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Everyone adores a piping hot bowl of pasta, but preparing everything from scratch can sometimes seem like an overwhelming challenge amidst a hectic work week. For those seeking to eliminate all the hassle, one of 2025's standout recipes features a sauce crafted from a beloved ingredient that's rather unusual to combine with pasta.

Ryan Miller, better known as Foodiligence on social media, has been recreating the top 50 recipes from the New York Times' Most Popular of 2025. In a TikTok clip posted in March, Ryan showcased one of the year's most-loved pasta dishes. He said: "The New York Times ranked this recipe at number 28 and it uses one ingredient that, in my opinion, should never be in pasta. But why did it taste so good?"

The surprise component in this pasta dish is none other than the modest dip, hummus. Developed by chef and food writer Christian Reynoso, he uses hummus as an excellent vehicle for enhancing a pasta sauce with additional flavour, without requiring a traditional sauce, reports The Mirror.

Christian wrote: "Hummus, with its nutty and garlicky flavor, makes a fantastic dip, spread or even a salad dressing, but it can also be a great base for a pasta sauce. A little garlic and shallot sizzled in olive oil, along with fresh lemon juice and zest, help amp up premade hummus.

"With a little water, the hummus thins out enough to become a creamy sauce to fully coat noodles. You can add chickpeas, fresh herbs, za'atar or almost any roasted or fresh vegetable to this pasta and it will feel like your own." When preparing the recipe, Ryan said: "It still feels wrong, but five stars, 1,600 reviews don't lie."

To give the sauce a vibrant lift, add a generous helping of lemon zest and juice. Ryan's video has already racked up over 1.5 million views, along with 63,400 likes and 266 comments.

Maddy wrote: "I've been vegan for 20 years and putting hummus on pasta for a lonnnggg time, it's delicious."

Pi said: "Good to know my 'I don't have energy to cook, let's just put pasta and this leftover hummus together and call it a day, it got carbs and protein, I'm good' pasta dish is a new york wo wo dish ahhahaha."

Another user added: "Hummus as a pasta sauce is one of those things that sounds weird until you actually try it. The starchy water pulling everything together into that creamy consistency is the real move here."

Spot665 said: "Just tried this... OUTSTANDING! It will be in our dinner rotation from now on."

Here's how you can whip up a fantastic pasta dish without the hassle of making a sauce entirely from scratch.

Ingredients

• Salt
• 12 ounces (340g) spaghetti or bucatini
• ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
• Four garlic cloves, finely chopped
• One large shallot, finely chopped
• One cup (Approx 250g) plain hummus (store-bought or homemade)
• One lemon, zested and juiced
• Tender herb leaves of your choice, for serving
• Toasted sesame seeds, optional

Method

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, setting aside one cup of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta and putting it to one side.

Warm the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the garlic, shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and slightly softened, around two minutes, then stir in the hummus and half a cup of the reserved pasta water.

Stir until the hummus transforms into a looser, silkier sauce. Add the lemon zest and juice and stir through. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Tip the pasta into the pan, tossing thoroughly to coat, season with salt to taste, and toss once more, adding further reserved pasta water as required to achieve the desired consistency. Divide between serving bowls or plates.

Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, if preferred, and scatter over the herbs and sesame seeds, if desired. Serve straight away.