A hummus sandwich is the best healthy easy lunch idea! This plant based recipe takes just a few minutes to make with colorful crunchy veggies.

Looking for healthy and easy lunch ideas? Here’s a genius idea for busy days or even a lightening fast weeknight dinner. This Ultimate Hummus Sandwich! That’s right: hummus on a sandwich. You don’t have to reserve hummus just for carrots and pita triangles! It works as a sandwich spread that’s full of plant-based protein to keep you full for hours. Throw it on bread with all your favorite crunchy veggies and it’s a lunch or snack that couldn’t be easier to whip up. Here’s all you need to know about making the ultimate hummus sandwich of your dreams.

Ingredients for the ultimate hummus sandwich

This hummus sandwich make look like just a random assortment of vegetables with hummus, but it’s more than that! Here are some things to note about getting just the right combination of flavors and textures in a hummus sandwich:

Hummus: Use your favorite hummus brand, or even better: make a batch of homemade! The flavor varies widely in store-bought brands, so choose wisely.
Bread: We suggest using a crusty artisan bread. If you’re an overachiever, you can make homemade! Try our Sandwich Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, or No Knead Bread.
Pickled Vegetables: This is the flavor maker! Using pickled vegetables brings in the best nuance of tangy, sweet, and salty flavor.
Raw Vegetables: You can use any combo you like. We used cucumber, red onion and tomato.
Cheese: Add cheese for a vegetarian sandwich, or keep it as a vegan sandwich and omit!
Sprouts or Microgreens: The finishing touch! It’s optional, but adds nice texture.

The flavor maker: pickled vegetables!

Let’s talk about those pickled vegetables again! This is a trick we picked up from an Italian sandwich shop we visited in Traverse City this summer (Folgarelli’s: we highly recommend it!). One of their vegetable sandwiches had a garlic cheese spread, raw vegetables and the kicker: marinated vegetables from the Italian deli. They added such great tangy, nuanced flavor that it made the entire sandwich taste better!

You can use either mixed pickled vegetables or marinated vegetables. Try pickled cauliflower and carrots (or this recipe for homemade), or whatever you see that strikes your fancy. Or grab some marinated vegetables, jarred or from the antipasto bar if your grocery has one.

Tip: remove excess moisture!

The most important part of this hummus sandwich is this: make sure to remove all excess moisture from the vegetables before you start. Pickled vegetables have quite a bit of moisture (since they’re canned in brine), and so do veggies like tomatoes.

All you have to do is squeeze out the pickled veggies in a paper towel or clean dish towel before building your sandwich! You can also blot the tomatoes with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Step it up with homemade hummus

Step up your hummus sandwich by using homemade hummus! It’s the best way to bring in big flavor. Or, use one of our hummus flavors below to mix it up. Here are some ideas:

Homemade Hummus The classic! It’s quick and easy to make.
Hummus without Tahini Try this weirdly delicious spin with a secret ingredient in place of tahini.
Glowing Green Hummus This one has a beautiful green color and zingy flavor.
Creamy Beet Hummus Or blend it up with a beet for shocking pink!
Ginger Lime Hummus This one brings in the spicy flavor of ginger. So unique!
Instant Pot Hummus Got an Instant Pot? Make it with Instant Pot chickpeas.

Variations: more hummus sandwich toppings

It goes without saying that you can vary the toppings in this hummus sandwich to your liking! This is more of a concept than a recipe that has to be followed exactly. Here are some ideas on how to branch out and create thousands of hummus sandwich variations:

Avocado slices
Roasted red peppers (jarred)
Carrots
Roasted eggplant
Pickled red onions, pickled radishes or pickled jalapenos
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Coleslaw
Feta cheese or goat cheese crumbles
Fresh basil or dill

Make-ahead info for a hummus sandwich

Last thing to note about this hummus sandwich. It is best made right before eating! Because hummus has moisture and the veggies have moisture, it gets a little too soggy in the fridge. If you want to bring it to an office or outside of the house, here’s what to do:

Slice the veggies in advance and place in a container. Assemble the sandwich right before eating.
Try making the sandwich as a wrap. A wrap can better hold up to storage than bread.

This hummus sandwich recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and plant-based.