Chickpeas + tahini + lemon juice = hummus. You can add other things. But if you have a really, really good method, you don’t have to.

Rich, savory, tangy, and bright. Smooth and lustrous. Creamy and light.

Although this is a fantastic recipe, I think I’d be overstepping to say it’s restaurant quality. It’s not a fancy hummus … although I realize that for some people, making hummus at home would indeed be fancy. It’s something I have in the fridge at all times – mainly because I have a half-Lebanese husband. But it’s definitely not “everyday” in terms of quality. This is a smooth, creamy, tasty hummus.

Ingredients

• If you’ve made hummus before you may be reading this ingredient list and wondering how the hell it’s going to result in a really great hummus. It’s mostly because of the home-cooked chickpeas. The recipe that I’ve linked to steps you through not only cooking them, but seasoning them. They’re flat-out delicious, and when you start with delicious ingredients, you get delicious dishes. 
• 9 oz is the amount of chickpeas you’d get in a 14-oz can if you stained out the liquid. I suggest that you do not use canned chickpeas. You’ll get ordinary rather than spectacular results. 
• 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons of lemon juice is about half of the juice you get from the average lemon. But who buys average lemons? That’s why I measure out the juice. 
• Why does tahini always come in tall, thin jars? It’s impossible to stir … unless you use a sturdy chopstick. Don’t tell me you live in a chopstickless household. Don’t tell me that you’ve never visited a city with a sizable Asian market, and you went in, and you saw all the chopsticks, and you thought, “Oh, but how often would we ever use them, really?” Don’t tell me that when you cook Asian-inspired foods, that you eat them with a fork. I’m just not having any of it.  
• Using ice is a chef move. Literally, two friends of mine saw a chef do it and told me about it. It accomplishes two important things. First: prolonged, high-speed blending can heat up the nascent hummus. If you heat tahini too much, it can separate, which may leave you with a hummus that is dense and heavy. Ice helps keep that at bay. Second: as the ice chops, it aerates the hummus, producing a result that is light not just in terms of texture, but color. 
• The za’atar isn’t necessary, but it does add a nice, Mediterranean touch. 
• This is the time to get out your best olive oil. Otherwise, you’re missing an important opportunity. 
• I sometimes add garlic to this hummus, but it doesn’t need it. It’s plenty flavorful. However, if I’m in a pinch and have to use canned chickpeas, then I definitely add a clove of raw or two cloves of roasted garlic, because the canned chickpeas leave the hummus tasting a bit flat. 
• For the batch I photographed for this post, I garnished it with a lemon-infused olive oil. It didn’t hit it with a garnish of flaky salt, but I would. 

Tips & Tricks

• The only reason I add the salt in three additions is so that I can gauge the seasoning. The short intervals between tastings really seems to help with that. 
• Don’t hold back on the blending. It takes a lot of blending to get the hummus creamy. 
• My processor has three speeds. If it didn’t, I’d use the second-to-highest for the first blending, and the absolute highest for the other two. Speaking of processors, my timings are tied to my particular model. Your timings may vary wildly compared to mine.
• I’ve read that you should emulsify the tahini, lemon juice, and salt before adding the chickpeas, and that if you do, you’ll get a creamier hummus. I’ve tried it, and I’ll be damned – it’s true.

Leftovers

This keeps exceedingly well in the fridge. How long, I don’t know, because it never lasts for more than a few days at my house. If I had to guess, I’d say five days at the most. But do not take food safety advice from me. Having said that, let me just blather on and tell you that every time you dip something into the hummus, you’re introducing bacteria. To make it last as long as it can, spoon portions into a bowl or onto a plate with a very, very clean spoon, and don’t reuse the spoon if you later want more. Don’t dip your finger into it to taste it, no matter how you’re tempted, you Neanderthal. 

Serving, and Serving Sizes

I typically treat hummus as an appetizer or snack. Sometimes, as a side dish – for instance, as a substitute for potatoes or rice. It also makes an excellent small plate, or an addition to a charcuterie. In some settings, it may be served as a main: a large, warm bowl of hummus topped with whole chickpeas, olive oil, and sometimes spiced minced meat or pine nuts. I’ve not tried it that way, but I love the idea. 

According to my computer, a single serving of hummus is two tablespoons. Keeping in mind all the serving versatility I’ve just written about, and also acknowledging how much hummus I can eat while watching TV, half of this batch – or even the whole batch – might just be a single serving. 

The Backstory

I realize that you can find so many hummus recipes online. So many, that Gemini tells me the that the number isn’t fixed, but is likely in the tens of millions. Yes, and now it’s tens of millions and one.

The thing is, this isn’t really just a blog. It’s my personal cookbook. So, if I need a go-to hummus recipe, it’s needs to be on my blog, because my blog is what would’ve been for my grandparents a little bin full of 3 by 5 index cards, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles.

I’ve chosen to share my little cookbook with the world because … I don’t know … I guess because I believe that it’s good to freely share. It’s as good for the recipient as it is for the sharer. And it’s somehow both therapeutic and instructional for me to gather my thoughts in this way about the food that I cook.

Hummus

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #2 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs. 

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