Cauliflower Hummus

You won’t believe that this hummus is made with cauliflower instead of chickpeas! It is a dead ringer for its higher carb relative, but without any beans and only 2 grams of net carbs per serving. That means it is lectin-free, keto, Whole30, vegan and paleo. The texture and taste are spot on!

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Why We Love This Recipe

This creamy rich and savory recipe for Cauliflower Hummus is a great keto-friendly alternative to traditional garlic hummus made with chickpeas.

We used steamed cauliflower pureed with traditional hummus ingredients (garlic, olive oil, tahini and lemon) to make this seriously delicious dip. All thanks to the magic of cauliflower- arguably the most versatile vegetable ever!

This recipe uses cauliflower instead of chickpeas, so if you are on a lectin-free diet, low-carb diet or keto diet you’ll be happy to have hummus again! 

Ingredients For This Recipes

Cauliflower

You’ll need 5 cups of cauliflower florets, which is about 1/2 of a large head. Remove the leaves and cut the head into quarters. Remove the core stalk, and then chop it into florets.

Garlic

This cauliflower hummus gets its classic taste from raw garlic. One large clove (or two medium) is plenty. When garlic is raw, a little bit goes a long way!

Kosher Salt

Use some of the salt to form a paste with the chopped garlic. This is a trick you’ll see here on Healthy Seasonal Recipes over and over. I do it to ensure that there aren’t any big pieces of raw garlic in the final recipe.

Using the coarse textured kosher salt is best, but you can use regular salt, just make sure you read this about subbing regular salt for kosher salt first.

Tahini

One of the things I learned recently, when cooking from the Zahav cookbook by Michael Solomonov is that in the middle east, hummus has WAY more tahini in it than I thought! {BTW, after eating at his restaurant I came home and created these beets with tahini.}

Anyway, after learning that, I pretty much doubled the amount of tahini that I thought I should add to this hummus. And the results are stunningly good. Like lick-the-food-processor-bowl-good friends! So, yes it does seem like a lot, but that is what makes this hummus taste so good! {If you are wondering what to do with the rest of your jar, I recommend the above mentioned beets or this Lemon Tahini Dressing.

Olive Oil

No hummus would be worth its salt without a good measure of olive oil, and this one is no exception. I add it to the puree itself, and on top for garnish.

Lemon Juice

One of my biggest complaints about a lot of hummus recipes is that they do not have enough lemon in them. The lemon, when balanced with the salt, is what gives the hummus it’s bright acidity and sparkle!

Parsley and Sumac For Serving

I love the way the parsley and sumac make this look just like chickpea hummus, even though it is made entirely with steamed cauliflower!! If you don’t have sumac, which is available in the bulk section of health food stores or at Middle Eastern markets, you can sub in paprika in a pinch.

How To Make Cauliflower Hummus

Feel free to skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or read more details about the whys and hows behind this recipe in this section.

Steam The Cauliflower

The key to creamy and smooth cauliflower hummus is steaming it instead of roasting it which makes the texture rough. And it prevents the cauliflower from getting watery to keep it above the water.

Bring an inch or so of water to a simmer in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add in the cauliflower, cover and steam it until it is fork tender. This took me 6 minutes. You definitely want it to be completely tender, but don’t cook it so long that it gets too sulphurous.

Make Garlic and Salt Paste

While you wait for the cauliflower to steam you can make your garlic and salt paste.

• To do this, roughly chop up the garlic.
• Then sprinkle a teaspoon of the salt over the garlic.
• You’ll need to use the side of your chef’s knife to mash it into a paste.
• This takes about a minute, so just keep working it until the garlic is broken down and the individual pieces of garlic are no longer distinguishable.
• It will seem a little wet.

Pulse the Steamed Cauliflower with the Garlic Paste

Steamed veggies can tend to chop irregularly, and you may get a stray chunk of cauliflower if you skip this step! Just put the steamed cauliflower into the food processor, add in the garlic paste and then pulse five or six times to chop the cauliflower into small pieces.

Add Tahini, Lemon and Oil

Now that the cauliflower is broken down, you can add in the olive oil, tahini and lemon juice. Plus you’ll need more salt. Process it for several seconds and then scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure there aren’t any chunks of cauliflower on the sides. Then process one final time to make it creamy!

Refrigerate For the Best Hummus-Like Texture

Listen up my dear readers, here’s the key for making this really mimic chickpea hummus! You have to refrigerate it until it is cold. That will firm up the puree and it will be exactly the texture of hummus, nice and thick but still creamy!

You can refrigerate it right in the serving bowl (try not to smoosh the top with the plastic wrap.) Or you can transfer it to a resealable container. Just make sure to leave the lid cracked as it cools.

How To Serve

1. Once it is cool, transfer it to a serving bowl and make a well in the top with your spatula or a spoon.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the top.
3. Sprinkle with chopped parsley
4. Sprinkle with sumac.

Step By Step Photos For How to Make This Recipe

Make Ahead Instructions

This hummus lasts for 6 days when stored in the fridge. Cool properly and then keep covered and cold. Add the oil, parsley and sumac on top just before serving.

Serving Suggestions

• We have been enjoying this Cauliflower hummus with raw veggies, like I have shown here in this photo.
• If you are on a keto diet, Some low carb dipping veggie options are Brussels Sprouts (just boil them for 3 to 4 minutes), broccoli, peppers and watermelon radishes. We also used the second half of the cauliflower head, cut into florets! You can also add in carrots and cherry tomatoes which are yummy too! Note that if you are strict keto, to keep the cherry tomatoes and carrots in check.
• I also have been snacking on it with crackers. If you are on the Whole30 diet or are eating a paleo or grain free diet, look for Almond Flour crackers like Simple Mills.
• After skiing last weekend, I made it into a veggie hummus wrap with a tortilla, shredded veggies and baby spinach.

More Hummus Recipes

• In addition to my classic Roasted Garlic Hummus recipe I have a few other hummus recipes here on Healthy Seasonal Recipes.
• Black Bean Hummus: made with lime juice instead of lemon and black beans instead of chickpeas. It is zesty!!
• Edamame Hummus: This is made with chickpeas and edamame and it is bright green from additional spinach.
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: I love the addition of the smoky roasted pepper!

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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