Sweet Potato Hummus
This sweet potato hummus recipe is made with sauteed sweet potatoes infused with spices. Made with only 7 ingredients, you can serve it just like hummus with crackers, pita bread, air fryer tortilla chips, or use it as a topping with your favorite vegan Mexican dishes.
I’m a hummus lover. It’s one reason I make my Green Hummus recipe so much. So, when I started making this dip, I decided it’s really a sweet potato hummus without chickpeas. The flavors are amazing and the sweet potatoes really shine through with color and tastiness.
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Sautéing sweet potatoes tenderizes them and adds caramelized flavor
- Cooking the garlic with the sweet potatoes helps mellow the garlic flavor
- Smoked paprika is the star of the show, adding smoky flavor to every bite
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Olive oil — We’ll be using a bit of olive oil. You can substitute any neutral oil, such as refined coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Sweet potato — You’ll need one medium sweet potato, roughly 5 inches long by 2 inches wide.
- Garlic — You’ll need 3 cloves of garlic.
- Tahini — This sesame paste is traditional in hummus for adding creaminess. You can find it in the international aisle of most grocery stores, health food stores, or online. To make sweet potato hummus without tahini, substitute almond butter, cashew butter, or even peanut butter.
- Chili powder — Most people prefer the mellow flavors of chili powder. If you want a little more kick, you can substitute cayenne pepper powder.
- Smoked paprika — You can find smoked paprika with the spices in most grocery stores or online.
- Lemon juice — You can use fresh-squeezed lemon juice or bottled.
How to Make Sweet Potato Hummus
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive in a skillet over medium heat.
- Peel the sweet potato and cut it into cubes.
- Add the cubes to the skillet and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender.
- Remove from heat, stir in the garlic, and let it sit for several minutes until the garlic is tender.
- Add the remaining ingredients and the reserved olive oil to a food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Pulse in the sweet potato and garlic until smooth.
- Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until you achieve a nice consistency.
- Garnish with drizzles of olive oil and smoked paprika.
You can microwave the sweet potatoes to get them tender, but sautéing them in a pan adds flavor.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. This dip can be frozen in appropriate freezer-safe containers for up to 2 months.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this sweet potato dip with any of the following:
- Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
- Vegan Garlic Bread
- Vegan Naan Bread
- Pita Chips
- Crackers
- I also love adding this dip as a condiment to Vegan Baked Potatoes
- Use it in place of mayo on veggie burgers like Vegan Black Bean Burgers, or Vegan Lentil Burgers
- Serve it as a dip with Air Fryer Falafel or Air Fryer Potatoes.
Frequently-Asked Questions
What flavors go well with sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes are so versatile, meaning many flavors go well with them. For example, you can use chili powder, cilantro, cinnamon, coconut, and garlic with sweet potatoes. In addition, you can pair sweet potatoes with onions, limes, walnuts, thyme, and even pineapple.
Can you eat the skin on sweet potatoes?
Yes, you can eat the skin on sweet potatoes; however, they can be a little chewy. If you’re making sweet potato fries, oftentimes the skin doesn’t get as crispy. However, sweet potato skins are a rich source of fiber, antioxidants, and other nutrients.
More Dips and Appetizers
This sweet potato hummus is amazing! If it’s whetted your whistle for even more vegan dips and appetizers, be sure to try these:
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Sweet Potato Hummus
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 large sweet potato
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika shredded
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 3 to 4 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive in a skillet over medium heat.
- Peel the sweet potato and cut it into cubes. Add the cubes to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, until tender. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic. Let this sit for several minutes until the garlic is tender.
- Add the remaining ingredients and the reserved olive oil to a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the sweet potato and garlic mixture and pulse until smooth. Add water, one tablespoon at a time until you achieve a nice consistency.
- Garnish with drizzles of olive oil and smoked paprika. Serve with toptortilla chips, corn chips, or chopped veggies.
Recommended Equipment
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The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
This looks great! I found it trying to find a seven layer dip using pumpkin. I’m gonna use that instead of sweet potatoes and serve this warm (adding cold toppings just before serving). Thanks for posting this recipe!
Ooh, I love the pumpkin change-up! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
This is too pretty to pass up, I love the colorful layers!
It’s almost too pretty too eat. Not!!
It looks great and I´ll definitely make that!
If you make it in advance, how will you make the avocado stay green?
The greyish color, after a bit of time, doesn´t look that attractive..
I’ll be honest – we usually eat this so fast we don’t have to worry about the avocado changing colors. However, keeping a sheet of plastic wrap over the top can help.
These look absolutely delicious and colorful.. !! beautiful layers .. I love it
Thanks Sowmya!
That looks so fabulous! All the layers look beautiful.
Thanks, Melanie. I must confess that it tastes just as good as it looks!
So colorful!! Love the delicious layers, Marly!!
Yum this sounds great and very healthy! I am sweet potato lover so any opportunity to use them I am in!
This looks great, Marly! Perfect party dish!
Oh, my. That does look great! I’ve never seen sweet potato tortilla-style chips. I’d like it in the low dish — easier to get some of each layer.
I love that you use quinoa! I never would have thought. I can see why they were raving about the dip. Looks so good.