Looking for another tasty way to enjoy hummus? You found it! This zesty sun-dried tomato basil hummus pasta is super creamy, it’s easy to make, and it’s ready to eat in 30 minutes!
Sun-dried tomato basil hummus pasta is a savory, creamy, high-protein, simple vegan meal that you can enjoy for lunch or dinner! The pasta sauce is made from hummus that’s flavored with fresh basil, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes, it’s absolutely delicious and so easy to make! This recipe is also great for meal prepping because it tastes great hot or cold.
Can I Use Store-Bought Hummus?
Sure! You don’t have to make homemade hummus. If you want it to have a similar flavor profile to this recipe, I recommend that you buy plain, garlic-flavored, or sun-dried tomato (may be hard to find) hummus. Then you can follow the recipe directions to mix 1 1/2 cups of the premade hummus, sauteed onions, pasta water, and spinach with the hot noodles. You can add a couple of soaked sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil if you like.
What Type of Sun-Dried Tomatoes Should I Use?
You can use sun-dried tomatoes that are dry or packed in oil for this recipe. If you use dry sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll need to soak them in water for 30 minutes to rehydrate them before using them to make hummus. If you use oil-based tomatoes, you’ll need to drain the excess oil.
How to Make Hummus Pasta
First, you’re going to make the homemade sun-dried tomato basil hummus (Photos 1 & 2). In a food processor, combine canned chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice, water, salt, and black pepper and blend until smooth and creamy.
Next, saute the diced onion in a large pan until it’s translucent. While the onions are cooking, boil water in a large pot to cook the pasta. When the onions are soft, add fresh spinach, hummus, and reserved pasta water and stir to combine (Photos 3 & 4).
Add the hot pasta to the pan with the sauce and stir it until every noodle is coated with the hummus sauce (Photos 5 & 6). Garnish with more fresh basil before serving.
Serving Suggestions
I usually serve this pasta with a salad drizzled with ranch dressing, but any of the following recipes would make a great side dish.
- Creamy Broccoli Salad
- Lemon Tahini Courgette Salad
- Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
- Lemon Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower
How Long Does it Last in the Refrigerator?
Store the vegan hummus pasta in an airtight container in the fridge and it should stay fresh for 4-5 days.
Can I Freeze It?
Yes, you can freeze leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for 3-4 months for the best quality. When you’re ready to reheat it, take the container out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to defrost for 24 hours. Then you can reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stove. If it’s dry, you may need to add 3-4 tbsp of water or vegetable broth to the pasta to help rehydrate the sauce.
Recipe Variations
Want to switch it up? Try any of the following delicious recipe variations.
- Add Roasted Vegetables: Roast 8 ounces of mushrooms and mix them in with the pasta to make a hearty mushroom hummus pasta.
- Hummus Pasta Salad: After you make the hummus pasta, you can pop it into the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours. Enjoy this recipe cold instead of hot for a tasty twist on creamy pasta salad.
- Add Vegan Sausage: You could add slices of vegan Italian sausage (I like Field Roast Italian sausages) to the pasta to make it an even more substantial meal.
Substitutions & FAQ
- Hummus Flavor Options: You could also use plain, garlic, caramelized onion, or roasted red pepper hummus instead of sun-dried tomato hummus.
- Chickpea Substitution: If you don’t have chickpeas, you can use cooked great northern beans to make the hummus.
- Sun-Dried Tomato Substitutions: Roasted red peppers can be used instead of sun-dried tomatoes.
- Spinach Substitutions: Thinly sliced kale or swiss chard can be used instead of spinach.
- Can I Use frozen spinach? Yes, you can use 2-3 ounces of frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach. Add the frozen spinach when the recipe says to add the fresh spinach, but give it a few extra minutes to defrost.
- What can I do with the tomato water? After you soak the sun-dried tomatoes, don’t discard the water because it’s loaded with tomato flavor! You can remove the tomatoes and then use the water as the liquid needed for the hummus or add it to the water to boil the noodles to drive home that tomato flavor.
- Gluten-Free: The recipe is gluten-free as long as you use gluten-free noodles.
Success Tips
- If your sun-dried tomatoes are dry, you’ll need to soak them in warm water for 30 minutes so they’ll be soft and easy to blend. If you use sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drain the excess oil before adding the tomatoes to the hummus mixture.
- Make sure to reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta water when you’re boiling the noodles because you’ll need it to thin the hummus pasta sauce.
- I often double or triple the hummus recipe and then portion it out and freeze it to use for future easy meals. Hummus freezes perfectly and it’s a great time saver for a quick dinner!
- Store the leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or you can freeze it for a future meal.
What Else Can Hummus Be Used For?
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Quesadillas
Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert Hummus
Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Hummus Pasta
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Large Pot
- Large Pan
Ingredients
Hummus Ingredients
- 14 oz can chickpeas drained and liquid reserved
- 5 medium sun-dried tomatoes soaked
- 5 large fresh basil leaves
- 1 small garlic clove minced
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp water (or use the leftover tomato-infused water)
Pasta Ingredients
- 8 oz gluten-free noodles
- 3-4 tbsp low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1 ½ cups hummus
- 1 cup hot pasta water
Instructions
- If you use dry (not packed in oil) sun-dried tomatoes, you'll need to soak them in warm water in a small bowl for 30 minutes or until they're soft. Once the tomatoes are soft, remove them from the bowl but don't discard the water. (See the notes below for ways you can use the leftover tomato water.)
- Add the chickpeas, 5 sun-dried tomatoes, 5 large basil leaves, 1 small garlic clove, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 3 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tbsp water to a food processor. Blend on high until the hummus is smooth and creamy.
- In a large pan, saute the diced onion in 3-4 tbsp vegetable broth until the onions are soft and translucent. Add more broth if the pan gets too dry.
- While the onions are cooking, boil water in a large pot and cook the noodles. When the noodles are done cooking, carefully reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta water and drain the rest.
- Add the hummus, ¾ cup of the reserved pasta water (add more if necessary), and 4 big handfuls of fresh spinach to the pan with the onions. Mix it well to combine the hummus with the water to make the sauce. It will look like a lot of spinach but it will wilt and shrink down after a few minutes.
- Add the cooked noodles to the pan with the sauce and mix it all together so the sauce coats every noodle. If the sauce is too thick, add the last 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water to thin the sauce. Garnish with more fresh basil before serving.
Notes
- Don't discard the water that you soaked the tomatoes in, it's infused with flavor! You can use 1 tbsp of the tomato water instead of using 1 tbsp water in the hummus and then you can add the rest of the tomato water to the water in the pot to boil the noodles in.
- If you use dry sun-dried tomatoes, you need to soak them in warm water for 30 minutes so they'll be soft and easy to blend. If you use sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drain the excess oil before adding the tomatoes to the hummus mixture.
- Make sure to reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta water when you're boiling the noodles because you'll need it to thin the hummus sauce.
- Store the leftover pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days or you can freeze it for a future meal.
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