Beet Hummus For Toddlers: So Obvious It’s Brilliant!
Listen, sometimes it comes down to color. Children eat with their eyes first—if it doesn’t look familiar, it has to look interesting.
Enter beet hummus. Obviously. Hummus is easy enough: silky, smooth, ready to be dipped. Beets make it better: sweeter, creamier, vegetable-y. And that very very pinkish color? Moths to flame, are kids curious about it; my own thought it was an acai bowl.
(Note: while this recipe couldn’t be easier to make, roasting the beet does take time. Beyond throwing it in the oven before you go out to play with your little one, I recommend roasting a few so that you can make our chocolate beet muffins at the same time.)
- 1 small Beet
- 1/2 can Chickpeas
- 1 tbsp Tahini
- 1 Lime
- minced Garlic
- Cilantro
- Olive oil
- Heat your oven to 375. Chop the ends of your beet then scrub the exterior with a brush while washing with water. Dry the beet, then rub the beet with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
- When oven has reached 375, place foil-wrapped beet in your oven and allow to cook for one hour. Remove and set aside to cool.
- While the beet cools, fill a small pot halfway with water and add ¼ teaspoon of baking soda–1/2 teaspoon if you are cooking the whole can of chickpeas at once–and heat on High to a boil. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Once the water begins to boil, place chickpeas in pot and cook for 6-7 minutes. Drain pot, do a quick rinse of the chickpeas, and pull any of the white/filmy skin off.
- Chop beet into four pieces and place in a blender; blend until the beets are completely chopped up.
- Add in the tahini, the zest and juice of the lime, one spoonful of minced garlic, the chickpeas, a lot of cilantro, and a pinch of salt and pepper; blend until mixed. Expect a chunky, pasty texture at this point.
- Pour in a generous glug of olive oil and blitz the mix again; stir as needed to break up in the blender. Mix on highest speed for roughly 45 seconds until smooth; add more olive oil if the mixture is too thick or not breaking down in the blender.
We typically smear this on pita triangles or crackers for our guy, but we also use it as a condiment on falafel burgers and egg sandwiches; it would make a fun dip for crunchy raw vegetables, too.
Provided you grilled or roasted it enough to be chop-uppable in a blender, almost any vegetable could sub in for beet here: sweet potato, zucchini, carrot. etc. Use lemon instead of lime; use dill instead of cilantro.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
