5 Ingredients or Fewer

Tara Duggan's Chard Stalk Hummus

by:
June 23, 2015
4.5 Stars
Tara Duggan's Chard Stalk Hummus
Photo by Alpha Smoot
  • Makes 1 cup
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

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
  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the stalks until very tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Drain.
  2. 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.
  3. 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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Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

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21 Reviews

MsG
MsG July 21, 2020
This was delicious. I mixed chard, kale and greens stalks.
 
Alexa M.
Alexa M. August 8, 2018
What are the approximate cups or weight of the stalks, please?
 
Tara D.
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
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
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
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
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.
Tara D. April 19, 2016
absolutely. bonus points for using beet tops
 
Ari D.
Ari D. April 18, 2016
Could I use substitute beet stalks for chard stalks?
 
Jared S.
Jared S. April 11, 2016
Great inventive recipe, GREAT!
 
Tara D.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
sunkisst22 July 10, 2015
Made this today, it'seems delish.
 
Julia C.
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
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
Yokeko June 25, 2015
Hummus- misnomer here. Why call it something it is not?
 
fearlessem
fearlessem June 26, 2015
Agreed -- call it a chard stalk dip. But I'm intrigued -- will try it!