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This roasted butternut squash hummus is your secret weapon for holiday hangouts where you need to keep your guests busy with something while you covertly finish up the main course in the kitchen. Plus, gluten-free & vegan means everyone's gonna love the heck out of it/you. It's hella flavorful due to a sensible kiss of sumac, garlic, Aleppo pepper flakes, and a glorious glob of tahini, plus the whole thing's ready to hit the table in under 45 minutes.
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Everyone's hummus repertoire eventually hits a wall when those wintertime holidays come to call. Lemon hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, maybe even beet hummus? Nope. Not a single one of those sound autumnal enough to rock out for Thanksgiving without you looking like a crunchy hippie who lives in a bus. "Uh, I brought granola," GTFO with that. Please. You will upset the Thanksgiving Goddess of Plymouth Rock on the double.
Here's your planny: squash gets roasted first. Roasting concentrates the natural sugars and builds a caramelized depth that no amount of seasoning can help frozen sucky squash achieve. Toss that into the food processor with chickpeas, tahini, cumin, cloves, sumac, Aleppo pepper, smoked paprika, and you get something that tastes less like "hummus with squash in it" and more like a completely new banger that happens to share hummus's DNA. The 23andMe results are shocking, for reals.
Finished with a drizzle of tahini sauce, good olive oil, chopped parsley, and roasted pumpkin seeds, this looks like it belongs at the center of a fall mezze spread, and it earns that spot completely.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this butternut squash hummus recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Dairy? Eggs? Chicken burps and fish sneezes? Not up in this club. Like a lot of my vegan Thanksgiving recipes, this slides right into your lineup of favorite gluten-free vegan recipes too.
🧊 The Ice Cube Trick Actually Works: A handful of crushed ice blended in at the end takes this from regular food processor hummus to something noticeably fluffier and lighter.
🍽️ A Thanksgiving Appetizer That Isn't Another Cheese Ball: Something for guests to snack on before the main event that actually feels like it belongs at a fall table instead of just being there because someone had to bring a dip.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all my vegan recipes, over 1,000 testers helped me perfect this with their feedback. It came back with rave reviews, and quite a few pita chip bags reportedly did not make it to dinner.
🤘learn to make insanely flavorful vegan sides
This guide to my most popular vegan side dishes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🥣 Butternut Squash Hummus Ingredients
The Squash
This needs to roast, as boiling just makes the squash too wet, and besides, roasting builds sweetness and caramelization. Frozen squash is a BIG FAT NO, it turns to sucky old slop.
Butternut, acorn, kabocha, pumpkin, are all fair game for use in this recipe as long as they're fresh.
Tahini Paste
Look for smooth, pourable tahini, not the stiff, clumpy stuff that looks like dried up wood putty you forgot about inside Father Time's toolshed of doom.
My tarator recipe is great to use if you want to drizzle some tahini sauce (different from paste) on top.
Sumac
If you can't get your hands on sumac, you can use a little extra lemon juice to make up for it. Got some for making this and don't know what else it's awesome in? Your answers are cranberry ezme and muhammara, and both can be served alongside this as a lovely autumnal dip flight.
Aleppo Pepper Flakes
Aleppo pepper flakes add warmth without turning the hummus hyper-spicy. Gochugaru is probably the best substitute, but you can leave it out too if you hate spicy things.
Crushed Ice
Genuinely underrated trick. Blend in crushed ice at the very end and it whips air into the hummus, giving you a texture way lighter and fluffier than what the food processor manages on its own. Crushed just makes it easier to measure accurately, but if precision isn't your thing, 4-5 normal ice cubes get the same job done.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Harissa Butternut Squash Hummus
Double the Aleppo pepper flakes, or stir in a spoonful of my harissa sauce if you're ready to commit. Squash sweetness can eat way more spice than you'd think. Still not enough for you? Topping it with some shatta or zhoug will make you super-happy.
Curried Butternut Squash Hummus
Swap the cumin, cloves, sumac, and smoked paprika for 1 tablespoon of either Madras curry powder or Japanese curry powder. Cilantro instead of parsley on top, same squash, entirely different personality.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to make Butternut Squash Hummus
Become a gosh-darned squash hummus expert by following these step-by-step instructions with tips. Or scroll down to the easy-to-print recipe card if you already know your way around a food processor.
Step One
Roastbusters:
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil and spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once halfway through, until fork tender and only lightly browned in some spots.
Step Two
Blend It Like Beckham:
Transfer the roasted squash to a food processor. Add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, cloves, sumac, Aleppo pepper flakes, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. Process for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed, until smooth.
Step Three
Ice Ice Baby:
Add the crushed ice and process for another 90 seconds, until the hummus turns creamy and super smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Step Four
squAsh and the Army of Darkness:
Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and spread it into an even layer with the back of a spoon. Drizzle with tahini sauce and olive oil, then top with parsley and roasted pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready.
💡Serving Ideas
Eh, crackers work, but fun, homemade breads give you an A+ for effort..
Kuboos for the classic move, bazlama for something with Turkish fluffiness, za'atar manakeesh if you want the bread itself to bring flavor instead of just being a vehicle for the hummus to ride on to your face. Bolani is amazing too, with its potato, leek, and sumac filling.
Here's what you should serve with this if you are putting it out for your guests who are pre-gaming your Thanksgiving feast at the appetizer pavilion. My pumpkin puff pastry and vegan cranberry chestnut puff pastries are both flaky, golden, and completely unbothered by sharing space with a bowl of orange dip. More basic but-still-rad pastry thingies include Korean carrot pigs in a blanket and vegan sausage rolls.
👉Top tips
- Don't Waste Your Hard Earned Squash Allowance: A smaller squash tends to have more flesh and less seed cavity, so you get more usable purée per pound and a richer final texture. Weight over size is the real tell, so pick it up in the store before it comes home with you.
- Give the Food Processor Real Time to Work: This isn't a quick 30-second whir and done situation. Squash is way denser than the peppers or tomatoes you'd normally throw into hummus, so let the processor run in longer stretches, scraping down as you go, until it actually breaks down into that silky, whipped texture.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
The squash probably wasn't roasted long enough, or the food processor just needs more time. Check that it pierces easily with a fork before blending, and don't rush the process.
Still grainy after a whole bunch of real effort? Move it to a high-speed blender. My go-to is a Blendtec, though a Vitamix handles it fine too, and scrape the sides down a few times with a rubber spatula as you go.
Nope, the Aleppo pepper flakes add a gentle, fruity warmth rather than real heat, and they're optional anyway. Leave them out entirely for a completely mild version.
Yep. Use about ¾ cup dried to match a 14.5 oz can. Soak overnight, then simmer 60 to 90 minutes until they smoosh easily between 2 fingers, don't pull them early. Fully tender chickpeas blend way smoother than firm ones. Canned is just the faster route if you're not trying to plan ahead.
You can use a pinch of baking soda in the cooking water too (I do that with my Israeli hummus recipe), and it will help break down the skins as they cook.
🧊 In the Fridge
Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Give it a stir before serving, since it can thicken slightly as it sits and the fat stiffens.
❄️ In the Freezer
This hummus freezes well for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and stir well before serving, adding fresh garnishes after thawing.
✌️More Butternut Squash Recipes You'll Flip Out About:
Butternut Squash Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
To Roast:
- 1 ½ pounds butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cubed 1-inch
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the Hummus:
- 14.5 oz. canned chickpeas drained and rinsed
- ½ cup tahini paste
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 1 ½ teaspoons Aleppo pepper flakes optional
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup crushed ice
To Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons tahini sauce optional
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Toss the butternut squash with the olive oil and spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 35-40 minutes, turning once halfway through, until fork tender and lightly browned.
- Transfer the roasted squash to a food processor. Add the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, cloves, sumac, Aleppo pepper flakes, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. Process for 2-3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed, until smooth.
- Add the crushed ice and process for another 90 seconds, until the hummus is creamy and super-smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and spread it into an even layer with the back of a spoon. Drizzle with the tahini sauce and olive oil, then garnish with the parsley and roasted pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
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