I love hummus for so many reasons, but one reason is that it can be flavored with so many different things. Adding a dollop of pesto to your hummus is an easy way to change up your hummus game and add a little variety to your routine. You can make this easy herby pesto hummus from scratch, as directed below, or simply stir some pesto into your favorite store bought hummus!
How to Use Pesto Hummus
The herbal flavor that the pesto imparts makes this hummus perfect for dipping vegetables or for spreading onto sandwiches. I’ve already used it in place of cheese in my breakfast egg “quesadilla” and it was a HUGE hit. Hummus and eggs always go great together and pesto jumps right into that party seamlessly. I keep imagining this hummus slathered thick onto two slices of artisan whole wheat bread and then topped with an assortment of delicious vegetables… and maybe a slice of havarti. Okay, enough food fantasy for today. I’m content with my vegetable sticks. ;)
Do You Need a Food Processor?
I find that food processors work best for making hummus because it’s usually too thick for blenders (unless you have a super-duper fancy blender that will blend anything short of concrete).
I use this Hamilton Beach model, which was about $50 when I got it (it’s more expensive on Amazon now, but I think that’s because it’s out of production). Here is newer, similar food processor. It’s too bad if they did stop manufacturing mine, because I LOVE it. Small, inexpensive, but a total workhorse!
Hummus Shortcut
As mentioned in the intro, if you don’t want to make your own hummus, you can definitely just stir ¼ cup pesto into a 16oz. container of store-bought hummus. No shame. Besides, Aldi’s hummus is so good and affordable, it’s almost as good as homemade.
Pesto Hummus
Servings 8 ¼ cup eachIngredients
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas ($1.15)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice ($0.18)
- 1/4 cup olive oil ($0.48)
- 1/4 cup tahini ($0.85)
- 1/4 cup basil pesto ($1.33)
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove fresh)* ($0.02)
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas and add them to a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients.
- Process the ingredients until smooth, adding a little water, olive oil, or drained liquid from the chickpeas to thin out the mixture if needed.
- Garnish with a few whole chickpeas, a drizzle of olive oil, or a dollop of pesto, if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!If you’re a big hummus fan, then make sure to try our White Bean Hummus next!
How to Make Pesto Hummus – Step by Step Photos
Drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas and add it to a food processor along with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup basil pesto, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or one clove fresh garlic).
This is the little jar of basil pesto that I bought. It contains about 3/4 cup and was $3.99, which isn’t bad if you don’t have access to fresh basil to make it yourself! :) Basil pesto is very potent, so you really don’t need a lot of it to really pump up a recipe. This little jar will probably end up being utilized in three recipes or so.
Process the ingredients until the hummus is smooth. You may need to add more liquid to thin it out a bit and to get it really smooth. You can add water, olive oil, or some of the liquid from the can of beans. Just add a tablespoon or two at a time until the mixture processes smoothly.
And that’s all it takes to make Pesto Hummus! Super easy, right? #snacktime
Amazing, simple recipe! Thank you!
So tasty! I left out the garlic because I didn’t want to overpower the pesto.
Really good but I’m still a lover of the sriracha hummus more!
Hi Beth,
I was referred to your blog by a friend and I’M DYING- I love it, and I’m pinning like crazy.
I really want to include hummus in my life, but I have a serious Sesame allergy. Can you recommend a possible substitute for Tahini?
Many thanks!
A lot of people have used peanut butter instead, and I’ve tried it before, but to me the tahini is what gives hummus that distinct flavor. Without it, it’s just not the same. That being said, if I had an allergy, I’d probably be happy with the peanut butter version. :)
I oven roasted half a head of garlic, used pesto that did not say “basil” (sorry, this is my first time to buy pesto at all), and added garlic salt, sea salt from grinder and pepper from grinder to the finished hummus. Immediately used my hummus in place of Mayo or mustard on my turkey sandwich, and so I’m very happy with my result.
Thanks for the receipe, gonna try this
that looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it!
This looks so good! My favorite breakfast sandwich includes hummus, some arugula, and a fried egg, and I think this recipe would make it even better. On a side note, I found my cuisinart food processor at Goodwill for only $6, and it is in amazing condition! I see them at thrift stores quite often. Just a tip for anyone who wants a food processor but is on a super tight budget :)
It looks delicious, but I’m interested how much for you is 1/4 cup? in ml for example :-)
Ohhhh this is dangerously amazing information to know!!! I love anything pesto!!! =)
Looks like a perfect sandwich spread. I haven’t tried hummus with eggs, but now that you mentioned it, I am wondering why haven’t I…? Will be easy to fix!
Thanks for recipe! Looks so nice!
I will try next weekend.
I hope that will be easy.
=D
Yay! My favourite store-bought hummus is a basil pesto hummus so I’m excited to give this homemade version a try! Thanks for the recipe :)
looks Yummy
I LOVE pesto. I LOVE hummus. A match made in heaven!! :-)