This delicious and nutritious Hummus for Baby is specially crafted to suit babies and toddlers, and is perfect as a spread, dip or puree. It’s packed with plant-based protein, fiber, and essential nutrients, and minimal salt content. With its smooth consistency and gentle seasoning, this homemade creamy hummus is sure to please baby’s tiny taste buds as well as the whole family.
Low Sodium Hummus
Store-bought hummus can often have a high salt/sodium content, making it unsuitable for babies and toddlers. Making your own hummus is an easy solution! This recipe has no added salt, so can be given from 6 months of age.
Ingredients in Hummus for Baby
You’ll need these simple ingredients for baby hummus:
Chickpeas – I use canned whole chickpeas in this recipe. Choose a no-salt variety of canned chickpeas, or rinse thoroughly and drain to remove as much sodium as possible depending on your need for a no-salt or low-salt hummus.
Tahini – Tahini is a sesame seed paste. Some brands can separate in the jar so give it a good mix. You’ll see in the below instructions that I blend it with the lemon juice before adding the rest of the ingredients. This helps to make a lovely smooth hummus. Keep in mind that sesame seeds are a common allergen, so follow paediatric health advice on introducing it to baby. Nip allergies in the bub [1] is a fantastic resource for introducing babies to allergenic foods.
Olive oil – Good quality extra-virgin olive oil is a must.
Garlic – Use a fresh garlic clove.
Lemon juice – Again, use juice from a fresh lemon. It really makes a difference to the flavour.
Ground cumin – Cumin has a lovely warm and slightly spicy flavour. It adds a nice little hum to this hummus. If making this for baby for the first time, you might like to leave this out and add it in later to taste.
Black pepper – Ground back pepper.
Water – This helps to make a smoother hummus.
Sweet Paprika – Optional, for garnishing and a touch of extra flavour.
How to make Hummus for Baby
This is a super easy dip recipe to make using a food processor or blender. First, finely chop the garlic – this gives a much better flavour than using pre-minced garlic. Then just blend together the garlic, lemon juice and tahini until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the optional paprika garnish. Blend again until you’re happy with the consistency – it shouldn’t take more than a minute or two!
Thermomixer? This is a very quick recipe – chop the garlic and then blitz as per the instructions. I do it in a couple of stages, to make sure the hummus turns out as smooth as possible for baby.
You’ll find the recipe card below, with ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both regular and thermo cooker methods.
Serving homemade Hummus for Baby
This baby hummus recipe is really versatile depending on your preferred feeding method and/or who you’re serving it to. It’s a flavourful chickpea puree if spoon-feeding baby first foods. You can adjust the seasonings (cumin and pepper) for them if you like and leave off the paprika garnish.
For Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), it’s fantastic as a nutritious dip. Serve it with your baby’s favourite vegetable sticks (e.g. carrot sticks, cucumber, roasted sweet potatoes) – steamed or roasted if needed depending on their age/stage. As a spread, serve it on whole wheat toast.
It’s a healthy dip to serve with finger food, great for toddlers and older children! Actually, it’s a yummy, healthy snack for the entire family!
Storing
Store hummus in airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. You can also freeze it for up to three months, so why not make a big batch? You can portion it out into small amounts for an easy snack. Once defrosted, you may find some liquid has separated from the hummus. Stir well to re-combine.
Looking for more bean recipes suitable for baby? Try this roasted bell pepper puree. Naturally sweet roasted red capsicum/bell pepper is paired with zucchini and white beans, to make a beautifully creamy and delicious puree. It doubles as a dip!
Hummus for Baby
Category: Finger Food, PuréeTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (approx. 1 lemon, 60g)
- 1/4 cup tahini well stirred (60g)
- 1 400g/14oz can chickpeas no salt variety, rinsed and drained
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbs water
- 1/4 tsp Sweet Paprika optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Finely chop the garlic.
- Using a food processor or blender, blend together garlic, lemon juice and tahini until smooth.
- Add the chickpeas, oil, cumin, pepper and water and blend until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1). Optional: Garnish with sweet paprika.
Thermomix Instructions
- Put the garlic into the mixing bowl. Chop for 3 seconds, speed 7, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add the lemon juice and tahini. Chop for 20 seconds, speed 4, MC on.
- Add the chickpeas, oil, cumin, pepper and water. Chop for 20 seconds, speed 5, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl. Repeat if necessary to achieve the desired consistency (Note 1). Optional: Garnish with sweet paprika.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
[1] Nip allergies in the bub, 2023, National Allergy Council.
