Spinach Artichoke Hummus (Oil-Free)

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Creamy and flavorful, this Spinach Artichoke Hummus is a fun twist on your favorite dip. It’s healthy, super tasty, and great with raw veggies, crackers, on sandwiches, and more. Make it fully blended and smooth or leave it chunky (your choice)… either way this might become your new favorite dip!

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So, if you know me from Instagram (@fitlizkitchen), then you know that I LOVE hummus. I make a batch every 3-4 days, although sometimes less if my partner is eating a lot of it too.

And hummus is great on everything. Unless I’m having a salad, I eat a bowl of raw vegetables with homemade hummus with dinner every night. And if I’m having the salad, the hummus is usually used for a hummus salad dressing (recipe coming soon).

I also love to put hummus on veggie sandwiches with sprouted whole grain toast. Sometimes I also enjoy hummus on oil-free rye or buckwheat crackers (the long rectangular ones), usually topped with tomato and/or cucumber with microgreens or baby arugula/spinach.

So yeah, I love hummus. But since I eat SO MUCH HUMMUS, I need to vary the flavors a little so I don’t get bored or tired of it.

Sometimes I just use different spices, like with my ranch hummus (recipe coming soon). But sometimes I add mix-ins, like baby spinach and artichoke hearts in this awesome spinach artichoke hummus. Other mix-ins that I love are steamed baby beets (for beet hummus), roasted red peppers (for roasted red pepper hummus), and oil-free sun-dried tomatoes (for sun-dried tomato hummus)—all of which will come to the blog soon!

And sometimes I even use a whole different bean, like with my butter bean hummus. I also have plans to experiment with black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and lentils for my hummus bases. The more varieties of beans and legumes you can incorporate into your diet, the better!

Also the spinach artichoke combo is just amazing. I’ve already made baked (oil-free) spinach artichoke latkes (like shredded potato pancakes!) and spinach artichoke pinwheels. Sometimes I sub kale and make kale artichoke pasta with mushrooms, yum.

Ingredients

See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list (with amounts) and instructions.

• Chickpeas: Also known as garbanzo beans, you’ll need about a can’s worth (or 1 ½ cups) of chickpeas. I like to buy chickpeas in a can with non-BPA lining and with no salt added. If you can’t find no-salt added chickpeas, you can also make your own from dried garbanzo beans! In fact, I do often make my own chickpeas from dried in my Instant Pot.
• Aquafaba: This is the liquid that the chickpeas are cooked in. It’s the same liquid in the can. Whether you’re using canned chickpeas or you made them yourself, make sure to save that aquafaba as it will help make our oil-free hummus smooth and creamy.
• Sesame Seeds: Even though I limit my intake of dietary fat, I do always use sesame seeds or tahini in my hummus. If you have a high powered blender, you can use sesame seeds for slightly less fat. Some folks prefer to grind the sesame seeds first in a spice grinder. I blend my hummus for 90 seconds – 2 minutes so I don’t have the issue of gritty hummus, but if you do not have a Vitamix, you may want to either use ground sesame seeds or tahini. Or leave it out and it will still be a delicious dip.
• Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice: I prefer fresh squeezed lemon juice but I have to be realistic and tell you I don’t always have it. Or sometimes I’m honestly too lazy to squeeze it. I LOVE the Italian Volcano brand of lemon juice (it’s organic and so much better than any other brand I’ve tried), which I often purchase in a 2-pack from Costco.
• Garlic: I actually really love garlic and use either raw and granulated garlic in my hummus. But you can use whichever you like. They have different flavors, so use the kind you enjoy.
• Granulated onion: I use granulated onion in my hummus because I like the flavor it adds, which I feel is especially important in a spinach artichoke hummus recipe since the dip it’s based on usually includes (cooked) onions.
• White or Yellow Miso Paste: This is to replace the salt in the recipe, but I also love the little hint of umami flavors. Per Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, the soy in miso has a protective effect so the sodium in miso paste will not affect us negatively. Please feel free to omit or use a pinch of salt if that is what you prefer.
• Dried Oregano and Dried Basil: I think this adds a lot to the spinach artichoke dip flavor of this hummus. Feel free to use fresh herbs if you have them!
• Nutritional Yeast: Most spinach artichoke dips have dairy cheese. This vegan / whole-food plant based version does not. However, the nutritional yeast gives us some of that cheesy flavor and also helps thicken the hummus a bit.
• Artichoke Hearts: I used a 14.1 ounce can of artichoke hearts (packed in water/brine, NOT oil). I drained it and then chopped up the artichoke hearts a bit to make it a bit easier to blend them into the hummus. If you can only find frozen artichoke hearts, simply thaw according to package directions (drain them if needed) and add about 14 ounces of them to the blender (it’s OK if it’s a little more or less).
• Baby Spinach: While you can use other greens, I think it’s nice to use a mild green like baby spinach in this recipe.

Substitutions

• Chickpeas: White beans (navy beans, Great Northern beans, cannellini beans, butter beans (like my butter bean hummus!)) work very well instead of chickpeas.
• Aquafaba: If you forgot to reserve the liquid from your can of beans (or if you cooked them yourself), a good substitute is ice water. Let the water get cold from the ice, but don’t add the ice itself to the blender.
• Sesame Seeds: If you can’t have sesame seeds or tahini (which is just blended sesame seeds), try soaked raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds, or try cashew butter. Hulled hemp seeds also work well. If you are really watching your overt fats, you can omit them from the recipe.
• Lemon Juice: You can use a vinegar you enjoy if you don’t have any lemon juice on hand.
• Garlic: Just adds flavor. If you can’t have garlic, increase the other spices in the recipe.
• Granulated Onion: Same thing with the onion. If you can’t have it, don’t worry about it.
• White or Yellow Miso Paste: If you’re fine eating salt (or if you eat the potassium chloride salt substitute) you can go ahead and use that. If you are totally avoiding added sodium, you can leave it out. Maybe add a tablespoon of extra lemon juice!
• Dried Oregano and Dried Basil: You can use other herbs or spices. I just love the flavor these give to this dish.
• Nutritional Yeast: If you cannot have nutritional yeast or you don’t like it, feel free to leave this out.
• Artichoke Hearts: This is a core part of the recipe so I’m not sure how I would substitute it. Possibly another canned vegetable?
• Baby Spinach: Other greens like a power greens mix or kale can work, though for textural reasons I might use baby kale. If you like kale, try this vegan kale artichoke dip!

How to Make Spinach Artichoke Hummus

Watch me make this hummus or follow the step-by-step instructions below.

1. Start by making the hummus portion of this recipe: Add the chickpeas, a half cup of the aquafaba (reserving the rest to add as needed), tahini, lemon juice, garlic, granulated onion, and salt or miso if using.
2. Blend it up: Blend on high for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and creamy. If you do not have a high-powered blender (such as a Vitamix or Blendtec), you may need to either stop and scrape down the sides every so often with a spatula, or you may need a bit more liquid to blend. Try adding another tablespoon of aquafaba and using a spatula (stop the blender first!) to move the hummus to allow the liquid to get down to the blades.
3. Taste and adjust: Now is a great time to taste the hummus and adjust any flavors. It won’t taste like spinach artichoke hummus yet, but it’s better to adjust the salt/lemon/garlic levels now.
4. Add remaining ingredients: Give the artichoke hearts a rough chop on your cutting board—this is especially helpful if you are looking to make a chunky hummus. Add the dried basil, oregano, nutritional yeast, artichoke hearts, and LASTLY the spinach. I recommend adding the spinach last because if you add it below the other ingredients, it has a tendency to get fully blended and make your dip into green hummus. Which, if you want your hummus super smooth or you don’t care about the color, that’s totally fine! Sometimes I blend it smooth and sometimes I leave it chunky. If you prefer it really chunky, add the spinach last and pay attention to the next step.
5. Pulse: I recommend using a tamper for this step if your blender has one. A tamper allows you to push the contents of the blender toward the blades safely while the blender is on. It’s not safe to use a spatula or long spoon while the blender is in motion. I’ve ruined spatulas this way and ended up with inedible hummus. So pulse the blades a few times until the spinach artichoke hummus is your desired texture. You may need to stop the blender and stir the ingredients and pulse again to get everything chopped evenly.
6. To Serve: If you’d like this served warm, place it in a microwave-safe serving dish and microwave until it reaches the desired temperature. Serve immediately. If you prefer it chilled, then add place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days. You can also serve it right away, room temperature if you just can’t wait!

Expert Tips

• Make It Chunky: The key is to put the spinach in last, and then just barely pulse it to chop everything up. If you’re nervous and you really want to make sure it’s chunky, you could chop the spinach and artichoke hearts up on a cutting board and fold them into the blended hummus if you prefer!
• Use Another Green: Any other leafy green will work in place of the spinach. For texture I recommend using baby greens. Try baby kale, chard, or even arugula for a peppery twist. “Adult” spinach is fine, but greens like adult kale may be too rough to enjoy raw in this dip. If you’re still set on using non-baby varieties, try blanching them, squeezing out the excess liquid, and giving them a rough chop.
• Fresh Herbs: Fresh basil and oregano leaves would be lovely in this dip, as would fresh parsley. Feel free to use fresh greens. Use 3 times the amount of fresh herbs to the dried amount indicated in the recipe.
• Make It A Hot Cheesy Dip: If you want to add cheesiness to this dip, you can serve it warm topped with my stretchy melty mozzarella sauce (oil-free). You can even broil it a little!

Serving Suggestions

This spinach artichoke hummus is delicious on its own with raw veggies or crackers! My favorite veggies to dip in hummus are cucumber, sugar snap peas, carrots, celery, and red/orange/yellow bell peppers. My favorite oil-free crackers are Wasa Light Rye Crispbread, Mary’s Gone Crackers, or brown rice cakes/crackers.

I also frequently use this chunky oil-free hummus as a sandwich filling. If you blend it until it’s smooth, you can still spread it on your toast and add your favorite toppings. My favorite veggie sandwich right now is spinach artichoke hummus, arugula, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, and pickles or pickled jalapeños. So good! Sometimes I do sauerkraut instead of the pickles or pickled jalapeños. I love Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Bread (I buy the “low sodium” flavor), which I buy in the frozen section of my local grocery store.

This hummus also made an appearance on my Holiday Hummus Board (“recipe” coming soon!). I loaded up a tray with 3 of my favorite hummus dips and a variety of rainbow vegetables. It was my dinner for New Year’s Eve!

Spinach Artichoke Hummus Recipe

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