie crudities. It makes a fantastic snack or a satisfying lunch and is extremely kid-friendly. Win!

The origins of hummus itself are tricky to decipher. It’s such a classic and delicious staple, that many different countries understandably want to claim it as their own – so much so, in fact, that this desire culminated in an all out ‘hummus war’ back in 2008 between feuding countries eager to have this delicious dip formally recognised as belonging uniquely to them. Now that’s what I call ‘foodie passion’!

So extreme is the international love of hummus, that Lebanon went as far as setting the World Record – as published in the famous Guinness Book – for the largest plate of hummus, weighing in at a whopping 10,454kg. Now that is a LOT of tasty, tahini, garlicky goodness. Pass the bread please!!

Today, hummus is recognised all the world over as a fantastically versatile and adaptable dip, with so many different possible combinations of ingredients to change the flavour to something exciting and new every time.

As with many dips of course, hummus is also brilliantly quick to make, which is one of the main reasons I love it! Although I’m a fan of many different varieties of hummus, I think nothing quite beats the rich and sweet flavour of this super quick 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus recipe.

Do check out some of my other very quick dip recipes too – such as The Best 5 Minute Guacamole, 5 Minute Green Lentil Dip and The Best 5 Minute Tomato Salsa for further speedy recipe inspiration!

The ingredients you’ll need to make your 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus are widely available in most shops and blend together brilliantly well. Lets take a look at each one in turn….

1. Chickpeas! Anyone who knows me and my cooking knows that I’m a massive fan of tinned beans and pulses – they’re just so versatile, healthy, cheap and above all, quick to cook with meaning it’s a no-brainer for me to embrace them whole heartedly in my recipes!
   
   Chickpeas are no exception to this rule. For example, they are one of the key ingredients in my Quick Prep Vegan Curried Parsnip, Quinoa and Lentil Bake. Classic hummus just would not be hummus without the humble, ever versatile chickpea.

2. Tahini is made from roasted pulped sesame seeds and this is an essential part of hummus to lend it an earthy rich taste. (Just don’t try to gobble any neat – it has a very bitter flavour. This is why you don’t hear of many people eating ‘tahini on toast’, for example.)

Just make sure to give the jar of tahini a quick stir before adding it into your roasted red pepper hummus as the oil frequently separates and floats on the top of the jar, so you want to be sure it’s nice and well mixed before adding it.

3. Extra virgin olive oil. Ok so at risk of sounding like an oil snob, it’s important… no scrap that, it’s ESSENTIAL to get good quality olive oil into your red pepper hummus. The blended types of olive oil (ones that aren’t labelled as ‘extra virgin’) do have their place in certain recipes, however when it comes to red pepper hummus, they just don’t pack the same earthy ‘punch’ as extra virgin does and generally speaking, the more you pay the better the quality so get the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford and keep it safe in the larder. You won’t regret it.

4. Of course, this 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus wouldn’t be complete without the humble roasted red pepper! Many red pepper hummus recipes suggest that you slice, season, oil and then roast your own peppers before adding them to the hummus however you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m not a fan of time-consuming steps such as this – as this certainly doesn’t make for quick cooking!

Roasted red peppers can be easily purchased in large jars, usually beautifully marinading in olive oil and sometimes along side other scrummy seasonings such as garlic – so all you need to do open the jar, pop the peppers into your blender along with the other hummus ingredients, then try your very best not to stuff your face with the remaining red peppers directly from the jar. (They’re delicious when eaten all by themselves. Trust me).

5. Finally, the crowning glory of your 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus are the flavourings – a perfect balance of tangy lemon juice, flavourful garlic, a sneaky pinch of salt and my two ‘secret ingredients’… mild chilli powder and sweet smoked paprika. I’m a little bit obsessed with sweet smoked paprika in my cooking as it adds such a fabulously rich taste and vibrant colour to so many dishes and unlike some other spices, it’s very difficult to add too much and make it overpower the flavour as it’s actually rather subtle.

For the chilli powder, I’ve suggested adding the mild variety purely to appeal to a wide range of different tastes, however if you’re spice lovers in your house, feel free to throw in the hot variety instead to give your tastebuds a work-out which be sure to put a huge smile on the faces of spice lovers.

A final word now on the garlic. This classic flavouring features heavily in my recipes and regular visitors to my blog will know by now that I am a HUGE fan of pre-minced garlic that you can buy really easily in jars and squeezy tubes. This staple ingredient is key in so many of my quick dishes and I’m constantly using it so I think absolutely everybody should keep the pre-minced variety on standby in their fridge.

The way I see it, nobody hands out prizes for spending valuable minutes of your life crushing and finely chopping up garlic so why spend your time on this when you can just pop some directly into your recipe from a jar without any fuss? Life is surely too short!

Finally, a word on how to serve your freshly-made 5 minute roasted red pepper hummus. One option, favoured by myself, is to simply grab a (large) spoon and scoop up heaps of it directly into your watering mouth until an embarrassingly large amount of it has mysteriously “disappeared”. (Well, that’s what I tell my kids at least.)

However, if you are more of a civilised human and less of an animal than myself, you could spread it on some lovely crusty fresh bread (seeded varieties work especially well) or dunk in some lovely freshly cut vegetable crudités, especially delicious I find are cucumbers, carrots and, red pepper spears, perhaps somewhat predictably!

ENJOY!