Are you looking for a tasty alternative to traditional hummus? Creamy butter bean hummus with tahini is an excellent choice for entertaining. Serve it with fresh vegetables or pita chips as an appetizer or a part of a Mediterranean mezze platter.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The easy-to-make white bean hummus uses fresh and simple ingredients. Here’s what you need to make it.
- Butter Beans: Butter beans have a smooth texture that is perfect for hummus. You can soak dried butter beans overnight to use in the recipe or canned butter beans as I do.
- Tahini: Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds, and the nutty flavor complements the mild earthiness of the creamy beans.
- Lemon Juice: Balance the warmth of the other ingredients with fresh lemon juice from a large lemon.
- Garlic: I recommend using six whole garlic cloves, but measure with your heart.
- Spices: All you need to finish the butter bean hummus recipe is ground cumin and kosher salt.
- Olive Oil: Since it’s central to the dish, add high-quality, extra virgin olive oil to the dip and drizzle more over the top to serve.
Additions and Substitutions
- Spice things up. Include paprika, red pepper flakes, ras el hanout, or garam masala to season the dip instead of ground cumin and salt.
- Go nutty. Replace tahini paste with sunflower seed butter or peanut butter.
- Replace the beans. Use different type of bean like chickpeas and black-eyed peas, or try including other white beans, such as navy beans, Northern beans, or Cannellini beans.
- Experiment with mix-ins. For a fun twist, add roasted red peppers, beetroots, jalapeños, or sundried tomatoes into the butter bean hummus.
How to Make Butter Bean Hummus
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Combine butter beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, ground cumin, and salt in a food processor or high-speed blender, and pulse until smooth.
Step 2: Add the ice to the food processor bowl and process for 1-3 minutes.
While the mixture is blending, slowly pour the olive oil into the food processor in a single stream.
Step 3: Transfer the hummus to a serving dish and use a spoon to make a well. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Add ice cubes to the hummus. Process the ice cubes in the food processor with the other ingredients for 1-3 minutes for the creamiest hummus.
- Slowly incorporate the oil. Slowly add olive oil to the hummus at the end for the best results.
If you enjoy butter bean hummus, try more dip recipes from Jamil Ghar!
Toppings For Butter Bean Hummus
- Herbs: Top the hummus with fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, or mint leaves for a pop of color and even more flavor.
- Nuts and Seeds: Consider toasting pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds as a garnish for the dip.
- Vegetables: Serve hummus with a scoop of cooked eggplant, kalamata olives, olive tapenade, artichoke hearts, or roasted garbanzo beans.
- Spices: Add a sprinkle of paprika, sumac, za’atar, or Everything but the Bagel seasoning over the top.
- Sauces: Finish butter bean hummus with pistachio pesto, skhug, chimichurri with cilantro, or shatta sauce.
Serving Suggestions
Prepare the creamy dip in just 10 minutes for a delicious snack you can serve with warm lavash, tortilla chips, crackers, sourdough bread, pita, or air fryer pita chips. Spread the hummus onto vegetable rainbow wraps and chicken spinach wraps.
It’s a great appetizer for game day, holidays, and get-togethers. Prepare vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, red bell peppers, celery, or radishes for dipping, or include the creamy hummus on a platter with the vegetable crudites. Or you can serve the creamy butter bean hummus on a Middle Eastern mezze with other small plates and sauces like dolmas, havuç tarator, zaalouk, falafels, mirza ghasemi, and kabobs.
What To Do With Leftovers
- Storage: Store the leftover hummus in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do butter beans taste like chickpeas?
Butter beans and chickpeas are mild and nutty. The difference between the two has more to do with texture than taste, with butter beans having a smoother consistency.
What does tahini do to hummus?
Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds with a savory, nutty flavor. It adds richness and depth and helps give the hummus a creamy texture.
Why are they called butter beans?
Lima beans are often called butter beans, particularly in the Southern United States, because they are smooth like butter! The buttery texture of the beans produces the creamiest hummus ever!
More Recipes with Beans:
Butter Bean Hummus
- Serving Dish
- 1½ cups canned butter beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup tahini
- lemon juice, 1 lemon
- 4-6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-3 ice cubes
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
- Combine butter beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, ground cumin, and salt in a food processor or high-speed blender, and pulse until smooth.
- Add the ice to the food processor bowl and process for 1-2 minutes. While the mixture is blending, slowly pour the olive oil into the food processor in a single stream.
- Transfer the hummus to a serving dish and use a spoon to make a well. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, and enjoy!
- Add ice cubes to the hummus. Process the ice cubes in the food processor with the other ingredients for 1-3 minutes for the creamiest hummus.
- Slowly incorporate the oil. Slowly add olive oil to the hummus at the end for the best results.