And now for something not at all Christmas-themed. Because it’s yummy and I couldn’t resist sharing.
I’ve discovered the secret to creamy homemade hummus. Only 3.4 million people got there before me.
Have you made hummus before? It sounds easy to do – add all ingredients and process until smooth – and it was one of the things I was most excited to make when I bought a food processor a few months ago. Then I tried to make it myself and… ugh. It was just nothing like the creamy-textured stuff I love to buy. It was dense. I was bummed.
So I made my usual assumption for things that taste delicious when someone else makes them and terrible when I do: the stuff from the store/restaurant/wherever probably has oil/butter/other bad stuff by the POUND, and that’s what makes it taste so good. (This is usually a fair assumption… Sometimes I think that when something at a restaurant tastes good, I should refuse to eat any more. It’s probably too unhealthy! Life is just so unfair.) Well naturally I just continued buying hummus from the store. Sigh. The homemade stuff really was horrible.
But I didn’t want to give up on one of my favorite foods, and something other people seem to love making at home! It turns out, all it took to set me straight was Googling “creamy hummus,” which I did the other day. Should have done that before. 3.41 million results. I looked through about 3 of them and quickly learned the secret…
It’s the order, stupid. You can’t just “add all ingredients and process until smooth” (although I love nothing more than to discover a recipe with those instructions). But in the case of hummus, you have to emulsify the tahini with some liquid to lighten it up. Then you can add the rest of the ingredients, and it will stay light! Otherwise, the whole thing is heavy and weighed-down, just like plain tahini can be. And luckily this adds about 3 seconds to the time it takes to make this recipe, and no extra oil. Oh happy day!
You can change up the amounts of spices in this recipe, or roast the garlic for a milder flavor. Once you’ve added in the emulsifying step, it’s really hard to go wrong!
Serving with adorable mini peppers is highly recommended. So is eating while you take pictures.
- 1/2 cup tahini
- juice of 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup water
- 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (I used 3 and it was quite garlicky, just the way I like it)
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 14-oz cans, rinsed and drained)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- Add tahini, lemon juice and water to a food processor (or blender if you're brave!). Process on high speed until it becomes very light-colored and fluffy, which shouldn't take long.
- Add the garlic and process again until incorporated. Add the chickpeas and olive oil, about 1/3 at a time, processing to incorporate them completely before adding more. Once all of the chickpeas and olive oil are added, process for a few minutes longer, stopping to scrape the sides down occasionally, until it becomes as creamy as you'd like. If it seems too thick, add a bit more water (or olive oil for a richer hummus).
- When it's reached your desired consistency, stop the food processor and sprinkle in the paprika, cumin, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Process to blend them in. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you'd like, processing after each addition.
- Serve with crunchy vegetables, pita bread or tortilla chips, or use as a spread on sandwiches!
I LOVE hummus and had the same results as you when attempting to make it at home. I am glad that you didn’t give up and that I can now use your secret for creamy hummus!! The little peppers are adorbs – Can’t wait to try this recipe in 2013 :)
Yay! Trial and error is so much better when someone else does it for you :) The little peppers are my favorite!
I love making hummus at home but I’ve always had the problem of it being a little thick too…especially because I hate to be heavy handed with oil, haha.
But this is a genius idea! Usually I just blitz everything but the oil, then drizzle that in at the end. I’ve gotta try this next time :)
I was super surprised what a difference it made… who knew!
This looks absolutely delicious! What a great tip. And I love those cute little peppers too!
Thanks Emilie!
Looks like a good hummus recipe to me! I love adding in jarred red peppers to homemade hummus. Been forever since I’ve done that. I just cleaned out the pantry and found a huge container of dried chickpeas so this might be the motivation I need to make my own batch.
I’ll have to try the jarred red peppers, Joanna! I’ve never made my own red pepper hummus but would love to try.
Yum! I’m a hummus fanatic and can’t stand it thin and watery- yours looks amazing!
Thanks Sunnie!
I’ve been making hummus forever, my kids love it, they inhale it. But I never use tahini mainly because I never have it on hand, I use a bit of chunky peanut butter (I read somewhere to use it as a sub) and it turns out pretty good. You use a half cup of the tahini and I only use about 1-2 tsp of the peanut butter. Should I bump it more? Or is using peanut butter so awful, I should just skip it? : )
Wow I’ve never heard of using peanut butter! Sounds interesting – no need to increase the amount if it’s working for you!
Try peeling the cooked chickpeas before processing; it will make a huge difference if creaminess is what you’re after. And . . . I absolutely love my hummus with some chopped sundried tomatoes. I usually run some through the food processor till fairly smooth, then add some hand-chopped pieces for that occasional special burst of flavor.
Thanks for the suggestions, Naomi! I definitely have to try peeling the chickpeas after seeing Deb at Smitten Kitchen’s hummus post yesterday. I will definitely try sundried tomatoes, too!
I found you through Smitten Kitchen. I was making Deb’s recipe, but I made too many cooked chickpeas, so I decided to try yours too, and do a taste testing. 3 out of 4 liked your recipe better! Don’t tell. ;)
Peeling the chickpeas did make the hummus much smoother. But whipping the tahini made your hummus more fluffy. Also, the proportions and seasonings were better in this recipe, for most of our family’s tastes.
So next time, if I’m making it for company, I might peel and process the chickpeas, empty the food processor into a bowl, do the tahini, then add in the chickpea and rest of ingredients like the recipes asks.
Then it would be both fluffy, and crazy smooth. But for just us, I’m not peeling chickpeas.
I’ve always used peanut butter instead of tahini because when I started making it there was no tahini be found where I lived. What makes it a very good substitution is the addition of some sesame oil. Doesn’t take much but makes a world of difference.
I love that idea for the next time when I run out of tahini but still want to make hummus. Genius – thanks Kathy!
Thank you for the recipe. I made it and found it to be really runny. I mean REALLY runny. Even then, I added a can of black beans. (Still too runny.)
I soaked the chickpeas to get the skins off. Perhaps they were in the water too long. (But doubt it — and, anyway, the dense peas are unlikely to soak up water.)
Next time, I’ll hold off on the water — and will only add it (slowly) if it’s too thick.
Sorry to hear that, Joe! It’s definitely possible that my chickpeas were drier than yours.
Another thing you can do, which I know seems really tedious, is to peel the chickpeas first. Yes, peel them. You just kind of squeeze each one between your thumb and forefinger and pop that thin little skin right off. I told you it would seem tedious, but since hummus barley takes any time at all to make, the extra 9 or 10 minutes isn’t too bad of a sacrifice. And I swear, it makes the hummus light, creamy, fluffy and dreamy!
Oh, someone else already suggested that. Nevermind!
Another trick to making hummus creamy rather than grainy: make sure you SKIN the chickpeas! It sounds like an awful lot of work but it’s worth it. This is especially relevant if you’re making hummus from dried (and reconstituted) chickpeas rather than canned – it’s cheaper that way, and also healthier (no added salt in the canning water).
I’ve skinned the chickpeas — and that made a huge difference. But I still don’t get the creaminess of store-bought hummus. Anyone have a suggestion?? Thank you!!