Keto Friendly Hummus Recipe [Secret Ingredient: Cauliflower] (2024)

FAQs

Why are chickpeas not keto but hummus is? ›

Hummus is not keto friendly, as it contains chickpeas. Chickpeas, while high in protein, are still primarily made of carbs and one serving can easily knock someone out of ketosis! Luckily making your own low carb version is possible using a secret ingredient- cauliflower!

I recommend using black beans instead of chickpeas. They are similar to chickpeas in having a mild flavor, and you can prepare the hummus in exactly the same way. You can also make hummus with Cannellini beans or green peas. And if you want more flavor just add garlic and tahini sauce to the mix.

Cauliflower is the ultimate low carb vegetable — and yes, cauliflower is keto! One cup of florets has 5.3 grams of net carbs. You can replace so many starchy foods with cauliflower, especially potatoes, rice and savory baked goods. (See the other veggies you can eat on keto in the low carb food list.)

One cup of chickpeas has 45 grams of carbs.

Many people on the keto diet use alternatives to canned garbanzo beans like lupini beans or cauliflower in order to make low carb versions of dishes like hummus or Jennifer Aniston's famous salad.

Hummus can definitely be part of your keto diet, but just one or two servings can quickly expend a significant portion of your daily carb allotment. If you do eat hummus, you'll want to limit yourself to a small amount — perhaps just 2–4 tablespoons (30–60 grams), which provide 4–8 grams of net carbs.

Yes, tahini, made from sesame seeds, is keto-friendly. It's rich in healthy fats and low in carbs. Include it in your keto recipes for a nutty flavor. Learn more about tahini and other keto-friendly ingredients in my Quora Profile dedicated to Keto Nutrition.

Baking soda: Adding baking soda to the chickpeas helps make the legume easier to digest, softer, and makes them easy to peel. Don't skip this ingredient!

Perhaps the best substitute for chickpeas across the board is white beans. They have both a similar taste and look to chickpeas. Any white bean will do, including cannellini beans (white kidney beans), lima beans (butter beans), great northern beans, and navy beans.

Chickpeas - or garbanzo beans, they're the same thing - have a very thin skin on the outside. You can eat chickpeas with the skin on, but they're better without. When making hummus, removing the skins will make your hummus much creamier and rich.

Plenty of low-carb vegetable options include arugula, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. Those vegetables provide other benefits like reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases, containing antioxidants, and providing filling fiber.

Is broccoli or cauliflower better for keto? ›

But if you're on the keto diet, a very low-carb way of eating, cauliflower might be the smarter veg.

The ketogenic diet typically reduces total carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams a day—less than the amount found in a medium plain bagel—and can be as low as 20 grams a day. Generally, popular ketogenic resources suggest an average of 70-80% fat from total daily calories, 5-10% carbohydrate, and 10-20% protein.

Mushrooms, like oyster, shiitake, white button, and portobello, are naturally low in carbohydrates, making them a keto-friendly food. Enjoy them raw or cooked, in dishes like stir-fry, casseroles, scrambles, soups, or stuffed with low carb ingredients like cream cheese and bacon.

Peanut butter can definitely be part of a keto diet, but it's best to stick to plain options that are free of extra flavors and sweeteners. Almond butter is a good choice, too, and it's slightly lower in carbs. Additionally, you should be mindful of your portion size if you're trying to lose weight.

Highest and Lowest Carb Beans

Among these, black soybeans and green beans have the lowest carbs, potentially making them better for a keto diet. On the other hand, chickpeas, pinto beans, and navy beans have high carbs. You might want to avoid these if you're strictly following a keto diet.

Traditional hummus has a fat content 4-5 times that of chickpeas alone (Table 1), which may account for the improved blood glucose and insulin response, since dietary fat delays gastric emptying and therefore slows carbohydrate absorption [32,33].

Chickpeas are one of the main ingredients in hummus. Hummus is commonly made by mashing chickpeas into a paste with lemon juice, olive oil, and tahini (sesame paste.) While hummus is delicious, Biena Snacks focuses on making yummy, crunchy chickpeas you can eat straight from the bag.

Roasted chickpeas may be a favorite trendy snack, but they probably won't fit in a keto diet. One cup of cooked garbanzos has 12.5 g of fiber — but it also has more than 32 g of net carbs, according to USDA data. Hummus is a better choice, with under 3 g of net carbs per 2 tablespoons, per USDA data.

Unfortunately, Chickpeas are not typically considered to be keto friendly as they are relatively high in carbohydrates and have a moderate glycemic index. How many net carbs are in a serving of Chickpeas? A half-cup serving of Chickpeas contains approximately 16 grams of net carbohydrates.