Easy Hummus Recipe & Applications

Looking for an easy hummus recipe? If you have a blender, you can throw these ingredients together and get a delicious dip, spread, or whatever way you want to eat it.

The perk is you won’t be confined to a store-bought 10 oz tub of hummus. You can use more sustainable and healthy oils, and best of all receive all the fresh flavor when made at home.

Okay, maybe the best part is saving a significant amount of money. I mean a can of beans (needed for a batch of hummus) is $1, maybe with the addition of the other ingredients, it comes to a total of $2. For store-bought hummus, you may pay around $4 for a smaller batch. And if you use the version with dried beans, it’ll be even cheaper.

Hummus Ingredients:

Chickpeas: Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are the heart of hummus. They are the majority of what it is and provide most of the protein. If you truly want creamy hummus, there is nothing better than using dried chickpeas and cooking them yourself. You can buy dried chickpeas in the bulk section of most grocery stores. While this takes a little more effort, the result can be quite worth it.

Tahini: If you want true tahini flavor and avoid unnecessary bitterness, pick tahini up at your local international or Mediterranean-type grocery store rather than a normal convenience or grocery store. It’ll probably be cheaper as well. A good indicator is if there is foreign, presumably Arabic, writing on the bottle it should be authentic.

Garlic: Be careful the garlic can overpower the dish fairly quickly. If you’re sensitive to the taste of garlic, I recommend adding little by little – not even a whole clove.

Extra virgin olive oil: Hummus traditionally has oil, but not just any oil – olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil will be the healthiest option.

Olive Juice: I have made a completely untraditional option for those who do not want to use oil. As a substitute, use olive juice from an olive jar. If you do this keep in mind that that juice is very salty so opt-out of adding salt and use it little by little to prevent a too salty dip.

Water: To make this very creamy adding a little bit of water can help. But if you opted for the olive juice version, note that already contains some liquid, so use less regular water. It is really up to you and the consistency you want.

Lime/lemon: You always need a little acid, and lime or lemons is the perfect fresh addition to hummus.

Spices: While you can just add salt or salt & pepper, I recommend also trying the other traditional spices such as cumin.

Yield: 1.5 cups

Easy Hummus

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas *
• 1-2 tbsp tahini
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil **
• 1-2 tbsp water
• 1-2 tbsp lime/lemon
• salt & pepper
• optional: paprika, cumin

Instructions

1. open & rinse chickpea can (for dried chickpeas see below*)
2. add chickpeas, tahini, and chopped garlic to blender
3. pour water into blender & blend
4. add lime, salt & pepper, & optional spices to taste

Notes

*dried chickpeas: Soak 1 c dried chickpeas in a bowl with 1 tsp baking soda and water covering them for 8 hours or overnight. Bring them to a boil in a pot covered in water and then simmer for 2 hours. Make sure the tenderness of the beans is slightly breaking apart and then use 2 cups worth of chickpeas for the hummus.

**oil-free version: substitute oil for water from an olive jar & reduce the amount of salt added since this water is salty

Applications

Want ideas to use this easy hummus recipe in a dish? Try this Vegan Bowl Guide: Simple & Healthy

Here are some bowl combinations you can use your hummus in.

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