Spiced Lamb Hummus Bowl

Whenever I'm in a dinner rut, I love to whip up a hummus bowl. In this version, creamy hummus gets topped with spiced lamb, marinated rainbow carrots, sumac red onions and mint, then served with crispy pita chips. And if ground lamb isn't your jam, you can also make this with ground beef. It's packed with protein, fibre and veggies to keep you full and satisfied, plus it's a lot of fun to eat — it's basically a big bowl of loaded dip!

Equipment

Everything you need to make my spiced lamb hummus bowl at home: 

• chef's knife
• cutting board
• mandoline
• medium bowl
• small bowl
• medium pan
• wooden spoon or spatula

Get the full ingredients list and instructions below!

Cooking Tips

1. Make your pita chips in the air fryer! It's faster and uses less oil than your conventional oven. But in a pinch, the oven will definitely get the job done. Just add the pita to a baking sheet, coat lightly in oil and bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. 
2. Choose your own pickle adventure! When I originally developed this recipe, I used marinated rainbow carrots for a colourful and pickle-packed bite to balance out the rich and creamy flavours of hummus and spiced lamb. That said, you can use whatever pickled vegetables you have on hand: beets, turnips and cabbage would all work — hell, even a nice dill pickle will do! More recently, I made another version with roasted beets and feta, instead of pickles, and that was also delicious. Moral of the story is: the hummus bowl is a blank canvas for flavour — play around and don't be afraid to use what you already have. Here's a quick recipe for the marinated carrots, if you're interested: Using a mandolin, thinly slice 3-4 large rainbow carrots into a medium bowl. Cover with juice of ½ lemon, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, ½ tablespoon honey and ½ teaspoon salt. Toss with your hands and set aside until ready to eat!
3. Get as much browning on the lamb as possible! Hummus is very smooth, so to balance that smoothness on our palate, we need a little texture. That's where crispy, browned lamb comes into play. It will take a bit of extra time, but I promise it's totally worth the deep, rich caramelized flavour you'll get (on top of the aforementioned texture party!) The secret to browning is to use high heat and let the meat cook undisturbed, only occasionally stirring to avoid burning. If you notice the lamb is sticking to the pan and developing too much fond that looks like it could burn, turn down the heat and add a bit of water, then scrape that delicious flavour off the bottom, and let it finish cooking. 

Spiced Lamb Hummus Bowl

4.34 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• ½ red onion
• ½ teaspoon sumac
• 1 lemon
• ½ tablespoon honey
• 300 g hummus
• 400 g ground lamb or ground beef
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dry thyme
• 10-12 mint leaves
• 2-3 small, round pitas
• olive oil
• salt I'm using Diamond Crystal Kosher

Optional (for serving)

• your favourite pickled vegetables like cabbage, turnips or carrots
• feta
• roasted seasonal vegetables like beets, zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower

Method

 

1. Thinly slice ½ red onion and transfer to a small bowl. Cover with ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sumac, the juice of 1 lemon and ½ tablespoon honey. Toss until evenly coated, then set aside.
2. Heat 3 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Break 400g ground lamb into large pieces and place in the hot pan, leaving a little space between each. Let cook undisturbed until golden brown. Using a spatula, break the lamb into smaller pieces and season with 2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder and 1 teaspoon dry thyme. Mix to incorporate, then continue cooking on medium-high heat until dark brown and crispy, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
3. Cut 2-3 round pitas into bite-sized triangle pieces. Transfer to the air fryer, cover in oil (about 1 tbsp) and toss to coat. Cook at 375°F for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. If you don't have an air fryer, bake in the oven at 375°F until golden brown and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.
4. By now the lamb should be deeply browned and caramelized. Remove from heat and set aside. Assemble your bowls with a generous scoop of hummus, topped with spiced lamb, sumac red onions and mint leaves. Serve with your favourite pickled things, or some roasted vegetables and feta.