Ever realized how different store bought and restaurant hummus are? Store bought just doesn’t quite cut it! Learn how to create your own delicious, creamy restaurant-quality hummus right at home! Serve with warm pita bread as a delicious appetizer or afternoon snack, or keep it in your fridge to spread on sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas (15 oz.), rinsed and drained, or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (if using canned chickpeas)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (roughly 2 lemons)
- 1 large clove garlic, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- ½ cup tahini
- 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, more as needed
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Optional garnishes: drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of paprika, or chopped fresh parsley
Directions
- Place chickpeas in a medium saucepan and add baking soda. Cover the chickpeas with several inches of water, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until the chickpeas look bloated, their skins are falling off, and very soft. Reduce heat if necessary to prevent overflow. In a fine-mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them for about 30 seconds. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a food processor or high-powered blender, combine the lemon juice, garlic and salt. Process until the garlic is very finely chopped, then let the mixture rest for 10 minutes or longer.
- Add the tahini to the food processor and blend until the mixture is thick and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the processor as necessary.
- While running the food processor, drizzle in 2 tablespoons of ice water. Scrape down the food processor, and blend until the mixture is ultra smooth, pale and creamy. (If your tahini was especially thick, you may need to add a few more tablespoons of water).
- Add the cumin and the drained, over-cooked chickpeas to the food processor. While blending, drizzle in the olive oil. Blend until the mixture is super smooth, scraping down 6. the sides of the processor as necessary, about 2 minutes. Add more ice water by the tablespoon if necessary to achieve a super creamy texture.
- Taste, and adjust as necessary—I almost always add another ¼ teaspoon salt for more overall flavor and another tablespoon of lemon juice for extra zing.
- Scrape the hummus into a bowl and add the garnishes of your choice. Serve immediately with pita bread. Leftover hummus keeps well in the refrigerator, covered for up to 1 week.
