This simple rainbow hummus is perfect for St. Patrick's Day, Pride, or any time you want to add some serious color to a party spread. I used cheats to make this recipe super easy.
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I originally made this rainbow hummus recipe seven years ago for my kid's fourth birthday party. Now, he's about to turn 11 (AAAH!), and it felt like time to refresh this classic recipe with new photos and details.
There's one trick that makes this hummus so easy and that is not making the actual hummus from scratch. Save yourself some time and energy, and grab a couple of tubs of prepared hummus at the store.
If you do want to start with from-scratch hummus, you absolutely can! You want about 3 ½ cups of hummus total.
Now that the hummus situation is handled, let's add some COLOR!
✓ Ingredients and substitutions
- hummus - You can use prepared or homemade hummus for this recipe. You want 27 ounces or about 3 ½ cups of hummus total.
- roasted red pepper - Turns the hummus a reddish orange. Buy these jarred, so there's no need to cook and peel!
- carrot - Surprisingly, this gives you a yellow result combined with some spices. No need to mince or cook. Just chop into a few chunks.
- turmeric and curry powder - Adds color and flavor to the carrot hummus.
- olive oil - Adds moisture to the carrot hummus and the spinach hummus.
- kale or spinach - Turns the hummus green.
- basil - Adds more color and flavor to the green hummus in your rainbow.
- beets - I'm using canned, sliced beets here to minimize prepwork.
- blue corn chips - These colorful chips complete your rainbow!
🥣 How to make rainbow hummus
You're making four small batches of hummus, rinsing the blender in between each batch. Start with the red pepper hummus.
In your blender, combine ¾ cup hummus with the red pepper. Puree until smooth, and transfer to a small serving bowl or one section of a sectioned serving dish.
Now, make the carrot hummus.
Rinse the blender, then add the carrot pieces and blend them to chop them up finely. Then add ¾ cup hummus , 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon of turmeric. Puree until smooth. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to get things moving. Transfer the carrot hummus to your next serving bowl or section of your serving dish.
Next up: kale hummus!
Rinse the blender, then add ¾ cup hummus plus the kale or spinach, the basil, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Puree until smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time, as needed, to get a smooth mixture. Transfer to another bowl or to your sectioned serving dish.
Finally, make the beet hummus.
Rinse the blender one last time. Then, in the blender, combine ¾ cup hummus with the sliced beets. Puree until smooth, and transfer to a small serving bowl or another section of the sectioned serving dish.
Serve with blue corn chips to complete your hummus rainbow.
💡 Helpful tips
- You don't have to get the blender squeaky clean, as long as you make the colored hummus in the order listed. Just rinse it off between batches.
- This hummus looks best in clear glass bowls or white serving bowls, so the colors can pop!
🫙 Make-ahead and storage directions
You can make your rainbow hummus in advance! It will keep for three to four days in the refrigerator. Just stir each one before serving, if needed.
🌈 How to serve it
I like to serve this in white or glass serving bowls, so the hummus colors really pop. As you can see in the photo, I used a white serving dish with five sections and placed the chips in the middle.
If you're using separate bowls, arrange the bowls on your table in rainbow order, because that will look very cute!
😋 More delicious dips
📖 Recipe
Rainbow Hummus
Equipment
Ingredients
- 27 ounces plain hummus A 17-ounce package plus a 10-ounce package will do the trick, or you can make 3 ½ cups of plain hummus before you start.
- ½ cup jarred roasted red peppers drained
- 1 large carrot chopped into big pieces
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon yellow curry powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- water as needed
- ⅓ cup loosely packed kale or use spinach
- 2 tablespoons packed fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup canned sliced beets drained
- blue corn chips for dipping
Instructions
Red pepper hummus
- In your blender, combine ¾ cup hummus with the red pepper. Puree until smooth, and transfer to a small serving bowl or one section of a sectioned serving dish.
Carrot hummus
- Rinse the blender, then add the carrot pieces and blend them to chop them up finely. Then add ¾ cup hummus , 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, ½ teaspoon of turmeric, and ½ teaspoon curry powder. Puree until smooth. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to get things moving. Transfer the carrot hummus to your next serving bowl or section of your serving dish.
Kale or spinach hummus
- Rinse the blender, then add ¾ cup hummus plus the kale or spinach, the basil, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Puree until smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time, as needed, to get a smooth mixture. Transfer to another bowl or to your sectioned serving dish.
Beet hummus
- Rinse the blender one last time. Then, in the blender, combine ¾ cup hummus with the sliced beets. Puree until smooth, and transfer to a small serving bowl or another section of the sectioned serving dish.
For serving (complete the rainbow!)
- Serve with blue corn chips.
Hannah
This is so cute, Becky! And curry hummus sounds delicious :)
Becky Striepe
It's super good! The red pepper, carrot, and curry one are also yummy mixed together, I discovered.