Olive Tapenade Hummus

Olive Tapenade Hummus is beautifully smooth and creamy, yet somehow light and fluffy. Thanks to tahini are super nutty and tangy with fresh lemon juice and garlic.

This recipe originated from Mediterranean cuisine, which is mashed chickpeas blended with tahini sauce, lemon juice, and garlic. Olive oil is another crucial ingredient for hummus.

In Mediterranean cuisine, it is usually eaten as a dip, with pita bread. In the west, is often served as a snack or appetizer with crackers. But there are so many other ways to enjoy this tasty dip!

My mom used to make it weekly, and I remember how we just dipped it with pita bread, and that was our fast breakfast or lunch. Creamy, satisfying, and packed with plant-based protein. We loved it.

I love this recipe because it’s simple to make, ready in just 30 – 40 minutes ( if you make it from scratch with dry chickpeas), and uses just a few ingredients which you probably have in your pantry.

What You’ll Need

• Chickpeas – I made it with dry chickpeas, which means that I left it in the water overnight and before making the hummus I cooked it. You can use canned chickpeas which will be a faster process for the whole recipe. But the reason why I like to work with dry ones more, they come out more delicious then the canned ones. It’s just that simple.
• Garlic – I recommend to use fresh garlic, but garlic powder works too.
• Onion – I recommend to use a fresh small onion, but onion powder can work too.
• Salt – to taste
• Chicken Bouillon Powder – will give a delicious taste to the well seasoned chickpeas
• Baking soda – is optional. When you use dry chickpeas sometimes it takes too much to cook, but with baking soda helps the process fester. Also the chickpeas gets more mashy what we really going for on this recipe. It will be easier to mix it in your blender or food processor.
• Tahini – Store-bought or homemade Tahini is good too. I made it from scratch for this Olive Tapenade Hummus. Check out this recipe to learn how to make tahini easy and fast.
• Olive oil – The best to use is the extra virgin olive oil for this recipe, but you can give a try with other oils, like vegetable oil.
• Lemon juice – Gives a freshness for the recipe. Use to 1 – 2 fresh lemon for the juice, or use store-bought.
• Kalamata Olives – I love olives. One of my favorites one is the Kalamata Olives. It’s optional to add olives in the inside of the dip, but I added just around 9 – 10 pieces for the hint of taste f olives.

How to make Olive Tapenade Hummus

Before we start the process, I want you to know that hummus can be made with store-bought canned chickpeas too. I can’t promise you to have the most authentic hummus at the end, but it works.

I do recommend the dry chickpeas in this recipe, though. You need an extra 20 – 25 minutes from your time but it’s worth it. Being cooked seasoned with garlic and onion, chicken bouillon powder and a little salt, will give a phenomenal taste. I promise you this.

If you decide to use dry chickpeas make sure to add in water for at least 4 – 5 hours or overnight. I left it out overnight. This helps to cook faster. Otherwise, it would probably take an hour or so.

1. In a medium size pan, add 2 cups of chickpeas, 5 cloves of garlic, 1 small onion, and salt to taste, the chicken bouillon powder and cover with water.
2. Cook the chickpeas for 20 – 25 minutes with the ingredients until is soft and tender. When they seem kind of overcooked, is the better, because that’s the consistency we are going for..
3. Add chickpeas and all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and combine them until smooth and creamy. (You can add also the other cooked ingredients, like the onion and garlic cloves it will give a nice garlicky dip)
4. Adjust olive oil until it has the desired consistency.

What to East With Hummus

Hummus is creamy and so flavorful, it will make any bread or sandwich taste even more amazing. If you want to go with the traditional Mediterranean style choose, pita bread or pita chips.

Veggies make a wonderful snack to dip into hummus too. Crunchy veggies like carrots, celery, snap peas, peppers, radishes, and cucumbers all make a fantastic option.

Hummus can be an option for the deviled eggs as the filling or in the mashed potatoes as an other option than sour cream.

This garlicky and creamy Olive Tapenade Hummus not last it can be a really good match with the Kalamata Olive Tapenade dip recipe. How you can see in the pictures above, they can be consumed together the same way, the same time. It gives a nice salty taste for the experience.

How to Store Olive Tapenade Hummus

Leftovers can be stored in a clean air-tight container the allows no xygen for up to 4 – 5 days. Make sure the container is well-sealed, this is extremely important to keep hummus fresh.