Name: Tara Duggan's Chard Stalk Hummus
Yield: Makes 1 cup
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: Chard stalks from 1 pound whole chard, trimmed and chopped; 1 whole clove garlic, peeled; 1/4 cup tahini; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Photo by Alpha Smoot

Test Kitchen-Approved

Author Notes

An ingredient you've been throwing away is actually the key to smoother hummus. Technically, because there are no chickpeas, this is only a close cousin, but it has all the star players that make hummus irresistible—bright lemon on smoky tahini on fiery garlic on tides of olive oil, together, shimmying. Only the medium is different. Adapted slightly from Root to Stalk Cooking (Ten Speed Press, 2013). —Genius Recipes

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

Chard stalks from 1 pound whole chard, trimmed and chopped
1 whole clove garlic, peeled
¹/₄ cup tahini
¹/₄ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¹/₂ teaspoon kosher salt

In This Recipe

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the stalks until very tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Drain.
Place the garlic in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add the chard stalks and purée, then add the remaining ingredients and process until very smooth.
Transfer to a shallow bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and serve at room temperature. The hummus also can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature before serving.

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20 Reviews

Alexa M. August 8, 2018

What are the approximate cups or weight of the stalks, please?

Tara D. August 27, 2018

Hi there Alexa, it may be too late for this answer, but I'd say approximately 2 cups chopped. I'll try to weigh them next time I make it.

Barbara July 18, 2018

I’d love to know if any readers could figure out the carb comparison with a real hummus. Or tell me where to find the carbs in leaf stalks.

Cara November 12, 2017

Wonderful! Thank you for this recipe. My husband grew about 10 pounds of chard and I wasn’t sure what to do with the stalks. I made 4 batches of this recipe. I’m freezing a couple of the batches so we will see if they reconstitute well ;p I have served it to friends and family and they have all enjoyed it. I will be using this recipe often when we have chard stems from the garden!!

Sue July 22, 2017

Contrary to the recommendations on here I made this with rainbow chard stalks and it came out a very light pink, reminding me slightly of taramasalata. In fact you could bill this as a vegan tarama I think. Be that as it may, we all found it delicious. I can imagine the outcome varies with the tahini used. We used a mild Israeli brand I particularly like. I can imagine it could be quite bitter with the wrong tahini. Anyhow, a great alternative dip!

BarnOwlBaker August 28, 2016

I made this yesterday and will make it again. It is light, creamy, and delicious! I agree with others that it is (aesthetically) important to only use chard stalks that are light in color, yellow, white, green. Mine came out a pale green in color and tastes delicious! Thanks for the great idea, Tara!

Tara D. April 19, 2016

absolutely. bonus points for using beet tops

Ari D. April 18, 2016

Could I use substitute beet stalks for chard stalks?

Jared S. April 11, 2016

Great inventive recipe, GREAT!

Tara D. January 20, 2016

Thanks for trying this recipe! It definitely should be "hummus" in quotes as the intro reads, for a more general American audience that isn't familiar with the vast array of Mediterranean salads that are similar to hummus in their basic composition (other than chickpeas) but use all kinds of different vegetables, to encourage people to be creative with leftovers-- ie eggplant, turnips, you have it.

Cindy W. January 16, 2016

Made this tonight. We are not impressed at all.
Hoping it improves in the fridge overnight, or we'll consider just tossing it out.
Very disappointed!

Cindy W. January 20, 2016

This did improve somewhat with refrigerating overnight. We appreciated it moreso with some veggie chips on the 2nd try.

Gail H. January 3, 2016

Tastes great. Would recommend using green chard with white stems if you plan to serve this to other people. I used multi-colored chard and the end result is not an appetizing color.

Sarah September 14, 2015

Hummus or not this dip is great! And I have discovered it is the perfect place for many difficult vegetable off its. I have just made it today with chard stems, fennel stalks, celery tops & parsley. And I believe it is all the better for the additions :)

Sarah September 14, 2015

Hummus or not this dip is great! And I've discovered it is the perfect place to pop any number of tricky vegetable off cuts. I have just made it with a combo of chard stems, fennel stalks, celery tops and parsley stems. I believe it was all the better for the additions :)

sunkisst22 July 10, 2015

Made this today, it'seems delish.

Julia C. July 1, 2015

I love chard, this spread looks like a keeper except it's not him as. What about calling it Greek Chard Spread.

frog June 28, 2015

Hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea. If I order hummus in a restaurant and got this, I'd be appalled--no matter how good it is. Chard dip or betteré or something would be more honest.

Yokeko June 25, 2015

Hummus- misnomer here. Why call it something it is not?

fearlessem June 26, 2015

Agreed -- call it a chard stalk dip. But I'm intrigued -- will try it!