Essential Homemade Hummus
Last time I counted there were nearly a dozen brands of hummus for sale at my local grocery store. Hummus is a versatile dip that is rich in brain-healthy ingredients, like chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon, and anti-inflammatory spices. Most store-bought hummus provides a convenient, healthy snack. (Be sure to check the label and avoid any with hydrogenated fats or added sugars.)
If you haven’t made hummus from scratch, however, you will be delighted to discover how easy it is to whip up a batch from pantry ingredients. One of these ingredients—tahini—is a paste made from toasted and hulled sesame seeds.
Tahini is a brain health superstar
Adding tahini to recipes provides calcium, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, iron, B complex vitamins, and protein. Packed with brain-friendly monounsaturated fats, tahini gives foods a creamy texture without adding saturated fat. And the tiny sesame seeds, when ground into tahini, release a brain-healthy phytonutrient—sesamol, which has been studied in animals and found to clear amyoid plaque from the brain. It’s too early to tell if the sesamol in tahini could help humans fend off alzheimer’s, but sesame seed-containing foods have been considered memory-boosters as far back as the 8th century.
Hummus as a snack, hummus as a meal
Hummus can be a healthful snack, especially when paired with vegetables for dipping. Make hummus into a meal by topping with crumbled meat, such as spiced lean ground bison, and let everyone dig in with veggies and pita bread triangles. I call it Loaded Hummus Nachos. No one misses the gooey cheese or the chips.
The secret to incredibly creamy hummus
Is there a secret to making the creamiest, most flavorful hummus? Here are a few:
- Puree chickpeas while warm. If using canned chickpeas, warm them on the stove or in the microwave first. Serve the hummus warm, too. I’ll think you find it makes all the subtle flavors more apparent.
- Go to town on the toppings. Add pomegranate seeds, toasted sesame seeds, parsley, and cilantro. Crispy spiced chickpeas or a few spoonfuls of warm cooked ones add texture and a nice contrast to the creamy hummus.
- Use your best extra-virgin olive oil and drizzle liberally just before serving.
Prep Time | 15 minutes, add time for an overnight soak if cooking dried chickpeas from scratch |
Cook Time | Up to 2 hours if cooking chickpeas from scratch, none if using canned |
Servings |
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- 3 cups freshly cooked chickpeas or two 15-oz cans, drained
- ½ cup tahini well-stirred and at room temperature
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ preserved lemon peel and pulp, seeds discarded
- ½ tsp kosher or sea salt plus more to taste
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- ¼ cup chickpea cooking liquid or water or more
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- cilantro or parsley sprigs for serving
- cumin paprika, sumac or Aleppo pepper, for sprinkling on top
- 6 carrots preferably red, yellow, purple and orange, cut into 3-inch sticks, for dipping
- endive leaves celery sticks, radish slices, sugar snap peas, or other raw vegetables, for dipping
Ingredients
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- Drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking water, and cool slightly. Reserve a half-cup of chickpeas to top the finished hummus, and transfer the rest to a food processor. If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse well. Warm gently in the microwave or over the stove before adding to food processor.
- Add the tahini, lemon juice, preserved lemon, salt, and garlic and blend until very smooth, about 1 minute.
- With the motor running, drizzle in the chickpea cooking liquid or water until you have a spreadable consistency. Blend for another minute until competely smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt or lemon juice if needed.
- Transfer to a serving dish, drizzle with olive oil, dust with spices, and top with whole chickpeas and herbs.
- Serve warm with raw vegetables for dipping.
- Any leftovers should be covered with a thin layer or oil and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
For the creamiest hummus, overcook the chickpeas slightly and puree them while warm. If using canned chickpeas, warm before pureeing.
If cooking dried chickpeas from scratch, be sure to save some of the cooking liquid to put back into the hummus. Packed with nutrients that seep out during the cooking process, it is a healthful and flavorful addition to soups and stews, and sauces.
One cup of dried chickpeas yields 3 cups when cooked. Each 15-oz can of chickpeas yields about 1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas.
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