The Best Hummus
Learn how to make the best homemade hummus! It's ultra creamy, dreamy and light. This hummus recipe is easy to make, too—no need to peel your chickpeas!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
The best hummus is lusciously creamy, yet somehow light and fluffy. It’s beautifully smooth and swirled, and begging to be scooped up onto a wedge of pita bread. It’s nutty and tangy, thanks to the tahini, with notes of bright, fresh lemon and mellow garlic.
I encountered the most delicious hummus at Aladdin Cafe, a local Mediterranean restaurant. That hummus met all of the above characteristics, and I was hoping the owner might enlighten me with his techniques. When I asked, though, he replied, “It’s a secret,” with a sly smile and walked away.
I went home determined to learn how to make magnificently creamy hummus. First, I took the fancy flavorings out of my other hummus recipes to make plain hummus. It was dense, a little gritty, and harshly garlicky. I was so disappointed.
Next, I went to Google and opened up a million tabs to learn everything about hummus. You know me. Ten hummus attempts later, I’m ready to share all of my hummus tips and tricks with you. Get ready to make the best hummus of your life!
The internet at large raves that an Israeli chef named Michael Solomonov makes the very best hummus. It’s so good that Bon Appetit named his hummus their 2015 Dish of the Year. That’s some serious hummus.
Solomonov’s secret? He uses chickpeas that have been cooked until they’re so tender, they’re mushy.
He cooks his chickpeas with some baking soda, too. According to Bon Appetit, baking soda “raises the pH of the water and helps the little guys break down to a soft, pulpy mass… perfect for an ultra-smooth purée.”
Overcooked chickpeas seemed like a promising idea to me. You see, I once tried to make hummus with canned chickpeas that were oddly undercooked, and they made terrible hummus. No matter how long I blended the hummus, those undercooked chickpeas never blended into creamy oblivion.
Plus, baking soda helps break down the chickpea skins, which means you do not need to peel off the skins individually. Who has time for that?! I bet you don’t have time to soak your chickpeas overnight and cook them from scratch like Solomonov, either.
Here’s my time-saving solution: Just boil canned or leftover cooked chickpeas with baking soda for twenty minutes.
You can see the difference that baking soda makes in the photo below. See how the chickpeas on the right are popping open more? They are significantly softer in texture as well.
The chickpeas are ready to go after a quick rinse under cool running water, which rinses off the baking soda flavor and cools the chickpeas so your hummus doesn’t develop a weird outer film.
Are you as excited about this as I am? You can have this incredible hummus now-ish, not tomorrow! No chickpea peeling required.
I have a few more tips and techniques to making great hummus, so read on or scroll down for the full recipe and variations.
How to Make the Best Hummus
1) Mushy chickpeas
Cook canned or leftover cooked chickpeas according to step 1 below. This only adds 20 minutes to your hummus-making time, and it’s my number one tip for making perfect hummus at home.
Want to cook your chickpeas from scratch? You sure can—see the recipe notes.
Can you over-cook your chickpeas in an Instant Pot? I don’t recommend it—you’ll end up with a mess of chickpea mash clogging your vent and a puddle of chickpea cooking water surrounding your Instant Pot. I speak from experience.
2) Great tahini
All tahini is not created equally. When I was in Israel, Israelis’s spoke of tahini, or “t’hina,” with reverence. I learned that the best tahini comes from Ethiopia. Store-bought tahini in the U.S. varies widely in flavor, with some of them so bad that they’ve ruined my hummus.
My favorite brands of tahini? I had to try Solomonov’s favorite, Soom. I found it on Amazon (affiliate link) and I have to say that it is worth it. Second favorite? Trader Joe’s organic tahini, which is made from Ethiopian sesame seeds like Soom’s. Whole Foods 365 used to be my go-to, but I encountered a few bad jars that tasted so bad, I’m afraid to try again.
Don’t skimp on the tahini, either—you need to use 1/2 cup tahini per can of chickpeas for rich and irresistible hummus. I once toured an enormous hummus production facility and learned that they often reduce the cost of producing store-bought hummus by using less tahini. Sneaky!
3) Ice-cold water
Why do you always want to mix ice-cold water with tahini? This is another trick that I learned on my trip. I can’t find a scientific explanation, but it seems to help make the hummus light and fluffy, and lightens the color of the tahini to a pale ivory color.
4) Fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Store-bought lemon juice always tastes stale and sad, and it will make your hummus taste stale and sad. Buy lemons and your humus will taste fresh and delicious. I almost always add another tablespoon of lemon juice to my hummus for extra flavor before I plate it, but I’ll leave the tang factor up to you.
5) Garlic, mellowed in lemon juice
This is another trick from Solomonov—if you mince the garlic in the food processor or blender with the lemon juice and let that mixture rest for a few minutes, the garlic will lose its harsh, raw bite and mellow out. I tried it before and after, and he’s right! Here’s Serious Eats’ scientific explanation for why this works.
6) Olive oil, blended into the hummus and drizzled on top
Solomonov doesn’t blend any olive oil into his hummus, but I think that one tablespoon makes the hummus taste even more luxurious and creamy. I recommend it!
7) Ground cumin
The cumin is subtle and offers some “Je ne sais quoi,” if you will. It’s a common ingredient in plain hummus recipes, and makes the hummus taste a little more special.
Hummus Variations
This hummus recipe is plain (and by plain, I mean delicious), but you can blend any of the following in with the chickpeas to make variations.
- Green goddess hummus: 3/4 cup loosely packed fresh, leafy herbs
- Kalamata olive hummus: 3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
- Roasted garlic hummus: Cloves from 1 to 2 heads of roasted garlic
- Roasted red pepper hummus: 3/4 cup roasted red peppers, drained and sliced into strips
- Sun-dried tomato hummus: 3/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and drained (from one 6.7-ounce jar)
- Toasted sesame hummus: 1/2 teaspoon in the hummus, plus 1 teaspoon drizzled on top
Hummus Garnishes
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Sprinkle of ground sumac, which is gloriously sour and deep pink, or paprika, which is basically flavorless but offers a splash of color
- Sesame seeds or seeded spice blend, such as dukkah
- Middle Eastern hot sauce, such as zhoug or shatta
- Chopped fresh parsley
Ok, let’s make some hummus! I’m dying to hear how this hummus turns out for you. Please let me know in the comments and tell me if overcooking your chickpeas makes all the difference!
You can also share a photo of your results on Instagram with the hashtag #cookieandkate so we can all see your results.
Watch How to Make Hummus
Best Hummus
Learn how to make the best homemade hummus! It’s creamy, dreamy and light. This hummus recipe is easy to make—no peeling chickpeas or overnight soak required. Recipe yields about 2 cups.
Ingredients
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (if you’re using canned chickpeas)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (from 1 ½ to 2 lemons), more to taste
- 1 medium-to-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 extra-virgin olive oil
- Any of the following garnishes: drizzle of olive oil or zhoug sauce, sprinkle of ground sumac or paprika, chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Place the chickpeas in a medium saucepan and add the baking soda. Cover the chickpeas by several inches of water, then bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue boiling, reducing heat if necessary to prevent overflow, for about 20 minutes, or until the chickpeas look bloated, their skins are falling off, and they’re quite soft. In a fine-mesh strainer, drain the chickpeas and run cool water over them for about 30 seconds. Set aside (no need to peel the chickpeas for this recipe!).
- 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 so the garlic flavor can mellow, ideally 10 minutes or longer.
- Add the tahini to the food processor and blend until the mixture is thick and creamy, stopping to scrape down any tahini stuck to the sides and bottom of the processor as necessary.
- While running the food processor, drizzle in 2 tablespoons ice water. Scrape down the food processor, and blend until the mixture is ultra smooth, pale and creamy. (If your tahini was extra-thick to begin with, you might need to add 1 to 2 tablespoons more ice 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 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 serving bowl or platter, and use a spoon to create nice swooshes on top. Top with garnishes of your choice, and serve. Leftover hummus keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Michael Solomonov, via The New York Times and Bon Appetit, and Yotam Ottolenghi.
How to cook dry chickpeas in a hurry for this recipe: In a large saucepan, combine 5 ounces (¾ cup) dried chickpeas and ½ teaspoon baking soda, and fill the pot with water. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and skim off the surface foam as needed. Continue boiling over medium-high, adding more water if you start running out, until the chickpeas are very mushy and falling apart, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Drain in a fine-mesh colander, rinse under cool running water, and drain well before using. Start the recipe at step 2.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Just made this today and I just wanted to let you know it is amazing and soo good!!!! I doubled the recipe. Can you freeze it?
Hi Anastasia, Yes, you can freeze hummus in an airtight container for 4-6 months. Just defrost in the refrigerator overnight and stir it to restore the smooth texture before serving.
I unfortunately did not have any Tahini on hand so added some sesame oil for that flavor. It turned out delicious and will not buy store hummus and its plastic container ever again!
I made this yesterday and it is delicious. I added extra garlic, lemon, salt & pepper. Can’t wait to make more :D if you are Canadian buy the Tahini from Bulk Barn!! It was great quality, prepared in Canada, and half a cup only cost me $2 :)
Hi, I made the hummus dip. The recipe looked really good, so I doubled it. I was going on vacation. Well, I didn’t realize a needed a large cuisinate. 1st mistake. I finally got the tahini blended with the roasted garlic, lemon juice, cumin and salt. Everything was tasting good. Then I added the cooked chickpeas with baking soda and rinsed off. That’s where things went south. Taste of the chickpeas was awful. Also I couldn’t get the chickpeas smooth. I added more lemon juice, ice water and olive oil. I’v never cooked my chickpeas in baking soda not sure if this made a difference. I lived in Saudi Arabia many years ago and wanted to try something new. Better luck next time. And I wont double the recipe.
Tried this hummus recipe and it turned out so good! Super creamy and the flavor was on point. I did tweak it a bit by adding more lemon juice and a bit more salt. Seriously one of the best homemade hummus batches I’ve made.
How is this homemade? You’re using a can of pre cooked chickpeas. If the main part of your dish was cooked in a factory in another country, it’s not homemade. Dumb recipe from a dumb blog.
No need to be rude. State your ideas kindly. It’s not like we’re growing chickpeas in our yards.
The hummus was delicious.
OuchDavid. Just try another recipe and move on. Why say unkind things to others? Take an anger management class buddy.
I should have given it 5 stars but it didn’t do that for me
Love, love this hummus recipe. I typically make the full recipe and since I’m usually the only one eating it, it does last quite a while. I’m wondering how long it can safely remain in the refrigerator……read in an earlier post it can be frozen,so that’s an option. I’ve been using it to make a hummus wrap…….whole wheat flour tortilla, hummus, shredded lettuce, shredded carrot, finely sliced red onion, roasted red pepper, thinly sliced cucumber. It’s my go to lunch most days and it’s wonderful.
Hi Candace, this should keep covered in the refrigerator for a week.
So delicious. I’ve been looking for a recipe that takes like restaurant homemade, and love that it doesn’t have a ton of oil.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! No more store bought as this is a whole different experience! My husband and I were blown away! It was gone in two days!
Hi Joan, thanks so much for your kind words. Once you find out how easy and delicious homemade hummus is, there simply is no going back!
This is a fantastic hummus recipe. The perfect amount of tahini and enough lemon juice. Many call for less, this is better! Boiling the chickpeas in baking soda makes a world of difference. It comes out so smooth and creamy. I have made my own variations and additions as well. My go to.
This IS THE BEST hummus!! Thank you!
Best hummus ever. Only recipe I’ll use. Then I make 7 layer Greek appetizer layering the hummus in. Sooooo good
Hummus predates Israel, it’s middle eastern cuisine. Israel has only existed since its violent founding in 1948. The process of using ice water helps to emulsify the mixture. My Palestinian friend uses ice blocks.
It’s true. It IS THE BEST!
But it’s a lot of work. Let me suggest that your readers make a double batch. It goes fast!
Best,
Mark
For any UK readers of this marvellous site. Using the standard 240ml per (US) cup of tahini here, is going to make this very bitter. Stick to 2 or 3 tablespoons. (Or at least I had to – maybe hummus is different in the US ? )
Hi Sean, thank you for sharing your experience. Tahini can vary by brand, which might account for the bitterness.
This hummus recipe is the best! Lovely texture and taste. You’re right, letting the garlic stand in the lemon juice for at least ten minutes after blending really mellowed it out. So delicious.
Just made the plain hummus without adding roasted peppers, etc. to see what base recipe was like. I’ve only tried making hummus a few times before and cooking the chickpeas first definitely made a difference. Thank you.
I’ve made this several times now, and it’s always wonderful. So fun and easy to prepare, and easy to tweak to your own personal taste. Be adventurous! Thank you for the recipe, cheers!
i just tried this today and turned out finger licking good!! my picky eater daughter loved it as well, big plus! my first time making hummus at home. it’s easy for sure but requires a bit of planning to make for the week. but also, it’s going to be hard to go back to store bought hummus after this! =)
thank you for the wonderful recipe, kate!
Drove to Trader Joe’s for tahini (out) settled on a Greek one from another store, doubled the garlic lemon. It’s the best hummus! It takes long but totes worth it.
The last hummis recipe I will ever need. Its fabulous
This really is the best hummus! Made recipe exactly and it was so good &creamy. I made a few more batches and that’s all we ate all week. Thanks so much!!
The last batch I added a roasted beet to the hummus and it was super good and turned a really pretty hot pink color.
This is an awesome recipe! I added 1 1/2 tbs of fresh rosemary to this recipe and it was amazing. This recipe is the best of the best. Thank you for sharing.
Seriously creamy and delicious!
Hi Kate. Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe. Thanks to you I no longer buy hummus from the store. It’s just a wonderful recipe.
I am wondering if I can add roasted red peppers to this recipe? Would you recommend adding it on top or mixing it in the blender along with other ingredients?
Hi Helena, I’ve had hummus with the roasted red peppers blended in, and with them diced and added on the top. Both were good, it’s just a matter of preference. I’ve tried so many different flavored hummus recipes, but always return to the standard base recipe. Feel free to experiment. Once you’ve got this method, it’s easy to try different flavor combinations.
I just finished making this recipe and wow! Delicious! I’m super pleased with the result and glad I doubled the recipe. This recipe is so much better than ones I have used in the past. Thanks Kate.
By far the best recipe for hummus on the internet. So well researched, which I really appreciated. I have made this time and time again and it is perfection. My food snob brother-in-law thinks I am a genius when I make this – thanks Cookie and Kat for the street cred!
Hi, thank you so much! Just made a double batch today exactly as written. It turned out smooth and decadent.
I split it into two portions, one topped with olive oil and parsley and the other with olive oil, red pepper flakes and paprika (for my son who loves a spicy kick). These were both amazing for my guests and gobbled up. We were asked for the recipe by multiple as well, all appreciating how fluffy it turned out.
So pleased with the outcome – thanks so much for the amazing recipe!
Chris
Thanks for doing the leg work for us on this GREAT Recipe! I’ve made it twice now in the past month and LOVE it!
This is THE best recipe! I’ve been trying to recreate my favorite restaurant hummus. I’ve even peeled each chick pea which was super annoying and it still didn’t get creamy. Boiling w the baking soda and mixing at each step made the meat batch!! Thank you!!!!!
Thank you!
I am in awe! This was my 10th and final attempt to find a hummus recipe that would make me crave it. This was hands down the best (and so easy) I have ever made or had!
I immediately shared it with my two oldest daughters telling them..”DO THIS EXACTLY! DON’T CHANGE A THING!”
Hi Kate, your recipe for hummus is the absolute best. I make for several friend groups and every one is over the moon with first bite.
My go to hummus recipe!
This is the first time making homemade hummus and I don’t need to find another recipe. The absolute best I’ve ever tasted in a restaurant or anywhere. Great recipe!!!
Just wow! It was easy and delicious!