Moroccan-Style Carrot Hummus Recipe

Share this recipe or send it to yourself!

As much as Morocco is not a hummus country, this Moroccan-style carrot hummus recipe brings in the flavors of a traditional Moroccan salad. Serve with vegetable chips or topped with spicy harissa chili sauce for an elegant hummus dip. 

Recipe Stats:

Vegan (with vegetable broth) | Mediterranean Diet | Cooking Time About 35 Minutes

*This post contains compensated links. Find more info in my DISCLAIMER. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What Makes This Moroccan Carrot Hummus

Carrot and hummus go well together. This dish reminds me of the creamy pumpkin hummus I make. This recipe is a good alternative for people who don’t always have pumpkin at home, or when pumpkin is not in season. 

This hummus recipe is Moroccan-style – but what does that mean? Much like my spicy harissa hummus recipe, it incorporates Moroccan flavors and spices even though they don’t eat hummus in Morocco. 

We’ve traveled to Morocco to learn about the food. Moroccans love using chickpeas in their dishes. I loved harira and bissara, two Moroccan soups made with chickpeas. 

Serve this hummus recipe with chickpea chips.

One of the dishes that you won’t see on a Moroccan menu, though, is hummus! It’s just not a thing in Morocco.

When I start to think about a recipe for carrots and hummus, I thought about the tasty carrot salads I ate in Morocco. By cooking the carrots in traditional Moroccan spices, mostly cumin, this hummus takes on a Moroccan Influence 

Using Harissa At Home

Harissa is a chili paste that is popular in Northern Africa cuisine. It’s normally made with a mix of chili peppers, cumin, and coriander. We fell in love with the flavor of harissa when traveling in Morocco. 

Moroccan cuisine is not generally spicy, but harissa is served on the side of a lot of dishes allowing diners to add their own spice. I like to cook with harissa because we like spicy food and the harissa adds a depth of flavor that you can’t get from just adding fresh peppers. 

It’s becoming a lot more common to find harissa at grocery stores in the US and in the UK. Look for it in the international food aisle. It can be found in both a tube or a jar. I look for jarred harissa, which looks almost like red pesto.

I like the Mina brand of harissa, which you can find on Amazon here. You can add harissa to other hummus recipes too. This includes our Homemade Hummus With Roasted Red Peppers.

If you add a good mount of harissa, this can quickly become a spicy carrot hummus. If you don’t like the heat, just skip the harissa. Or add some just on the top when serving to give people the option of the heat without mixing it into the hummus dip. 

Check out our other Moroccan recipes using harissa:

Harissa Couscous With Chickpeas

Harissa Moroccan Stew With Pumpkin And Chickpeas

Harissa Vegetarian Moroccan Lentil Stew Recipe

Ingredients For This Carrot Hummus Dip 

I am not a fan of making roasted carrot hummus at home because, well, I don’t often have the patience to roast the carrots. That’s why I like this recipe. Cook fresh, diced carrots, in a bit of vegetable broth.

By cooking the carrots in cumin, salt, and vegetable broth, they become soft and super flavorful.

Add minced or pressed garlic and ground ginger. I like to use a garlic press too so that there aren’t big chunks of garlic in the hummus. Try the Zulay stainless steel garlic press, which is easy to use. There’s no need to even peel the garlic ahead of time.

The other ingredients include freshly squeezed lemon juice for a bit of acidity. Tahini adds the creaminess to the hummus. And, a bit of paprika adds some color and heat.

Last, canned chickpeas are the easiest. Just be sure to drain them in a colander and rinse in cool water before using.

Normally, I use olive oil in my hummus. Because the carrots are cooked in broth and carry with them a good amount of liquid, you don’t need to add olive oil. If you need a but of liquid, you can add some of the carrot juice left over from the cooking process.

How To Make This Carrot Hummus Recipe

Peel and dice the carrots into small pieces. The smaller you cut the carrots the quicker they will cook.

I used to always pawn off my peeling tasks to the husband. But, once I started using this OXO Good Grips Y Peeler, I changed my tune. It has the classic OXO comfortable rubber grip and is smooth and easy to use. I swear it cuts down peeling time by half. Check out the OXO Good Grips Y Peeler on Amazon here.

Add the vegetable broth to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the cumin and salt. Steam the carrots for 20-25 minutes or until they are soft when pierced with a fork. Drain the carrots but reserve the liquid that remains. 

In a blender or food processor, add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, and ground ginger. Blend until smooth. Add the carrots and chickpeas and blend until smooth.

If needed in order to reach the right consistency, add the carrot liquid a teaspoon at a time until the hummus is blended smooth.

Serve this hummus with carrot or celery sticks or vegetable chips. I like the Terra brand of vegetable chips, which you can buy on Amazon here.

Modifications And Variations

One of my favorite modifications for this recipe is to add a bit of spicy harissa when serving. Or blend the harissa into the hummus to increase the Moroccan flavor. 

If you don’t have harissa at home, you can also do a carrot sriracha hummus recipe by adding a tablespoon of spicy sriracha sauce when blending. 

Although this is not a traditional carrot ginger hummus, it does use a bit of ground ginger for flavor and spice. To give it a stronger ginger flavor, add a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger. This will give the hummus a real kick!

Share this recipe or send it to yourself!