I love this hummus recipe. Yes, we believe that homemade hummus is superior to store-bought, and there are a few easy steps you may take to achieve that goal. Continue Reading for a Quick and Simple Hummus Recipe.
Our #1 Secret for Smooth Hummus
In a food processor, combine the ingredients in the order listed below for the smoothest, most delicious hummus. It really is that simple. Combine the tahini and lemon juice in a food processor and run it on high for one minute, or until it forms a smooth paste. Watch our video and see how whipped and creamy they get.
How to Make Smooth Hummus From Scratch
In the past, one of us would almost certainly add a tub of hummus to our shopping basket whenever we went to the supermarket. That is until we discovered this incredibly easy hummus recipe, which we believe is superior to anything we could buy. Plus, it’s vegan and produced from all-natural ingredients.
We’ve probably swapped dozens of different dip recipes throughout the years. You may also like our roasted red pepper hummus, our black bean dip, our roasted eggplant dip (baba ganoush), or this creamy cheesy bean dip.
What is Hummus?
Let’s define hummus to make sure everyone’s on the same page. The combination of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, and spices creates a flavorful spread or dip known as hummus. It’s a staple food in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions. You can buy them already made at the supermarket, but we recommend making your own. Let me demonstrate!
Hummus Ingredients
Hummus is made using a foundation of chickpeas or garbanzo beans. When the beans are cooked until mushy, they turn into a paste. Our recipe calls for chickpeas, and either canned or cooked ones would do. I use both equally, however, I do like the taste of chickpeas that have been cooked at home. Here is how I prepare dry chickpeas.
Ground sesame seeds form the paste known as tahini. The result is a hummus with a phenomenal flavor. Tahini may be purchased in stores or made at home. Handmade tahini is used to produce a really homemade hummus. It’s simple to create on your own. A video demonstration of our tahini recipe follows. A month in the fridge is all it needs to stay fresh. Two batches of hummus may be made using the tahini we provide.
There are two schools of thought in the hummus-eating community on the use of tahini in hummus preparation. Some people can’t get enough of tahini’s sour, pungent taste, while others can’t stand it. We like it anyway, but when we want hummus that can compete with the supermarket brands, we add tahini. Those who like their hummus without tahini may simply omit it from the recipe. Even without it, a chickpea purée is tasty. A little extra olive oil, that’s all you need. Creamy natural peanut butter is another alternative.
When making hummus, it’s essential to use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice from a bottle doesn’t compare in flavor.
The flavor is amplified by the addition of fresh garlic. Just one little clove does the trick for me. Roasted garlic hummus is another option worth exploring. In this picture, you can see exactly how we roast the garlic.
The addition of ground cumin and salt greatly improves the dish’s flavor.
The use of olive oil gives the hummus a rich, velvety consistency. When we serve the hummus, we like to add a little drizzle on top to make it look pretty. When I make hummus, I love to use olive oil with a fruity, mild flavor.
You can customize your hummus by adding additional spices and ingredients in addition to the ones listed above. For red pepper hummus, I like to add roasted red peppers, but olives, pine nuts, and additional spices are also delicious additions.
So, What’s the Secret to Making the Best Hummus?
Putting things in your food processor in the right order is crucial, as I mentioned up top. It really is that simple. We begin by mixing tahini and lemon juice. Start the food processor and let it run for a minute or so before adding any additional ingredients.
View the images down below! The first one shows tahini being added to a squeaky-fresh food processor. The next picture shows the paste that results after one minute of processing in a food processor, during which time it was whirred, whipped, and creamed. Compared to the original, this is much thicker and whiter.
From here on out, you’re free to add whatever ingredients you choose; just be sure to step aside and give the food processor a minute to work after introducing each new ingredient.
The last ingredient for light, airy, whipped hummus is cold water (or aquafaba, which will be detailed further down). When we have all the ingredients added and processed into a smooth paste, I like to add a little more liquid while the processor is still running. The addition of liquid (and more processing time) transforms the rather smooth mixture into a fluffy, delicious dip.
Aquafaba: what exactly is it? The liquid in a can of chickpeas, or the liquid remaining after boiling dry chickpeas, is called aquafaba. A wide range of applications exists for this starchy fluid (see our deep dive into aquafaba here). When creating hummus, the last step is to add a liquid. The water we use in the video is optional; aquafaba works just as well.
Aquafaba, when whipped, becomes airy and fluffy, making it an excellent ingredient for producing creamy hummus. However, I do want to warn you about something. First, we must sample the aquafaba. The chickpea cooking liquid may be salty if you used salt when cooking the chickpeas or if you chose a particularly salty kind of canned chickpeas. It’s OK, but you shouldn’t add any salt to the hummus until after you’ve mixed in the aquafaba. This will help you avoid adding too much salt.
Do You Need to Peel the Chickpeas?
The skins of the chickpeas should be removed for the smoothest hummus. Successful completion is now in sight. It takes roughly ten minutes to peel the skins off of one can of chickpeas. We tested our hummus recipe using both skinless and canned chickpeas, even though we didn’t want to spend additional time peeling them.
The chickpeas in the hummus on the left-hand side of the picture below were skinless. The canned chickpeas were responsible for the good.
Even in this grainy photo, it’s clear that the skinless chickpeas resulted in a silkier hummus. However, we didn’t think the change was significant enough to spend ten minutes peeling chickpeas.
Did you know that dry chickpeas can be cooked in a snap? This hummus recipe calls for chickpeas, which may be purchased canned or cooked at home. This short guide will show you the basics of cooking dry chickpeas. We’ve provided three options, including a slow cooker approach.
What Our Readers Are Saying
If you don’t believe that our recipe helps you achieve perfect hummus at home, take a look at what our readers are saying about the recipe! More reviews are in the comments section below.
“What a great recipe! My hummus turned out just perfect!” – Kelsey
“This is the best hummus recipe I have ever used.” – Denise
“This recipe is exactly what it promises to be, better than store-bought. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best hummus I’ve had and who would have thought it’d be so easy to make.” – Gabriella
“I have made hummus forever and never, ever had this wonderful, creamy and delicious result. Thanks so much!” -Cindy
Easy Hummus Recipe (Better Than Store-Bought)
- PREP 10mins
- TOTAL 10mins
Homemade hummus is very easy to make and it tastes much better than anything you can buy at the store. If you don’t have any tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds, you can try making it yourself (see our Easy Homemade Tahini Recipe) or leave it out. A chickpea purée without it is still quite delicious. Just add more olive oil. We love serving, therefore, this with flatbread — here’s our easy flatbread recipe from scratch.
Makes 6 servings or about 1 1/2 cups
YOU WILL NEED
- 1 (15-ounce) can of chickpeas or 1 ½ cups (250 grams) of cooked chickpeas
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice, 1 large lemon
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini, see our homemade tahini recipe
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt to taste
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) water or aquafaba, see notes
- Dash ground paprika or sumac, for serving
DIRECTIONS
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.
- Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended. Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1 to 2 minutes.
- Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until you reach the perfect consistency.
- Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of paprika. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week.
TIPS
- How to Cook Chickpeas: You can use canned or home-cooked chickpeas for this recipe. To see how we cook dried chickpeas, see our simple tutorial here. We have included three methods including how to do it in a slow cooker.
- If you love a strong garlic flavor in hummus, you might want to increase the garlic by a clove or you can add roasted garlic — here’s how we roast garlic.
- Aquafaba is the starchy liquid in a can of beans (or the bean cooking liquid). You can use this instead of water in the last step of the recipe. Before using, taste the liquid to see how salty it is. If it is salty, consider holding some of the salt called for in the ingredient list back, and then season to taste after adding the aquafaba.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.
NUTRITION PER SERVING: Serving Size 1/4 cup / Calories 190 / Protein 6 g / Carbohydrate 18 g / Dietary Fiber 5 g / Total Sugars 3 g / Total Fat 11 g / Saturated Fat 2 g / Cholesterol 0 mg
