Hummus

Hummus is a delicious spread or dip made from chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and spices. It's commonly eaten in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Here in the United States, you can find store-bought versions at the grocery store, but we think you should skip those and make your own.

Homemade hummus is very easy to make and it tastes much better than anything you can buy at the store. If you don't have any tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds, you can try making it yourself (see our Easy Homemade Tahini Recipe) or leave it out.

A chickpea purée without it is still quite delicious. Just add more olive oil. Another option is to use a natural unsweetened creamy peanut butter in its place. We love serving this with flatbread

The secret to the smoothest, most luxurious hummus is the order in which you add ingredients to your food processor. Seriously, it's that easy. Add tahini and lemon juice to your food processor, and then turn it on and process for a minute or until they whip up into a creamy paste. Watch our video and see how whipped and creamy they get.

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas or 1½ cups cooked chickpeas (250 g)
¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (60 mL)
¼ cup tahini, well-stirred (60 mL)
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (30 mL)
½ tsp. ground cumin
sea salt
2-3 Tbsp. water or aquafaba (30-45 mL)

To Serve:
dash ground paprika or sumac
extra-virgin olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps "whip" or "cream" the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.

Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a ½ tsp. of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended. Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1-2 minutes.

Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2-3 Tbsp. of water until you reach the perfect consistency.

Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and dash of paprika. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.

Makes 6 servings or about 1½ cups.

Cook's Notes:

• How to Cook Chickpeas: You can use canned or home-cooked chickpeas for this recipe. To see how we cook dried chickpeas, see our simple tutorial here. We have included three methods including how to do it in a slow cooker.
• If you love a strong garlic flavour in hummus, you might want to increase the garlic by a clove or you can add roasted garlic.
• Aquafaba is the starchy liquid in a can of beans (or the bean cooking liquid). You can use this instead of water in the last step of the recipe. Before using, taste the liquid to see how salty it is. If it is salty, consider holding some of the salt called for in the ingredient list back, and then season to taste after adding the aquafaba.