Hummus topped with an aromatic lamb mince is a traditional dish from the Middle East. Whether as a starter or a small meal, this is a show stopper hummus. If you haven’t tried this before, you’re in for a real treat!
Hummus with Lamb (Hummus B’lahmeh) is one of my favourite Middle Eastern starters. The combination of creamy hummus with the fragrant lamb and the crunch of pine nuts scooped up with fresh pita bread will change your view forever about the humble hummus.
There are many versions of this dish across the Middle East. Yotam Ottolenghi’s version from Jerusalem: A Cookbook is made using lamb neck which is finely chopped and marinated in spices before frying. I’ve had this at restaurants scattered with pomegranates, with the addition of tabbouleh and with the mince spiced up with a hit of chilli.
My first memory of Hummus with Lamb was in a local joint in Sharjah, a lessor known city in the United Arab Emirates. During my days in “corporate”, I was often sent to Dubai where my company had an office. Though only an hour from Dubai, Sharjah couldn’t be more different. Dubai dazzles with it’s giant malls, towering shiny skyscrapers, 6 star hotels, islands shaped like palm trees, fancy restaurants, expensive clubs, and indoor ski slopes. Sharjah, the 3rd largest city in the UAE, doesn’t have the dazzle and glitz of Dubai and most expats living in Dubai have never set foot in Sharjah. But it’s got the culture – the real culture of the Emirates. No booze, no posh restaurants, no 6 star hotels. And of course, the best real local food – for pennies.
How to find the best food in a non touristy area? There’s no Lonely Planet guide for dining in Sharjah. There are no tourist maps. So I did what any determined foodie traveller does – I followed the lunchtime crowd to a buzzing backstreet local joint.
I couldn’t read the menu and I couldn’t converse with the waitresses, so I ordered by pointing at dishes another patron was eating. Have you ever done that? Embarrassing – sure. But somehow I doubt I’ll ever cross paths with anyone in that joint again. And boy was it worth it!
Hummus with Lamb is one of the dishes I pointed at that I got served up – I think it cost me all of $0.70. And after the first bite, I never looked at hummus the same again.
I truly hope you give this a try. Though I love Yotam Ottolenghi’s version, it is quite complicated to make so I’ve made a version which is very easy to make. But I use the same spice mix he uses for his recipe so the fragrance of the lamb is the same. Also, real hummus is made starting with dried chickpeas. I’ve made this simple by using canned chickpeas.
Love to hear what you think if you try it!
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Hummus with Lamb
Ingredients
Spiced Lamb
- 8 oz / 250 g ground lamb (mince)
- 1/2 brown onion , finely diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Hummus
- 15 oz / 400 g tin chickpeas , drained
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of ½ a small lemon
- 2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Garnishes
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
Instructions
- Place a pan over medium high heat. Add pine nuts and toast until golden. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside.
Lamb mince
- Return pan to stove (still on medium high heat) and add olive oil.
- Add onion and cook until translucent (2 minutes). Then turn up the heat to high, add mince, spices and salt. Cook, breaking up the mince into small pieces, until browned and cooked through (3 minutes).
- Set aside and cover so it doesn't dry out. Bring it to room temperature.
Hummus
- Place all ingredients except salt in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
- Taste before adding salt and pepper. Different brands of chick peas have different levels of saltiness. Also adjust acidity with lemon juice, if required.
- Use water to adjust the consistency to a tomato sauce (ketchup) like consistency. This consistency is "proper" hummus. In the Middle East, hummus is not the thick consistency that is typical of store bought hummus in Western countries, it is thinner.
Assemble
- Spread hummus on a plate, using the back of a spoon to create "swirls".
- Top with lamb mince, scatter over the pine nuts and sprinkle with parsley. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Serve with pita bread.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Hello, I noticed this hummus recipe is different to the one one without lamb. Was wondering if there was a particular reason for this? Or just different?
Fabulous-made it yesterday, loved it. So made it again today,
Absolutely delicious and really easy to make. I have made this with Beyond mince too and it’s fantastic. Vegetarians/vegans will love it and meat eaters will too. Thanks Nagi, this an amazing recipe!
Thanks for that feedback Vesna! N x
I made this tonight with the chickpea rice pilaf – delicious. I loved how quick this combo was. I’ll be adding this to our regular meal rotation. Thanks again Nagi!
It was so easy to make and delicious! Will be making this again real soon
I served it with an Israeli salad, yummo
Totally love this recipe and its simplicity. I did make it with a few variations…like a little more chilli for the mince and a dash of cummin in the hummus. But it was so easy to put together. The intention was entree but ended up having it as a main, lucky it was just the two of us 😜
Delish!
Wahoo, that’s awesome to hear Paula! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can this be made with beef mince? My wife doesn’t like lamb, unfortunately
Have been trying to find real hummus in Aus since returning from living in Sharjah for a few years. Thank you for perfecting this.
I love this Emma! N x
Oh Nagi! This was five stars. Its been hard to find meat here just lately but we lucked into some ground lamb and thought this was a perfect way to stretch it out. It was amazing! Thank you so much!
Oh Nagi! This was just amazing. Its been hard to find meat here just lately but we lucked into some ground lamb and found this was a perfect way to stretch it out. It was perfect! Thank you so much!
Hi Nagi! Just made this for my potluck (I was in charge of appies) and this was PHENOMENAL!!! Had it with warm pita and a nice white wine (the love finca las moras chardonnay was good with it) and it was a great starter. Added some garam masala to the spice mix too for that extra something, and since I had some white wine vinegar/lemon juice/olive oil/parsley sauce left from a different dish I just drizzled a couple of teaspoons onto the top of the lamb and hummus 😂Worked out well! Thanks for another great dish
Sounds perfect Shaniya!! N x
Hi Nagi
Love the blog just like everyone else.
You said that dried chicken peas work fine but is it just a straight swap. Ie 80g for 80g or is there some sort of conversion factor involved.
And does this work for swapping things like dried black beans for canned.
Thanks
I’m cooking this tonight for tea, I made the hummus (yum) this morning and it’s in the fridge, no cumin in the pantry but I have harrisa, and reading the comments it will be ok to use. I might have tea early tonight!!
It will be great Tracy! Enjoy – N x
I made this for my family and it was a big thumbs up from us all. As my son is a vegan I also made a version for him – I used your spice mix for lamb, added a little extra oil and a tablespoon of soy sauce. Mix this together and then crumble in some extra firm tofu. Mix it all together then spread the tofu out onto a baking sheet and bake at 180c for about 25 minutes, turning once or twice. You end up with little tofu crumbles that taste the same as the lamb (well similar!). Then stir in the fried onion. Voila! veganised ‘lamb’ with hummus
Sounds great Mary!!
Hi Nagi, I’ve been quietly enjoying reading and cooking your recipes for 2-3 years- thank you!
Your houmous looks very smooth. It tends to be grainy when I make it (like shopbought :-l) unless I peel the cooked chickpeas, which is no fun…
What are your thoughts on the peeling requirement?
Hmm, my processor is cheap, maybe time to invest in a big monster one. Thank u 🙂
Hi Dom, I don’t bother to be honest, I can’t justify the time peeling! It could also be the food processor that you’re using. I personally don’t my hummus with a little texture to it ☺️
Loved it.great lunch tweeked it with lemon juice and pomegranate seeds. Planning it when friends and family visit. Thank you
Wahoo, great!
This sounds wonderful. Could you make the lamb mix the day before or do you think it would be too dry?
It works great! Lamb is a nice juicy meat so just reheat in the microwave 🙂 N x
This was delicious, but I want to add that the original recipe added some additional ingredients to the lamb, which would have totally changed the taste. His recipe adds chopped canned tomatoes and a sizable amount of harissa among other things. I was making yours from my tablet. Yet I also found the other recipe in my collection. Not realizing they were different, I made my own harissa. Looking at my tablet, I couldn’t figure out why I made the harissa! I’m not sure why you omitted the other ingredients unless it was for publishing reasons.
Hi Alene! Yes you are correct, this is a simpler version inspired by Yotam 🙂 N x
Now that I have a small container with homemade harissa, ground chilis and all, I’m going to try the original recipe. If it’s too much work, then your version wins! I thought it was delicious, and my husband did too.
Thank you!!
I loved it but unfortunately my twelve year old daughter gave it the thumbs down . She said it was all chickpea and no tahini . 🙄
🤣