Creative homemade hummus
Mmmmmmmm… hummus. A delicious garbanzo bean dip for sliced veggies, chips, pita bread, or almost anything else you can think of to put it on. It also makes for a great vegetarian sandwich ingredient.
Store-bought hummus can be pretty tasty, but also high in sodium and sometimes a couple other ingredients you don’t want in your body. Luckily for us, making hummus is super easy, no recipe required. The only equipment you need is a blender or food processor (the picture is of my ingredients in my 2-cup food processor attachment for my stick blender).
Start with cooked or canned garbanzo beans (chick peas). If you use canned, make sure to rise them thoroughly. Add a splash of olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. For spices, choose from paprika, ground cumin, or black pepper, or get crazy and experimental with something else. Mince up a clove or two of garlic and throw that in.
If you happen to have some tahini on hand (which I pretty much never do), toss in a tablespoon or so, but if you don’t, no big deal. If you really want that hint of sesame taste, try substituting some sesame oil for the olive oil. You can also process some sesame seeds in your food processor (before adding any other ingredients) to make your own sesame paste.
If you’re in the mood for flavored hummus, throw in some roasted red peppers, blanched sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese cubes, fresh cilantro or basil or rosemary or parsley, or whatever else you can find lying around the kitchen (note: I recommend only using edible ingredients).
With all the ingredients in the blender or food processor, blend away until you reach a creamy smooth texture. If you need more moisture but don’t want to up the oil content, a bit of water or soy milk will do the trick. Taste your creation and add more lemon juice/pepper/garlic/etc. as necessary to achieve a pleasing taste.
Pretty much all of the ingredients besides the chick peas are optional. My standard recipe involves olive or sesame oil, a lot of garlic, lemon juice, ground black pepper, and paprika. Find the combination of flavors that makes you happy, and go with it. See, I told you homemade hummus was easy.
I grew up in the middle east where Hummus is part of every day cuisine. You might literally see it as a part of every single meal of the day. By the way, another great addition is a few pine nuts. Gives it a great texture and flavor boost.
Gal
It’s also worth noting that some other beans also work equally well as a spread. I like fava beans with some tomato paste, topped with caramelized onions.
Cannelini, or “white beans”, also make a great spread, especially with some garlic and rosemary.
Mmm, pine nuts do sound good. Too bad I’m all out for now.
Jason – I get the feeling you’re spying on me. I made cannellini bean spread with garlic and rosemary last week for some guests. How did you know?
Cool, just what I needed! I saw an undercover tv report a few weeks ago about the hygiene in some London-based hummus processing factories. Very very scary… I will spare the details.
Haha… probably a “great minds think alike” thing, I suppose. Cannelini spreads are one of my favorite ways to make use of bread when I have an otherwise light meal.
Mmmm, I’m hungry just reading this. I’ve never tried making hummus before, but now I’m tempted.
Hummus is a beautiful thing. So many directions you can run with it, and I regularly run. On hot days I’ll make a cooler hummus by adding ingredients like carrots and cucumber. On cooler days I often spice it up with hot sauce or chilies, and plenty of pepper. Sun dried tomatoes that have been bottled in oil are a wonderful addition as well. Great job spreading the word of hummus.
I have loved hummus ever since I was introduced to it in high school. Such a treat! I often mix beans–half chickpeas, half black beans, seasoned with cumin. My “hummus mentor” also uses black-eyed peas. So good topped with fresh cucumbers from the garden!
Hi Jul, I just found your site searching for homemade hummus recipes. I only discovered hummus a few years ago at a neat little local store/diner. They made their own and served on a wrap with loads of your choice of veggies. I loved it, but the commercial brands just don’t measure up. I did find one brand that met my taste and requirements, it was a Roasted Red Pepper variety; but haven’t seen it in the store since, and now I can’t remember the brand. It had a great taste, was lower in fat, higher in fiber, and had less sodium than most…..in addition to fat and fiber, I try to pay close attention to sodium. I am on a mission to make my own Hummus from ingredients I prefer. Thanks for sharing your recipe and ideas!
Thanks everyone for the comments!!! They gave me a lot of great ideas! I personally enjoy adding a handful of garlic cloves to my hummus & also some hot chili oil to spice things up