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Instant Pot Hummus

This Instant Pot hummus is super creamy and easy to make from scratch using a pressure cooker! You’ll be hooked on the flavor.

Here’s a fun trick you can whip up with your pressure cooker: Instant Pot hummus! Sure, it’s easy to buy store-bought hummus. But for the very best creamy chickpea puree: homemade hummus is where it’s at! It’s a great trick using your Instant Pot, and perfect if you whip up a big batch of chickpeas. This recipe comes straight to you from our friend Sarah Copeland’s new cookbook, Instant Family Meals: an incredible collection of beautiful recipes and genius tips for your pressure cooker. Let’s get started!

Why make Instant Pot hummus?

Hummus has grown from a niche food (when we were kids!) to a household staple today. Really, I don’t know what our household would do without it! We do buy our hummus often, but when we can, we like to make it at home. Which is why we love this hummus recipe from Sarah’s book! Why make Instant Pot hummus?

It’s got the best flavor. Many purchased hummus brands can be overly intense and garlicky, or too bland. Homemade hummus has just the right integrity in flavor.
It’s cheaper! Some hummus brands can be quite expensive: homemade hummus in an Instant Pot is cheaper than buying lots of hummus tubs.
It’s a great use for a batch of chickpeas. If you cook up a big batch of chickpeas in your Instant Pot, what better way to use them? Use half for hummus and half for eating.

About the book: Instant Family Meals

This recipe is from the book Instant Family Meals by our dear friend Sarah Copeland, and it truly is a masterpiece! This collection of recipes is beautifully fresh, modern and sophisticated: just like Sarah’s recipes always are. (Her other cookbooks Feast and Every Day is Saturday are both big hits in our house!)

You’ll find recipes like Sweet Potato Tacos, Eggplant Parmesan, Cacio e Pepe Risotto, and Double Chocolate Cheesecake. Yes, please! There are wholesome healthy recipes for people of every diet, including lots for vegetable-forward eaters like ourselves. Congratulations to Sarah on this new masterpiece!

A few tips for the chickpeas

Here we’ve provided a few methods for cooking the chickpeas in this Instant Pot hummus. You can cook lots of chickpeas, or just enough for this hummus. You can also soak the chickpeas to decrease the cook time and make for more tender chickpeas.

Cook just enough for the hummus. In the instructions below we’ve provided instructions to cook just enough chickpeas for the hummus recipe. This is great if you’re not sure whether you’ll use the rest of the chickpeas.
Make 1 pound chickpeas. You can cook up to 1 pound of chickpeas at one time! If you do this, you can eat the remaining chickpeas or freeze them for up to 3 months. Go to Instant Pot Chickpeas.
Soak if you have time. If you have time to soak the chickpeas over night, even better! Soak 1 pound chickpeas with 8 cups water for 10 to 12 hours. Then you can reduce the cook time to 20 to 25 minutes.

Ingredients for Instant Pot hummus

Once you’ve cooked the chickpeas, this Instant Pot hummus is a breeze to whip up! You’ll need a food processor for this task (a blender doesn’t get it smooth enough!). Here’s what you’ll need on hand:

Cooked chickpeas
Garlic
Tahini
Fresh lemon juice
Ground coriander A fun variation on the standard cumin! we loved this
Kosher salt
Olive oil
Water, as needed

A bit about tahini

If you’ve never made hummus before, you’ll need a jar of tahini! Tahini is sesame seed paste that’s most famous for its use in hummus, but it’s used in lots of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes (like lemon tahini sauce!). Since it’s simply made of sesame seeds and salt, tahini is vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, Paleo, keto, and Whole 30 friendly.

If you buy a jar of tahini and aren’t sure how to use it up, we’ve got lots of ideas for you! See our top Delicious & Healthy Tahini Recipes, from hummus to cookies.

More Instant Pot recipes

What else can you make with an Instant Pot? So many things! Alex and I originally weren’t into the pressure cooker trend…until we tried it for ourselves! Here are a few of our favorite ways to use an Instant Pot:

Mix up a cozy batch of Instant Pot mac and cheese
Go for a steaming bowl of Instant Pot Ramen
Make staples like Black Eyed Peas, Basmati Rice and more
Cook your morning Instant Pot Oatmeal
Make soups like Instant Pot Minestrone, Split Pea Soup, Potato Soup or Chili

This Instant Pot hummus recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

Creamy Instant Pot Hummus

(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This Instant Pot hummus is super creamy and easy to make from scratch using a pressure cooker! You’ll be hooked on the flavor.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas

1 cup dry chickpeas*
Water
1 pinch salt

For the Instant Pot hummus

2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup tahini
5 tablespoons lemon juice (2 medium lemons)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Water, as needed

Instructions

Place the chickpeas in the Instant Pot, cover with 2 inches water, and add the kosher salt. Lock the lid and place the vent in the “Sealing” position. (If you want to cook 1 pound chickpeas at once, go to Instant Pot Chickpeas instead!)
Cook on high pressure 35 minutes (unsoaked) or 25 minutes (soaked): Note that it takes about 10 minutes for the pot to “preheat” and come up to pressure before it starts cooking. Wait while the Instant Pot cooks. (During cooking, avoid touching the metal part of the lid.)
Natural release for 20 minutes: After the Instant Pot beeps, wait for another 20 minutes to let the Instant Pot naturally release pressure. (Tip: We set a timer for this part so we don’t forget!) After 20 minutes, vent any remaining steam by moving the vent to “Venting”, covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when releasing steam. (The pressure indicator in the lid may drop on its own after 10 minutes, meaning that there is no remaining steam in the pot.)
In the bowl of a food processor, add 2 cups of the cooked chickpeas. (You’ll have a few left over, which you can use for another recipe.) Add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice, coriander, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse until smooth, scraping the bowl occasionally.
Turn on the processor and pour in the olive oil until a smooth paste forms, then add water to get to a creamy consistency (we added 10 tablespoons). Process for 3 to 4 minutes until super creamy and smooth. Taste and add additional salt as needed. Store refrigerated for up to 4 to 5 days.

Notes

*If you can, soak the chickpeas for 10 to 12 hours the night before. This decreases the cook time and makes for more tender beans. But you can also do it without soaking and cook longer!

Category: Appetizer
Method: Instant Pot
Cuisine: Pressure Cooker

Keywords: Instant Pot hummus, hummus instant pot

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Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

This creamy, dreamy butternut squash mac and cheese is so tasty! It boasts less cheese and more fiber and vitamins than the standard.

Welcome to our new favorite way to use butternut squash in a recipe. Butternut squash mac and cheese! Why add this mighty squash to your favorite pasta? Well, three reasons. The first is simply to have an excuse to use this fall ingredient in your kitchen! Butternut squash also lets you use less cheese and adds fiber to this traditionally starchy dish. But most of all…it’s just delicious. The squash gives the cheese sauce a sweet undertone and makes it extraordinarily creamy. Ready to get started?

Ingredients in butternut squash mac and cheese

First things first: this butternut squash mac and cheese has cheese in it. Yep, it’s designed as a way to use less cheese: not no cheese altogether. If you’re looking for a vegan mac and cheese, head to our Vegan Green Chili Mac we wrote for Washington Post! It’s incredibly tasty. But if you’re on board for the less cheese, more fiber version: let’s go! Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Butternut squash: Fresh is best: because it has the best flavor and texture!
Pasta: Any short shape works!
Olive oil
Vegetable broth
Spices: chili powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper
Milk
Cheese: there are a few different options: see below!

3 advantages to making butternut squash mac and cheese!

What do you get when you add butternut squash to mac and cheese? So much goodness! Here are the particulars on this butternut squash mac and cheese:

Reduces the standard recipe by over 1000 calories! Compared to a standard homemade mac and cheese, this recipe removes half the cheese, all the butter and flour, and 1 cup of the milk. That’s a savings of over 1000 calories (or 125 calories per serving for 8 servings).
Adds fiber. 1 cup of butternut squash has 7 grams fiber (source), so each serving has about 12% of your daily need.
Adds Vitamin A, Vitamin Cm and other vitamins. 1 cup of butternut squash has 457% of your daily Vitamin A and 52% of your daily value of Vitamin C (source). You get half that in each serving of this butternut squash mac and cheese!

How to cut butternut squash: some tips!

Now, we know: cutting a butternut squash can be daunting. It is for us too! But over the years, we’ve developed some best practices that make it much less painful. Here are a few tips for how to cut the squash for this butternut squash mac and cheese:

Watch the video: First, watch this quick video of How to Cut Butternut Squash.
Use a serrated peeler: A serrated blade makes it easier to peel the tough skin than a normal vegetable peeler, which easily slips. Here’s the serrated vegetable peeler we use.
Cut off the neck and chop it separately from the base: Don’t cut the entire squash together. Chop off the neck, then peel it and chop into squares! Do the same for the base.

Can you substitute frozen butternut squash in mac and cheese?

Technically yes, but we don’t recommend it. You can use 4 cups frozen butternut squash in this recipe instead of fresh. However, fresh such better flavor that we don’t recommend frozen. Here’s what to know:

The flavor is much better with fresh. When it comes to fresh vs frozen squash: fresh is better every time. Frozen is not nearly as flavorful: but it does work in a pinch!
Make these changes with frozen if you must: Use only 1 1/2 cups veggie broth for simmering and simmer for 5 minutes until the squash is tender. Omit the milk. Add additional kosher salt to taste. But instead of frozen butternut squash, we recommend this…

Meal prep tip: peel and dice the squash in advance!

If you do want to speed up this recipe: don’t use frozen squash. Simply peel and dice the butternut squash in advance! You can place it in a sealed container and refrigerate until you make the recipe, 2 to 3 days. It makes the recipe so much easier!

What cheese to use

There are lots of options for the cheese in this butternut squash mac and cheese! Here are a few options, in order of our preference:

Smoked gouda. It’s unique, but it adds a smoky nuance to the flavor and makes it taste completely irresistible.
Sharp cheddar. This one is the classic mac and cheese choice. It’s always tasty and you can combine it with the two cheeses below.
Monterey jack (with cheddar): Monterey jack is a great choice to mix with cheddar: it adds just the right cozy comfort food vibe. Go half cheddar and half Monterey jack.

Variation: make it gluten free!

Another plus for butternut squash mac and cheese: it’s easy to make gluten free. Many mac and cheese recipes use flour and butter to make a roux, a way to thicken a cheese sauce. It makes for a lusciously creamy sauce, but it does have flour. This recipe is simple to make gluten free with a simple swap of pasta. You can use:

Gluten free pasta made with gluten-free flour
Legume pasta made with lentil or chickpea flour. This type of pasta alternative is becoming easy to find at your local grocery.

Ways to serve with butternut squash mac and cheese

Make the pasta, make the sauce, and bam: you’ve got a delicious and healthy dinner idea! How to round out the meal? We’d suggest adding a quick and easy vegetable to add even more fiber and nutrients. Some serving suggestions for butternut squash mac and cheese:

Broccoli: Try Simple Sauteed Broccoli
Green beans: Add Sauteed Green Beans
Simple salad: Make Easy Arugula Salad, Arugula Beet Salad (with pre-cooked beets) or Fennel Orange Salad

This butternut squash mac and cheese recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten free pasta or legume pasta.