Smoked-Paprika-Hummus

Quick and Easy Smoked Paprika Hummus

I’m certain I could never have enough smoked paprika in my life, which is how smoked paprika hummus came to be. I was preparing a batch for us this week and suddenly couldn’t resist throwing some smoked paprika in. So in it went! I only need to open the jar to become completely intoxicated by its aroma 💞

Have you ever wondered what paprika actually is? Or is that just me with all the questions? My Mother once told me that one of my first words was ‘why?’…. doesn’t surprise me 😐 So paprika – for those like me who need to know – is dried and ground capsicum (bell pepper) with hotter varieties also including chilli peppers. I love that…. and it tempts me to try making it myself!

I had for a time, believed there were only a handful of different paprikas but travelling smashed that little bubble I was in. Paprika is used very differently the world over and there are definitely lots of varieties! I’ve tried several of them but smoked paprika will always have my heart. Aside from the smell I love the vibrant deep red colour! However, I also came to learn paprika is found in shades of orange and brown depending on the type chosen 😮

So paprika aside, are you like me and love to put hummus on absolutely everything? I’m not averse to just eating it by the spoonful from the fridge either I might add. I mean, why not?! It’s full of lovely, nourishing ingredients so dig in I say! Just four tablespoons of hummus per day will significantly increase your fibre intake along with your intake of other nutrients such as calcium, folate, magnesium and potassium. It’s also a good source of resistant starch (great for the gut bugs!) and adds some extra protein (1).

I actually should have included hummus in my ‘how to make every meal awesome‘ round-up because a dollop of this certainly does liven anything up… much as all the other things I mentioned in that post do too.

Hope you enjoy this! It is super quick and easy. 💓

Quick and easy smoked paprika hummus

Ingredients

  • 1 can organic chickpeas (BPA free can)
  • 50g tahini
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1-2 cloves garlic (to your taste)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp chopped continental parsley (optional, to decorate)

Directions

  1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas
  2. Place the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and smoked paprika into the Thermomix and blend on speed 6 for 5 seconds. A good blender will also do this just fine
  3. Scrape down the sides, start mixing on speed 3 and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Once it’s all in, blend on speed 4 for 1 minute or until smooth
  4. Taste and adjust with any extras you might like (i.e. more salt, a little more lemon, extra garlic etc.)
  5. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, decorate with chopped parsley and serve with vegetable sticks, homemade crackers or as an accompaniment to any meal. It’s delicious!

Resources

1. Wallace T., Murray R., Zelman K., “The Nutritional Value and Health Benefits of Chickpeas and Hummus”. Nutrients [internet] 2016 [cited 2017 Sep 8];8(12):1-10. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5188421/

8 Comments

  1. What a great idea to add smoked paprika to the humus. My dad loved hot chilly, he learned to use plenty after WW2 as it was an easy way to preserve food. So in our terrace in Rome we always had chilly peppers and he would get new plants every year. He said that wild chilli was spicier as the heat would reduce if new plants were pollinated by the same seeds. So I have plenty of chilli in my garden and I will be waiting for your recipe to make homemade smoked paprika. In the meantime I will make this humus with commercial one.

    • Thanks, Laura 😊 I think I have a smoked paprika addiction if I’m honest. I absolutely love it! I didn’t know that about wild versus commercial chillies either. So interesting! I will be trying to make my own paprika at some point for sure 💓

  2. I often make my own hummus but I’ve never used smoked paprika. I’ve not found it in France so I always stock up on visits to the UK. It’s such a great flavour! Like you, I can eat hummus with everything!

  3. Yummy. I love the taste of paprika! Who knew there were so many varieties? Definitely not me. I love hummus and can’t wait to make this. Some of my relatives are fiends when it comes to hummus and I have to position myself just right at the table so I can get my equal share. Your photos are beautiful as usual and what a great recipe!!

    • Thank you, Elaine 😊 I definitely didn’t know there were that many varieties or that it might be so simple to make yourself! I’m the hummus fiend over here 😬

  4. Oh so delicious! I wasn’t a fan of hummus, as I don’t much like chick peas, until we had Russian partners who live in Tel Aviv and started to visit them several times a year. Hummus is a staple starter on Israeli tables and there I realized that I love it so much. The addition of smoked paprika is a great tip, I’ll try it next time! 🙂

    • I didn’t know that Patty! I love learning things like that about different cultures. So cool. And I definitely love my hummus with smoked paprika now! 🙌🏻

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