If you haven’t started making your own homemade hummus, you’re totally missing out. It only takes about five minutes, you can adjust the taste to be juuuuuust the way you like it, and you can make a different flavor every week so that it never gets old! I promise, once you make your first batch of homemade hummus, you’ll never go back to store bought.
What is Hummus?
Hummus is a Middle Eastern chickpea dip or spread, made with just a few simple ingredients. At its most basic, hummus includes:
- Chickpeas
- Tahini
- Olive Oil
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Salt
There are a million different things you can add into hummus and I have posted the basic recipe below, plus add-ins for three flavor variations (Jalapeño Cilantro, Roasted Red Pepper, and Parsley Scallion). I’ve also garnished my “original” flavor with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of paprika and a few whole chickpeas. All of that is completely optional.
How to Use Hummus
Hummus is great to keep in your fridge to eat as a snack with some pita bread, naan, vegetables, or chips, but it also makes a great spread for sandwiches, wraps, and loaded flatbreads. It has a really great richness and adds moisture so I find that it makes a great substitute for mayo or cheese. I also love adding hummus to scrambled eggs, using it in place of a pasta sauce, or even as an addition to pizza!
How Long Does Homemade Hummus Last?
Homemade hummus will stay good in your refrigerator for about 5 days. Unlike some store bought hummuses, homemade hummus does not contain any preservatives, so you’ll want to only make the amount you can eat within a five day time frame.
Can I Substitute the Tahini?
I strongly advise against substituting tahini in hummus. While many people substitute either peanut butter or almond butter for the tahini, they have very different flavors from tahini and this will definitely change the final flavor of your hummus. To get that true authentic hummus flavor, you definitely need to use tahini.
Can I Make Hummus in a Blender?
While you can make homemade hummus with some of the more powerful blenders available on the market (like Blentec or Vitamix), it might be too thick for many blenders to handle. I suggest using a food processor to make your hummus. You don’t need a heavy duty, expensive food processor, though. The Hamilton Beach model I use is fairly inexpensive for a food processor and is a total beast. I love it.
Homemade Hummus
Servings 6 (1/4 cup each)Ingredients
- 1 15oz. can chickpeas* ($0.79)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice ($0.182)
- 1/4 cup tahini ($0.85)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas. Place the drained chickpeas in a food processor along with the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, and cumin.
- Pulse the mixture until it is fairly smooth. If the mixture is too dry to process smoothly, add a couple tablespoons of water, extra olive oil, or liquid from the canned chickpeas.
- Taste the hummus and adjust the salt, cumin, lemon, or garlic to your liking.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make The Best Hummus – Step by Step Photos
Let’s start by taking a closer look at tahini. Tahini is like peanut butter but made with sesame seeds instead of peanuts. It even has a similar texture to natural style peanut butter, but a very different flavor. A flavor which is critical, IMHO, to getting an authentic hummus. Tahini has a slightly nutty, slightly bitter flavor that is totally unique. Some people use peanut butter in its place, but I find their flavors to be vastly different. Tahini is about twice the price of peanut butter, but you’ll only need a small amount at a time and it stays fresh in the refrigerator for quite some time (it may need an occasional stir). You can find tahini in grocery stores either near the peanut butter, near Mediterranean ingredients like olives and artichokes, or in the natural foods aisle.
Drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas and add them to a food processor along with 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup tahini, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp ground cumin. Pulse the ingredients until they become smooth. If the mixture is too dry to properly purée, add a couple tablespoons of water, olive oil, or even the drained juice from the canned chickpeas. Taste the hummus and adjust the salt, lemon, garlic, or cumin to your liking. And that’s it! That’s all it takes. You can garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sumac or paprika.
Jalapeño Cilantro Hummus
To make Jalapeño Cilantro Hummus, remove the stem from one jalapeño, slice it lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Add the seeded jalapeño and about 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves to the food processor with your basic hummus and process until smooth. This hummus tastes great with a little extra cumin! You can also try roasting the jalapeños in the oven until soft and blistered for a more subtle flavor (don’t forget to remove the seeds).
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
To make Roasted Red Pepper flavored hummus, simply add one to two roasted red pepper to a batch of plain Homemade Hummus and process until smooth. Make sure most of the liquid from the jar is drained from the pepper before adding it to the processor to avoid thinning out the hummus too much. This hummus tastes great with a little smoked paprika added to the mix!
Parsley Scallion Hummus
For Parsley Scallion Hummus, thinly slice three to four scallions (green onions) and pull about 1/2 cup of parsley leaves from their stems. Add the parsley and scallions to a food processor with a batch of plain hummus and process until smooth. This hummus is great with vegetables, as a sandwich spread, or even as a vegan pasta sauce!
What is your favorite flavor of Hummus? I might try adding some roasted garlic next!
I LOVE this recipe!!! I lived in Dubai and became a super hummus snob, I tried different recipes without success until I found this one. I think having the right tahini paste is key.
This is a great base recipe with some excellent ideas for different flavors. The balance of ingredients is perfect! My partner loves hummus, but isn’t a great cook. We used this recipe as a base and added 6 steamed baby carrots (for color) and a canned chipotle pepper. Sooooo goooood! Thanks, Beth!
I never cared for hummus until I went to Israel for 10 days. Eating it twice a day for 10 days, I LOVED it. I came back to the USA and purchased 2 different highly rated brands of hummus. Couldn’t eat it. Yuck! I found your recipe, and YUMMY!
I do not have a food processor, so I use a blender. I place the liquids and spices in the blender along with 1/3 C water off of the Chickpeas, which I’ve warmed in the microwave. Once liquified, I begin adding warm chickpeas 1/2 C at a time, pureeing until smooth between additions. If it gets too thick, I add more water. The water off the chickpeas is salty, so I don’t usually need to add salt. I generally like to add a bit more spices. Adjust to your taste. Once it’s refrigerated it firms up. I like mine a bit softer as I frequently will stir it into a T Vinagrette Salad dressing to use over a Spinach salad.
Thank you for your comment I completely agree with you, Hummus tastes delicious and is addictive! I wanted to point out after reading your post one might would assume that Hummus is native to Israel, that’s incorrect. Hummus dish originated in Levant region, and was adopted later on by newcomers – Israelis. It is considered staple food in almost every Arabic Household. Have a great day. .
Homemade Hummus: we used to live in Dubai and my children (both picky eaters) are huge hummus snobs. Now that we’re back in US, we’ve had a hard time finding pre made hummus or recipes they would eat. They both absolutely love this recipe and we’ve made it several times. I actually have to hide it because the kids have snuck the container out of the fridge and eaten it with a spoon.
Hello, just so I’m clear, the serving size is 1/4 cup and this makes 6 servings?
BTW, We LOVE this recipe!
Yep, using one 15oz. can of chickpeas will give you about 1.5 cups of hummus. :)
this is so good! and so easy! thank you!
Great recipes! But please, if this is not problem, write weight of ingrediens in grams as well.
Never made my own hummus before BUT Beth said: “I promise, once you make your first batch of homemade hummus, you’ll never go back to store bought.”
Well, I’ve learned that when Beth speaks, I should listen…
Also decided to make my own tahini as I was at it… Got the sesame seeds in a specialty food store, toasted and ground with olive oil. MUCH(!!) less expensive than store bought!!
And much better flavor, too!
This is hands down the BEST hummus I’ve ever had. Period. And I haven’t even tried all the flavors yet, I just made the basic recipe. Flavorful, lemony, silken consistency, awesome in every way.
All your hummus recipes are truly delicious! I tend to over season my hummus with a few extra ingredients. If you don’t mind my sharing, I make this for the family almost every day. I process a can of drained, rinsed chick peas with a washed, seeded jalapeño pepper, a squirt of spicy mustard, a peeled garlic clove, a glug of extra virgin olive oil, a little tap water, some ground cumin and onion powder, a squirt of liquid honey, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of organic tehina, juice from half a lemon or a whole lime, and either coriander or parsley leaves. It has a lot of ingredients but is delectable and keeps for maximum 3 days covered in the fridge because there are no preservatives. We sometimes add curry powder in place of cumin, and use it on healthy crackers, chunks of raw veggies, or over cooked chicken, fish etc.
I’m going to make this. Sounds yummy!
Hi! I’ve been following you for a long time, actually, your blog helped me to find easy and delicious recipes when I made the transition to be a vegetarian 5 years ago(your Chana Saag…mmmmmmmhh!!! Sooo yummy!) and I’d like to tell you two things:
-thank you for your effort and for offering such beautiful contents!
-and my favourite hummus flavour is “sun dried tomatoes and black garlic”.
Have a lovely day! :)
We don’t refrigerate Tahini in Greece through! 😊
They all look really tasty!
I don’t know if anyone else has posted this, but don’t throw away the liquid from the chickpeas. You can use it in other recipes. Look up “aquafaba”. Great stuff, plus it saves you money on something else down the road. You can make meringues, use as an egg replacement, etc. Definitely worth looking into. I just found your site, and I am already in love with it. :)
I love hummus but have never made it. I heave a few recipes but I’m so glad I used this one. AWESOME!!! I’m going to make the roasted red pepper version next. I’m currently on a weight loss program and this is going to be invaluable.
I love these options, and I’m thinking of trying to make a smokey chipotle hummus– I was thinking of adding in a chipotle pepper in adobo, maybe a touch of the sauce, some smoked paprika? Anyone ever tried making a chipotle type hummus? Thoughts?
If you are just blending your roasted red peppers into hummus, you can save a lot by waiting until red peppers go on a big sale (99 cents/lb in my area), roasting them yourself, and then freezing them in individual sandwich baggies. I like to buy and roast six to ten at a time. One frozen pepper is good for one batch of hummus.
Wash red peppers and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
Roast whole peppers under the broiler until blackened on side facing up, 8-10 minutes.
Flip peppers so a new side is up, then blacken again.
When most of the skin (better more than less) is blackened, dump them all in a big bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. The skins will steam loose from them.
Leave for 15 minutes or longer, until the peppers are cool enough to handle.
Remove each pepper from the bowl and slit it from end to end to open it up.
Using your hands, remove the stem, seeds, and the bits inside that used to be white and have no flavor.
Flip the pepper over so that the skin is up, and just peel the skin off with your hands. Everything that is blackened should pretty much fall right off. You may need to use a knife to gently scrape off any skin that isn’t blackened.
Trying not to loose too much juice, place each pepper in its own sandwich bag. Freeze flat, then collect all the pepper bags into a gallon freezer bag.