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Making perfectly balanced and smooth hummus is so easy, you’ll never buy the generically manufactured stuff again. Under “Method,” find my top 4 tips for the creamiest, smoothest, and dreamiest hummus, plus a recipe down below!
Ingredients
Chickpeas — Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are packed with plant-based protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. I prefer dried, but if you’ve completely forgotten to soak your chickpeas and only have canned, there’s a hack for that too.
Tahini — Tahini gives a wonderful thick, creamy, nutty quality to the hummus. There’s a wide varying price point on tahini. The standard Arabic brand is excellent, so you really don’t need to go bananas on some artisanal batch. If you don’t have tahini, you can make a Homsi classic, Hummus Bizeit (Olive Oil Hummus).
Lemon Juice — I absolutely love fresh lemon juice in my hummus. For some reason, the combination with the chickpeas starts to taste a bit sour after about 2 days in the fridge (and not in a good way). If you need your hummus to last longer, use citric acid, and it’s seriously still so good! Believe me.
Salt — I love Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, but any fine salt will work to balance the flavors.
Baking Soda — You may have heard you need to skin your chickpeas to make it super smooth. Not true. Soaking and cooking the chickpeas in baking soda helps the skins them, which does help.
Ice — You’ll use ice in 2 instances here: in ice water to thin out the hummus and chickpeas, and in cubes to help achieve a gorgeous white color.
Garlic — I personally find raw garlic in the hummus way too pungent, and it totally throws off the whole flavor profile. Boiling the chickpeas with a clove or 2 is absolutely perfect.
Method
Nobody wants grainy hummus. Here are my 4 key tips to make it as smooth as possible.
Soak overnight then cook your chickpeas in baking soda. If you’re using canned, boil the chickpeas with baking soda for about 20 minutes or so.
Overcook the chickpeas until they’re super soft and easily mashable between 2 fingers. This takes about an hour, but it really depends on the freshness of the chickpeas.
I learned this step from @_nosoupforyou. Don’t strain your chickpeas after cooking. The loose skins tend to float to the top, so dump the water out slowly, keeping the chickpeas in the pot. Replace with cold water and repeat 3 times. This process not only gets rid of the grainy skins, it also helps cool the chickpeas, giving the hummus a wonderful creamy, not gummy texture.
Use a super high powered blender or food processor if you can (I use a Vitamix, but I’ve also heard Thermomix works well). First, blend the chickpeas until they’re relatively smooth, adding ice water if you need to get the blades going, and then incorporate all of the other ingredients. This recipe will still be great with a standard food processor!
How to Serve
You can plate hummus with extra chickpeas, Aleppo pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve it as part of a mezze or appetizer spread with fresh pita bread, pita chips, or veggies for dipping. I grew up eating it slathered on kebab and other grilled meat, sometimes sandwiched between pita bread.
I hope you give this recipe a try! If you do, don’t forget to put it in the comments so everyone knows how it worked out. I also love to see your creations! You can tag me on social media at #omayahcooks, @omayah.atassi on Instagram, @omayah on Pinterest, and @omayahatassiphoto on Facebook.
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The Smoothest Hummus
Ingredients
- 2 c dry chickpeas or 4 14-oz cans
- 2 garlic cloves (optional)
- 2 tsp baking soda, divided
- 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1.5 c tahini
- 2 c lemon juice or 2 tsp citric acid
- 5 ice cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus a drizzle on top
- Pine nuts
- Cooked or canned chickpeas
- Sprinkle of Aleppo pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Soak your chickpeas overnight (at least 8 hours) in about double its volume of water with 1 tsp baking soda, using 2 bowls if needed (if using canned, skip to step 4).
- Strain and rinse well. Add to a large pot with about double its volume of water again, 1 tsp baking soda, and 2 garlic cloves, if using.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. After about 10 minutes, you should see lots of foam. Skim it off the top and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until chickpeas are creamy and easily mashable between two fingers, about 1-1.5 hours.
- If using canned chickpeas, boil for about 20 minutes with 2 tsp baking soda.
- When the chickpeas finish cooking, whatever you do, don't dump them in a colander. Slowly pour out the water in the sink, keeping the chickpeas in the pot. Fill the pot with water again and then slowly dump it out. Repeat about 3 times, allowing your chickpeas to cool a bit, and removing all of the disintegrated skins.
- Now dump them in a colander and remove the garlic cloves. Transfer the chickpeas to a high powered blender or food processor. Process until smooth, adding ice water to get the blades going, and scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add about 1/2 of the salt, tahini, and lemon juice or citric acid. Process to combine, taste, and adjust seasoning. Add the remaining tahini in 1/4 c increments until you reach desired texture.
- With the food processor/blender running, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the ice cubes then process until fully combined.
- Refrigerate to allow the flavors to meld together for a bit longer. Adjust seasoning again before plating.
- To serve, add hummus to a plate and swirl the spoon around to make a circular pattern. Add cooked or canned chickpeas, pine nuts, a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper (if using), and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
*If making for babies, omit the salt and raw garlic. Sauté 1 whole garlic clove in 2 tbsp olive oil set over low heat until the garlic is golden. Mix into the hummus. Top a thin rice cracker, sprouted grain toast, or serve on its own. Use within 2-3 days.