Nigella Lawson Beetroot And Chickpea Dip

Nigella Lawson’s beetroot and chickpea dip is a vividly pink dip of home-roasted beetroot blitzed with chickpeas, garlic, tahini and lemon. It’s a five-ingredient, no-cook-once-the-beets-are-roasted dip that makes about 900ml.

In Cook, Eat, Repeat (2020) she calls herself a dips-with-drinks devotee, and this is a new regular in her stable. The beetroot turns the chickpeas a ridiculously uplifting pink, and its earthy sweetness is smokily tempered by the tahini, while helping create a soft, smooth texture for dipping.

The step Nigella insists on is roasting the beetroot yourself. Ready-cooked beetroot won’t do here, she says, and while it’s easy, it takes longer than you expect. That slow roast is what gives the sweet, mellow, deeply pink base the dip is built on.

Nigella Lawson Beetroot And Chickpea Dip

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: SidesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8-10

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

3

hours 

Calories

90

kcal

Total time

3

hours 

10

minutes

Nigella’s vibrant pink dip from Cook, Eat, Repeat: home-roasted beetroot blitzed with soft jarred chickpeas, garlic, tahini and lemon, smoothed with a few ice cubes. Vegan, makes about 900ml.

Ingredients

• 225 to 250g raw beetroot

• 1 x 700g jar of chickpeas (or 300g dried chickpeas, soaked, cooked and cooled)

• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic

• 2 teaspoons Maldon sea salt flakes (or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt)

• 2 x 15ml tablespoons tahini

• 2 to 3 lemons

• a few ice cubes (for blending)

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Directions

• Roast the beetroot:Heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F. Cut the stems and tails off the beetroot, wrap each loosely but tightly sealed in foil, and roast for about 2 hours, up to 3. Pierce with a knife to check it’s tender, then unwrap and cool
• Load the processor:Peel and break the beetroot into pieces and drop into a food processor. Tip in the chickpeas and all their gloop from the jar, which makes the dip creamy. If using home-cooked chickpeas, add a couple of tablespoons of their cooking liquid.
• Add the flavour:Bruise 2 garlic cloves with the flat of a knife, peel and add. Add the salt, tahini and 4 tablespoons (60ml) of lemon juice.
• Blitz smooth:Process patiently until well mixed, scrape down, add a couple of ice cubes, and blitz again until super-smooth and radiantly pink. Add another ice cube or two and keep going if it needs it.
• Season and serve:Taste and add more lemon, garlic or salt as needed, blitzing again, then scrape into a bowl.

Notes

• (which chickpeas): Nigella uses soft, velvety Spanish jarred chickpeas, gloop and all, as canned ones can have a “resistant pebbliness” that won’t blitz smooth. Dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked, are the most economical route, and a slow cooker or Instant Pot means you needn’t even soak them. Keep some cooking liquid for blending.
• (the tahini): Use a more fluid, less claggy proper Middle Eastern tahini for the best texture.
• (serve it with): Nigella brings it out for dips-with-drinks with baby carrots, radishes or tortilla chips, and loves it paired with her Coriander and Jalapeño Salsa, the sharp green against the creamy pink. It’s also a fine hummus-style spread on bread or toast with avocado wedges, lime, sea salt and dill, or splodged over dry-fried halloumi on dressed rocket with capers and mint for a light lunch.
• (make ahead): Roast the beetroot up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate until needed.
• (store): Refrigerate leftovers, covered, for up to 3 days.
• (freeze): Freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month; defrost overnight in the fridge and use within 24 hours. If it separates on defrosting, blitz again in the food processor.

FAQs

Why do I have to roast the beetroot myself?

Nigella is firm on this: she won’t recommend ready-cooked beetroot here, and it’s worth heeding. Roasting whole beetroot wrapped in foil for a couple of hours concentrates its earthy sweetness and gives a soft, mellow flesh, where vacuum-packed cooked beetroot is often watery, vinegary or firm, which would dull the dip.

It’s genuinely easy, just wrap, roast and wait, but it takes longer than you’d think, up to 3 hours, so start it well ahead. Check it’s tender by piercing with a knife before you unwrap it. You can roast it up to two days in advance and keep it in the fridge, which makes the dip itself a five-minute job.

Which chickpeas give the smoothest dip?

Soft chickpeas are the secret to a velvety dip. Nigella favours the Spanish chickpeas that come in jars, using all the thick “gloop” they sit in, since that liquid is what makes the dip so creamy. They’re pricier than canned but blitz beautifully smooth.

Canned chickpeas can have a stubborn pebbliness that never quite purées, so they’re second best here. The most economical route is to soak and cook 300g of dried chickpeas yourself, keeping some cooking water to loosen the blend, and a slow cooker or Instant Pot means you can skip the soaking. This is a softer, sweeter cousin of Nigella’s caramelized garlic hummus.

Why add ice cubes when blending?

It sounds odd, but the ice cubes are what lift the dip from thick paste to light, silky and super-smooth. As they blitz in, the ice loosens and aerates the mixture, giving it that soft, whipped texture that’s perfect for scooping, and it helps the colour turn improbably bright.

Add a couple to start, blitz until smooth, then add another one or two and keep going if you want it even lighter. Don’t worry about them watering it down, as they melt into the blend and are part of how the texture comes together. The dip does thicken a little on standing, so a loose blend is right.

What tahini should I use, and how do I balance the flavours?

Nigella recommends a proper Middle Eastern tahini, the more fluid, pourable kind rather than a thick, claggy one, which blends in more smoothly and gives a better nutty depth. Its gentle bitterness is what smokily tempers the sweet beetroot.

Season and taste as you go, since beetroot varies in sweetness. Start with the 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, then add more lemon, garlic or salt to taste and blitz again. You want a balance of earthy-sweet beetroot, nutty tahini, sharp lemon and savoury garlic, so keep tasting until it sings.

What do I serve it with?

Nigella brings it out for drinks with baby carrots, radishes and tortilla chips, and especially loves it paired with a coriander and jalapeño salsa, the sharp green against the creamy pink. That green-and-pink combination is one to recreate on any mezze table.

It’s more than a dip, too. Spread it thickly on toast with avocado, lime, sea salt and dill, or splodge it over dry-fried halloumi on peppery rocket with capers and mint for a light lunch. It sits happily on a spread alongside Nigella’s halloumi with chilli or her feta with chilli style grazing plates.

Can I make it ahead, store or freeze it?

It’s a great make-ahead. Beyond roasting the beetroot up to two days early, the finished dip keeps covered in the fridge for up to 3 days, and many find the flavour deepens overnight. Give it a stir before serving, as it firms up as it sits.

It also freezes for up to a month in an airtight container. Defrost it overnight in the fridge and use within 24 hours, and if it splits or separates on defrosting, just blitz it again in the food processor to bring it back to smooth. For more of Nigella’s easy vegetarian dishes, there’s the Nigella Lawson recipes page.