It kind of blows my mind that so many people buy hummus out of the refrigerator case. But then it occurred to me that maybe it’s because that’s the only hummus they’ve ever had. Maybe they don’t know how easy it is to make!
The first time I had hummus it was homemade by a woman who was hosting a toddler playgroup at her home and she graciously shared the recipe. I’ve been using it ever since. I daresay, that was before hummus was even sold in most stores, so if I wanted to have it again, making it was my only option. (And that toddler I was attending with? Starts college in January!)
Easy Hummus
- 2-15 1/2 oz cans garbanzo beans (or prepared dry beans, see below)
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2-2/3 cup lemon juice
- 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- salt
Drain beans, reserving some liquid. Put beans in food processor with tahini, 1/2 cup lemon juice, garlic and cumin. Process until smooth, adding a little more lemon juice, some of the reserved liquid, or water if necessary. (My husband thinks it’s too lemony if I use lemon juice; I like it that way – this totally depends on your preference.) Add salt to taste. Store in fridge.
To use dry garbanzo beans:
Soak one pound of beans overnight, making sure they’re covered by about 4″ of water. Drain and rinse beans. Put beans in a stock pot, again covering them with about 4″ of water. Gently boil for about an hour or until beans are soft. Drain. Use four cups of cooked beans in recipe and freeze the rest for next time.
This post has been added to Traditional Tuesdays.
I love to add some roasted red peppers. I use the juice from the peppers to thin it out.
Oh, I may have to try that. We’re fans of adding a little chipotle pepper to spice it up, too.
I recently bought a pressure cooker and make all kinds of hummous with garbanzo, fava and canelli beans. Delicious!
I usually use a pressure cooker, but in this case I was teaching my college-bound son how to make it with basic kitchen utensils. Plus, I know not everyone has a pressure cooker!
I love your blog!! I wondered why mine turned out lemony. Can’t wait to try out the recipe. In summer I’m going to add eggplant to it.
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Oh, eggplant would be good, too!
I was confused about the garbanzo beans, but google has confirmed that they are also called chick peas, that’s what I thought was in hummus! So the translation for those of English/French decent – garbanzo = chick peas! I like learning all these new words from you
Anyway, thanks for the recipe, it seems to simple, I just need to get some tahini now…..
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That’s funny! I think we don’t realize that there are so many regional terms for things until we start meeting people from across the globe.
I hardly ever have tahini, so I put sesame oil in mine instead. I think I prefer it that way. I also like to blitz some preserved lemon rind, olive oil and smoked paprika to drizzle over then sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds. Yummo!
I know someone who substitutes ricotta cheese for the tahini because she doesn’t like the sesame taste. It’s really a pretty forgiving recipe!
I do love hummus, and wow, so so easy. Thanks for the recipe.
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I have never put cumin in hummus so will have to try. The best hummus I ever made was in Sweden. I bought a bag of garbanzo beans at an organic farm. Cooked them up. They tasted so incredibly sweet. Wish all hummus tasted that way.
been several months since I’ve made hummus — far too long! thanks for the reminder. it’ll be fun to make some over the holidays.
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I made my own hummus once and the tahini to go in it but I think my sesame seeds were rancid. I prefer light on the lemon and a little more garlic. I’ll buy fresh tahini and try again.
I like mine really garlicky. There’s a restaurant here that makes the best hummus (mines close, but not quite there). I’ve been threatening to go get a job there just so I can figure out their recipe.
And I second the pressure cooker. If you soak your beans overnight first you only have to pressure cook them 4 minutes! That is sustainable
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[...] that I’d cooked up from dry beans (I try to always keep some in the freezer for making hummus). Score! The only change I’d make to the recipe would be to double it. Or triple [...]
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I love hummus and am going to try your recipe, which is super- easy and sounds delicious. Thanks!