This paleo hummus recipe is using almonds as a legume-free base and delicious tahini, garlic and lemon. It’s quick, easy and healthy and can be served as a dip, added to salads, wraps or a side with roasted veggies. Vegan, keto, Whole30!
A staple in the Middle East, hummus has become popular all over the world and is often served as a dip or a side dish at barbecues, picnics. And when it comes paleo, a lot of people wonder if they can have hummus. Seriously, I get asked a lot, hence this paleo hummus recipe!
So is regular hummus paleo friendly? The quick answer is NO. Legumes are avoided on the paleo diet due to their antinutrients content – phytates and lectins – which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause digestive issues and inflammation. There has been a lot written about legumes being safe to consume if they’re prepared and cooked properly (which is true!), but since it’s a bit of a hassle and requires planning, most paleo dieters simply go without.
Given that chickpeas, and sometimes other beans, are the base ingredients in hummus (the word ‘hummus’ actually means ‘chickpeas’ in Arabic), it’s one of the foods that is sadly not on the paleo’s ‘green’ list. However, as with pretty much anything non-paleo, there are alternative ways to make a dish that resembles the original.
Cook’s notes
Instead of chickpeas, I am using blanched almonds as a base, which work really well with other hummus flavours: tahini, garlic, lemon and olive oil. Almonds are a great source of fibre, healthy fats and some protein, while tahini is one of the highest sources of methionine, an essential amino acid, and it’s high in calcium and vitamin E. Plus, it adds that unique tahini flavour the dish.
Blanched almonds are essentially almonds with no skin on. You can buy pre-blanched almonds or do it yourself, see how here. I used the light coloured, hulled tahini paste. Unhulled tahini does contain more calcium, but the hulls contain a fair amount of phytates, so I recommend getting the hulled version. Tahini should be stored in the fridge once open as it is high in polyunsaturated fats, which are sensitive to heat and light and can turn rancid (even if Vitamin E is resistant to rancidity).
Macadamia nuts or cashews can be used in place of almonds.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cooked & Loved
Ingredients
- 150 g almonds 5.5 oz. blanched, skinless
- 2 tablespoons tahini paste
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or Celtic salt
- Pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Pre-blanch the almonds if you need to. See the link in Cook’s notes.
- Add the almonds to a bowl of warm water with a generous pinch of salt and soak for 3-4 hours.
- Rinse the pre-soaked almonds and add to a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.
- Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and some paprika and parsley when serving, if you like.
- Store in the fridge, drizzle with a little more oil to prevent the dip from drying as the almonds love to absorb the moisture.
- Serve this dip with radishes, carrot and celery sticks or red peppers. It's also yummy on salads and vegetables.
This is such a great idea (and I love all the great photos on your site). I assume the recipe would work just as well with almond flour (which is generally just blanched almonds food processed really well). That way, you could potentially not have to even use a food processor (just mix with a fork perhaps).
Heyo! I’m in the U.S. and wondering how many almonds is 150 grams is? Thanks!!
Hi Shannon, I’m not sure exactly how many almonds but from memory it looked like about 1 cup and a bit. Maybe start with 1 cup and tinker with a consistency.
Thanks!!!
where is the ground cummin seed?
You don’t necessarily need cumin in a hummus. Some recipes call for it but many traditional versions don’t use any. I’m sure it will taste very tasty with some added 🙂
Just made this today, I used 1 cup of almonds… it was SO delicious! I accidentally bought roasted almonds by accident so I had to blanch them, peel off skins, and had to add a bit more water than noted. Also added extra garlic, love raw garlic! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Made this today, used griund almonds as my food processor isn’t up to much. Added a little more water than in the recipe. But this is Awesome!!!
Thanks for the recipe, will be making regularly
Just made this for my afternoon snack…. Had lots of fun blanching the almonds… they were like missiles around the kitchen LOL Very tasty recipe! Added more water and only a tbsp of olive oil and lots of paprika YUM!!! Thankyou 🙂
LOVE the hummus. We had a bag of (blanched) slivered almonds and I find that I can grind them finer than freshly blanched almonds because of the wet factor. I can make it quickly in the AM and roll it up in lettuce or ham slices at lunch! Oh yum! We have become aware of the 3:6 ratios in nuts lately and have reduced our consumption of almonds considerably – we were using almonds everywhere because of the low cost. For this hummus, I will cut back elsewhere 🙂
You could also use half and half macadamia nut and almonds or even some steamed cauliflower and almonds, to reduce the amount of nuts you use.
Hi, Irena….Could this be made with cashews, instead of almonds? I absolutely love your recipes and your blog. Thanks so much for making my Paleo life so delicious!
Yes, absolutely. Some soaked cashews will make this dip even creamier than almonds.