Do you want to make a great hummus? So do I! Be sure to check out my tips for how to make the best hummus below.
Short for Hummus bi Tahini (chickpeas with sesame paste), hummus is one of many spellings using Roman letters to reproduce the sound from Arabic: hommus, houmous, humus…
Nothing is better than the texture and taste of homemade flatbread with hummus, one of the easiest and quickest kinds of bread to make. Here are two great recipes to try: Bazlama and Greek Pita.
What is hummus made of?
cooked chickpeas
Traditional hummus is naturally dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan since it’s made of dairy-free, gluten-free and plant-based ingredients.
Classic hummus has just a few ingredients, and the most important one is: hummus, which means chickpeas in Arabic. Hummus without chickpeas isn’t hummus!
Chickpeas are blended with either a little of their own cooking water or plain water, tahini (sesame paste), freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt… Garlic can be both a regional and personal choice. (I like it!)
Then there’s the garnish and overall enjoyment enhancer: olive oil. And optionally, sumac (a tangy crushed berry powder) is sprinkled on top. See the recipe below for more garnishing ideas.
Variation: topped with chopped preserved lemon.
What does hummus taste like?
The combination of traditional ingredients in hummus provides a well-rounded flavor and velvety texture.
Chickpeas, with their earthy, slightly nutty flavor, and tahini, a sesame seed paste, naturally contribute to its nutty taste. Lemon juice adds a vibrant tang, and garlic adds a note of pungency.
The finishing touch, olive oil, traditionally poured into a center well in the dip before serving, rounds both the taste and texture out with added richness and flavor.
Why make your own hummus?
Because homemade hummus is so incredibly simple to make, you can easily make a superior hummus to store-bought. And get it just how you like it.
Qualities of the best hummus
The best hummus is balanced in both taste and texture — rich yet tart, smooth and creamy, lightish yet with enough body to carve out valleys, or a well, to hold the olive oil and any optional garnish.
Helpful tips to make great hummus
Before making the recipe, here are some tips to help you master the ingredients and create your favorite hummus.
- Supersoft chickpeas – The softer the better. If using dried chickpeas, cook them until easily crushed when you squeeze them. This may take over 2 hours.
Canned vs Home-cooked Chickpeas (click to expand)
Which is best: canned or home-cooked chickpeas? Is there a big difference in the taste of the hummus dip? I’ve found that other things actually influence the taste more. This became clear when testing chickpeas cooked with salt vs baking soda, for speed of cooking and softness. The results resoundingly confirmed that:
- Salt slows down cooking, keeps the chickpeas harder and makes the final hummus thicker less smooth. (Chickpea color: slightly pinkish, like my cans of chickpeas, which list salt as the only other ingredient).
- Chickpeas cooked in baking soda cook faster and softer, and make smoother, lighter textured hummus. (Chickpea color: golden)
I was surprised to find what a big a difference in flavor it made, though. The hummus made with the chickpeas cooked in salt (as well as canned chickpeas in salt) had a much stronger chickpea or bean flavor than hummus with chickpeas cooked in baking soda.
So, salt vs baking soda seems to really affect the hummus more than canned vs home-boiled chickpeas, both in flavor and texture. Now it’s a question of convenience.
Obviously canned chickpeas are very convenient, allowing us to quickly make fresh hummus to build a meal around. And if that is the stronger factor, go with canned. However, you can always pre-boil chickpeas (with baking soda to speed up the cooking) to freeze for convenience. I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to keep both kinds around.
Here are the results of our extensive home taste tests. Both canned and home-boiled chickpeas can turn out great hummus.
- 1st place – home-cooked with baking soda – for both texture and flavor.
- 2nd place – canned.
- Last Place – home- cooked with salt. We find the flavor too beany, the color less attractive and the texture the least pleasing.
- Baking Soda – With dried chickpeas, baking soda speeds up the cooking time and results in softer chickpeas. Canned chickpeas can be made softer by cooking them in baking soda as well.
- The Skins – You can take the skins off to make hummus smoother and creamier, but with powerful modern blending tools, this isn’t as needed as it once was. It’s a question of whether you want to take the time. I never do except for with a few obvious ones.
(Note: you or someone you love may find it more digestible without the skins, even when pureed. In that case, it would definitely be worth the extra step.)
To remove the skins: rub the chickpeas gently against each other, then sort off the skins, or swirl the chickpeas in cold water until the skins float to the surface.
- The Aquafaba – bean (faba) water (aqua) – Bean cooking water has interesting properties, ones that can affect texture and taste.
More on the secrets of aquafaba + photo (click to expand)
Acquafaba (bean-water) Some people use the chickpea cooking water, some people say to rinse it off well. Why? This is what I gather.
The cooking water has flavor, which, if added to the hummus, gives it a stronger bean flavor. Throwing it out and replacing it with neutral tasting water might appeal to you.
Another factor to keep in mind is if it’s from the can or from freshly cooked chickpeas. The canned water can taste stronger and have different ingredients than what you add. It may have lots of salt, while yours has none. (Cooking chickpeas in salt brings out a beanier taste.)
Then there are the properties of aquafaba. The cold cooking water from chickpeas whips up like meringue, albeit on a more temporary basis (before the foam separates from the liquid). It make sense that those properties could affect the texture of hummus too.
You can even whip some aquafaba up like egg whites and fold them into hummus before serving, to create an airy texture. It won’t last long though, before separating, without a powerful stabilizer, so it’s a whip and eat kind of situation. (Whipping it with cream of tartar can help for about an hour, note: salt helps and baking soda hinders aquafaba’s stability.)
- Water – You can use tepid water, or you may prefer the texture when using cold water, since it can encourage the olive oil to become more solid. Some people use ice, but note that the extra blending needed may cause extra heat from the machine that could defeat some of the purpose.
- Good tahini – Use a tahini you like the taste of. The quality of the sesame seeds, whether they are hulled or not, how it’s toasted, how it’s pressed and so on, all affect flavor! And like peanut butter or any other butter, it can go rancid with age, heat, light…
More tahini means creamier hummus with more sesame flavor. If you’d like to experiment, I recommend adding 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Lemon Juice – The best hummus has a fresh lemon juice tang in the amount you like. Taste and adjust – you may want twice as much!
- Salt – Adjust until it tastes just right for you! We all have different taste receptors.
- Garlic – For a milder kick: quickly pickle the crushed or blended garlic in the acidic lemon juice for 5 to 10 minutes before adding it to the hummus.
Can I make hummus without garlic? Sure. It’s really a personal preference. - Taste – Go with your taste. Once you have down the classic recipe, you may want to go heavier on the tahini or tangier with more lemon…
- Texture – Same with the texture. In general, you want it just stiff enough to sculpt a well (or moat, swirls, valleys…) in the hummus to hold the olive oil. You also want it thick enough to scoop up with bread. At times, though, you may want to adjust the thickness by adding more or less liquid.
Note on Texture: The absolute smoothest hummus is not necessarily the best. It’s kind of like with guacamole: some like it super smooth and whipped, others prefer it chunky. I’ve always enjoyed the texture of traditional hummus, smooth but not obsessively so. (see notes on aquafaba above if a light airy texture is your thing.)
- The Oil – Don’t leave out the finishing touch: the olive oil! It may seem like just a garnish drizzled on top, but olive oil is the final touch that completes the dip, contributing to its overall flavor and richness.
The real secret of great hummus? Let’s not forget making it with love! There are a lot of tips, but putting a little love into it, even when we’re busy, makes everything more delicious.
Kitchen tools
I most often use a stick blender for making hummus for 4 to 6 servings. I also use the food processor a lot. If you only have a blender, you’re fine too.
Storage FAQ
Does hummus go bad?
Yes, an off, sour or unpleasant smell, or discoloring, are clues it’s gone bad. When in doubt, throw it out.
Does hummus need to be refrigerated?
Yes, it can spoil if left at room temperature for an extended period. A good guideline of when to put it in the fridge is to follow the FDA’s 2 hour rule, or 1 hour when the ambient temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).
How long does homemade hummus last?
When stored properly in an airtight container in the refrigerator, homemade hummus can stay well for around 3 to 5 days.
Can you freeze hummus?
Sure. With a possible change in taste and texture, hummus can otherwise stay well in the freezer kept in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 months. Freeze it while still fresh. Let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Stir it well to refresh its texture before serving.
Is hummus healthy?
You bet! I love it when delicious food is naturally healthy. Not trying to be, just is. Hummus just is. While we focus on enjoyment, it nourishes. Loaded with fiber, its excellent ability to satisfy hunger is another big reason to love it. And it’s pretty healthy on the pocket book too!
Nutrition Info: Click to Expand
Recipe
While there are lots of options for toppings and what to eat with hummus, for hummus itself, it’s hard to beat the classic time-proven recipe. Hummus is a huge part of the eastern Mediterranean diet. And there is good reason why they haven’t messed with it much through the years! So we stick with the classic recipe that focuses on mastering the balance of nutty richness, tart acidity and texture.
I learned how to make classic hummus from a Lebanese friend many years ago when it was always served with just good olive oil poured into a well in the center of the dip, alongside pieces of ripped pita bread. Enjoy!
Tools
- immersion blender, food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 (15oz) can chickpeas (or ½ cup (100g) dried chickpeas or 1½ cups (225g) drained canned or cooked chickpeas), a few reserved for garnish
- ¼ tsp baking soda (optional) for cooking dried chickpeas, plus a pinch for soaking
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 Tbsp tahini, stirred well (for extra creamy, add 1 Tbsp)
- 4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 to 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp sumac (optional for garnish, see other ideas in notes)
Instructions
If using canned chickpeas (see notes)
- Drain the chickpeas, reserving half of the liquid (or for milder chickpea flavor, strain the chickpeas, discarding the liquid, and rinse). Proceed to blend.
If using dried chickpeas (see notes)
- Soak the chickpeas overnight with a pinch of baking soda in enough water to cover the chickpeas by 2" (5cm), so they remain submerged as they expand.
- Cook: Drain and transfer to a pot. Cover the chickpeas with fresh water about 2" (5cm) above the chickpeas, add the baking soda and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 1½ to 2 hours, or until they can be easily crushed between your fingers. Drain the chickpeas, reserving a cup of the cooking water.
Blend
- In a bowl (if using an immersion blender), food processor or blender, combine the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt and 3 Tablespoons of the reserved liquid or water.
- Process at high speed until it reaches the smoothness of a thick paste, about 2 to 3 minutes. For a smoother texture, continue blending for 2 to 3 more minutes. Taste for salt and lemon juice, and adjust to your liking. If too thick, add 1 Tablespoon at a time of the reserved chickpea liquid or water, until desired consistency. (Note that hummus becomes thicker when refrigerated.)
Serve
- Transfer to a shallow dish, mound in the form of a volcano, and with the back of a spoon, carve a crater in the center with raised outer edges. It helps to rotate the bowl while keeping the spoon in place. (Alternately, you can carve a moat or valleys.) Fill with the olive oil, and garnish to your liking. Serve with warm flatbread.
Chickpeas
- Dried Chickpeas – Soaking the chickpeas overnight (12-24 hours) speeds up cooking time. So does adding baking soda to the cooking water, helping the chickpeas soften more and faster, and in the final result, creating a smoother hummus.
- Canned Chickpeas – If needed, you can cook canned chickpeas further with baking soda to soften them more for smoother hummus. Drain the canned chickpeas and rinse. Bring to a boil in a pan covered with fresh water about 2″ (5cm) above the chickpeas with ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes, and drain.
Other Garnishing Ideas
- Spice: about ¼ tsp of Aleppo pepper, paprika or cumin
- Whole chickpeas: Before blending the chickpeas, set aside a few for garnish
- Chopped parsley: 1 Tablespoon
- Nuts: 1 Tablespoon of pine nuts; or toasted walnuts
- Diced preserved lemon: 1 Tablespoon (You can also puree 1 Tablespoon into the hummus.)
Storing
Fridge: 3-5 days when refrigerated and covered in plastic wrap.Freezer: 3-4 months in a tightly covered container.
