Caramelized Onion Hummus
Onions sautéed in olive oil add a sweet, tender flavor to this savory, creamy Caramelized Onion Hummus. It’s a tasty dip made with minimal ingredients.
If you love a good vegan dip recipe, you’ll want to dive into my Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Dip. So easy. So delicious. But don’t stop there… Try my Vegan Smoky Hummus too!
Easy Hummus Recipe
First of all, this is a caramelized onion hummus without tahini. I know, that may be surprising. Or maybe not!
I used pine nuts instead of tahini for today’s recipe. This will make more sense in a moment. But first, let me just say this: I’ve had hummus about a gazillion different ways, but this is probably my favorite. I took it to our block party last week and everyone loved it! Of course, they had to pry the dish from my hands first.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Caramelizing the onions makes them sweet and tender
- Garlic infuses this hummus with amazing flavor
- Adding citrus, like lime or lemon juice, adds zing, making every bite irresistibly delicious!
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Lemon — We’ll use both the zest and the juice of the lemon.
- Oats — I used rolled oats for this recipe, but you can substitute instant oats.
- Chia — We’ll add some ground chia seeds to create a thicker texture. You can use whole chia seeds; I just prefer ground because it creates a smoother finished texture.
- Syrup — I used maple syrup, but you can substitute agave nectar.
- Milk — We’ll use almond milk for the best overnight oats! Substitute your favorite plant-based milk.
- Yogurt — I love adding some plant-based yogurt (plain, unsweetened) for an even more tangy flavor.
- Protein Powder — I add some vanilla protein powder for increased flavor and nutrients. If your protein powder is not sweetened, you may want to add an extra teaspoon or two of sweetener.
- Cornstarch — We’ll use cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd topping.
- Turmeric — A pinch of turmeric makes that lemon curd sunny yellow.
- Onion — You’ll need one small onion, preferably a sweet yellow one.
- Olive oil
- Agave nectar — You can substitute maple syrup
- Chickpeas — You’ll need a 15-ounce can of chickpeas or 1 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas.
- Pine nuts — You can substitute tahini paste for the pine nuts.
- Basil — You can use fresh or dried basil.
- Garlic — I find one clove of garlic adds the best flavor. You can remove the green center vein to reduce the garlic bite or use a few tender cloves from garlic confit.
- Lime juice — Use fresh or bottled lime or lemon juice.
- Nutritional yeast flakes — You can find nutritional yeast flakes at most health food stores.
I love simple recipes like this one to take to holiday parties. You know those are coming up so why not get prepared now?
How to Make Caramelized Onion Hummus
- Cook onions in an oiled skillet until tender.
- Add agave nectar to help caramelize the onions.
- Pour the chickpeas and pine nuts into the food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Pulse in olive oil, lime juice, basil, nutritional yeast flakes, garlic, and the caramelized onions.
- Add liquid if necessary for consistency and then pulse until mostly smooth.
- Serve with crackers, pita chips, veggies, or in place of mayo on your favorite veggie burgers.
Storage Tips
Store hummus in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Serving Suggestions
This caramelized onion hummus adds so much flavor to things like veggie burgers, and burritos. That’s because cooking onions with a little bit of olive oil brings out a sweeter flavor in the onions. And when you add that to an already delicious dip, well this caramelized onion hummus, keeps you coming back for more. Here are some favorite recipes to serve it with or on!
Hummus Is Convenient
Let’s just say I’m one of those people who makes a lot of last-minute trips to the store to finish a recipe. I love the idea that I can whip up a quick plant-based milk right here at home!
Hummus is easy to make and I use it for a dip, of course, but you can also use it as a spread on your favorite veggie burgers. For example, this caramelized onion hummus would taste amazing on these Vegan Lentil Burgers!
Marly’s Tips
- I tried it both ways and ultimately chose to process the caramelized onions into the hummus, but you can serve the onions on top
- You could toast the pine nuts before adding them to the hummus
- Make a double batch to serve to a larger gathering…or so you’ll have leftovers
- I could see adding sun-dried tomatoes to add some color
- I think adding some fresh spinach to the hummus would add some nice color too
- You could add red bell peppers with the onion and caramelize those as well
There you go, some of my favorite ideas for adapting this caramelized onion hummus recipe. Anyway you slice it, this is good stuff. I think I would serve this hummus alongside my Fig Rustic Loaf bread. Can you imagine dipping freshly baked bread in hummus? My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Hummus Favorites
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Caramelized Onion Hummus
Ingredients
- 1 small onion , peeled and sliced thinly
- 3 tablespoons olive oil , divided
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 15 oz chickpeas
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- ½ teaspoon dried basil , or one leaf of fresh basil
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
Instructions
- Place a skillet over medium heat and add the sliced onions. Drizzle with one tablespoon olive oil. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Then add a teaspoon of agave nectar to help caramelize the onions quickly. Once the onions are tender and have some color, set aside.
- Drain the liquid from the chickpeas into a bowl. Then pour the chickpeas into the food processor. Add the pine nuts and secure the lid in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
- Add the two remaining tablespoons of olive oil, lime juice, basil, nutritional yeast flakes, garlic, and the caramelized onion and pulse.
- If the hummus is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of the liquid drained from the chickpeas and stir until you get a desirable spreadability. Process for another minute if you prefer a more smooth texture to your hummus.
- Serve with crackers, pita chips, veggies, or in place of mayo on your favorite veggie burgers.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2017 and was updated to include new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
This was a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. See our full disclosure for more information.
This looks and sounds wonderful in every way! I’m new to your blog and was hoping it would be ok if I linked up and visited and commented often!?
Sure, Jennifer! Happy to have you! 🙂