How to make homemade hummus in eight delicious flavors! In just 5 minutes and with minimal ingredients, you can have smooth and creamy hummus ready for the snacking.
I think we all go through that one phase growing up where we discover a certain food and proceed to eat only that food for an entire month. For me, that food was hummus. The time, college.
I mean, hummus is a totally acceptable meal when you’re in college. And if I had only known at the time just how easy it is to make hummus at home, and how many flavors you can make with the ingredients you already have in your fridge, I may well have continued eating hummus for every meal all four years!
Today we’re making eight of our favorite hummus flavors:
- Plain
- Roasted Pepper
- Chipotle
- Sun Dried Tomato and Basil
- Roasted Garlic
- Jalapeno Cilantro
- Spinach
- Tahini-Free
Just pick the flavor you want to make, throw the ingredients in a food processor. Boom, hummus!
Homemade Hummus Ingredients
Each of these flavored hummus recipes contains the same base of ingredients. You’ll need:
- Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas are easiest, but you can get even creamier hummus by cooking the chickpeas yourself. Cook them until they’re ultra-soft (borderline mushy) and your hummus will be dreamy.
- Olive Oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil (I used a bottle my mom hand pressed in Greece, hence the label in the photo).
- Tahini: Ground sesame seeds are a necessity in hummus. Find it in the international aisle of your grocery.
- Lemon: Flavor matters here, so aim for fresh squeezed lemon juice if possible.
- Garlic: Do we ever need a reason for garlic?
- Salt and Pepper: Finish with a dash of salt and pepper (and any other spices you like!)
How to make ultra smooth hummus
Sometimes the question comes up as to whether or not you should peel the chickpeas when making hummus. I’ve tried it and can definitively say that you should only peel the chickpeas if you have time on your hands.
Hummus made form peeled chickpeas is slightly more smooth, but given that it easily adds 20 minutes to the hummus making process, the benefit isn’t worth it.
An easier way to get smooth hummus is by soaking and cooking your own (dried) chickpeas, then cooking them for a bit longer than is normal. Your chickpeas will be super soft and will be transformed into silky smooth hummus (no peeling required!)
1. Plain Hummus
To make traditional hummus, you’ll just combine chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon, garlic, salt, and pepper in a food processor until smooth. This creates the base recipe that you can either enjoy as is, or add flavors to for more off-the-wall hummus flavors!
2. Roasted Pepper Hummus
Based on my favorite condiment, Romesco Sauce, this flavor is full of roasted red peppers and smoked paprika.
3. Chipotle Hummus
For a Mexican-inspired dip, try out this smoky chipotle hummus. You’ll just add a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce to the base hummus ingredients and blend until smooth. Optionally replace the lemon juice with lime juice!
4. Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Hummus
Go Mediterranean by adding sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil! So delicious with parmesan pita chips.
5. Roasted Garlic Hummus
No post about the best hummus flavors would be complete without a roasted garlic hummus recipe! We’ll roast a head of garlic then throw that in with the base hummus ingredients to create the most delectable dip.
6. Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus
We didn’t except to love this one as much as we do…but oh how we love it! With the kick of jalapeno and the Mexican pizazz of cilantro, this is one of our favorite hummus flavors!
7. Spinach Hummus
For a boost of super green power, add spinach! The taste of the leafy greens isn’t detectable, and it ramps up the nutrients in your hummus!
8. Hummus without tahini
Not a fan of tahini, or can’t find it in your grocery? You can make hummus without it if need be!
Ways to Eat Hummus
While these hummus flavors are all great on their own, you can also use hummus in cooking. Here are a few of our favorite ways (find more hummus inspiration here).
- Slather it on toast with some sliced cucumber
- Use it as a dressing in salad
- Add it to meal prep for a Mediterranean lunch
- Scramble it with tofu for an “eggy” breakfast
- Drizzle it on pita sandwiches for an easy dinner
- Layer Mediterranean vegetables on top
Ingredients
Base Ingredients
- 1 15-oz can chickpeas* 425 g, drained and rinsed – reserve chickpea juice
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 45 mL
- 3 Tbsp tahini 45 mL
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice 30 mL
- 1 clove garlic except for roasted garlic flavor
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Flavor Options
- Roasted Pepper: 1 or 2 roasted red peppers, ½ tsp smoked paprika optionally replace the lemon juice with lime juice
- Chipotle: 1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Sun Dried Tomato: ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, 2 to 4 Tbsp fresh basil
- Roasted Garlic: ½ head roasted garlic**
- Jalapeno Cilantro: 1 seeded and ribbed jalapeno, ½ cup fresh cilantro
- Spinach: 2 cups fresh spinach
- Tahini-Free: Replace tahini with 1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Choose a flavor you would like to make. Add the base ingredients plus the flavor makers to a food processor. Blitz until smooth and creamy, adding a dash of chickpea juice as needed to achieve a smooth and creamy texture. For best texture, let cool in the fridge for an hour before eating.
Tips & Tricks
- *Dried chickpeas: This recipe is great if you soak and cook the chickpeas yourself. Cook the chickpeas a bit longer than usual, until they become very soft (borderline mushy). This will give you the creamiest hummus!
- **To roast garlic:
- Cut about ½ inch (1 cm) off the top of the bulb of garlic to expose the tops of the cloves. Gently peel off excess papery skin, leaving on the skins of the individual cloves.
- Pour olive oil into the bulb then wrap bulb in aluminum foil.
- Set foil-wrapped bulb directly onto oven rack and roast at 400 degrees F (200 C) for 30 to 40 minutes, until cloves are soft. Allow to cool slightly before handling.
Greg says
Yum, hummus is awesome! At home, we have been experimenting with several different kinds of beans. After chick peas, we have used Mayocoba beans (available at our Walmart), which have a nice slightly pleasant nutty flavor. Many thanks again for the recipes 🙂
Sarah says
Such a fun idea to try different beans! I’ll have to give it a go 😀
Bonnie says
I made the base recipie and stirred in some olive tapenaude. Put a dollup of tapenaude and a swirl of EVOO on top. My guests raved about it. I used canned chickpeas but will try it with dried chickpeas in my Instant Pot the next time to see, the difference. How long will it keep in the fridge? Can it be frozen?
Sarah says
YUM! That sounds like a delicious addition! It should keep in the fridge for 5 to 7 days, but it CAN be frozen! 😀
Kathleen says
Hi Sarah,
Fantastic recipe! Your instructions are great especially for someone such as myself that does not have time and not much of a cook.
This is so good plain, however, I mixed in salsa in half of the recipe which added some zip to it.
Many thanks to you!
Sarah says
Yum, sounds so tasty with salsa! I’ll have to try it next time 😀