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.
I made this yesterday. It’s great! I’ll be bringing half of what I made to my daughter (passed to her through the car window, of course). I’m wondering if I could use less tahini. I ended up putting in more garbanzo beans to balance the tahini. Thanks!
I used half the amount of tahini and turned out great. You don’t have to add anything in place.
i am from the UK and cups as units of measurement mean nothing to me. Can someone please translate the recipe into grams and/or mls.
Thanks
Cups to grams weight converter
If you’re confused by US baking recipes, look no further…
https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/food/cups-to-grams-converter-87833
Amazing!
I did it! Yes, it seemed to take forever. I started with dried beans soaked overnight, but it was worth the time and trouble. Taste is delish and the preparation helped me get through another day of lock-down here in Panama. Thanks, the next time I make it I will try some variations hopefully to share with friends when we all emerge! Thanks again, Octavia
So glad to hear it turned out well, Kathleen! I hope we’re all able to eat hummus together soon. :) Stay well!
Well, that worked! You have resolved my long struggle! Thank you sooo much!
FINALLY I can make hummus better than store bought! THANK YOU SO INCREDIBLY MUCH!!!
You’re welcome, Jenny! I’m happy you love it.
I LOVE your hummus recipe and passed it on to two of my friends already this week. It is a big hit with my family. I am making another batch this afternoon. I toast and grind my own cumin seeds for this. YUM!
Thank you, Diane
Seriously the best Hummus I’ve ever made, possibly ever tasted. It was awesome! Thanks.
Awesome! Must be something to the garlic and lemon mix before adding anything else. I left my hummus recipe overseas in January and found yours today. Thank You!!
We are trying to make this but the tehini etc in the food processor is not thickening. What can we do? What did we do wrong?
Hey Michele! Did you add the ice-cold water? That typically thickens up the tahini. Hope your hummus turned out well regardless.
Hi, just made this hummus. Taste amazing!
How long would this last for in the fridge?
Leftover hummus keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.
I eat hummus as part of my meal plan. I’ve been buying organic from the grocery..but I’m obviously limiting my time in stores…and store bought is expensive. So when I knew a few weeks back that I might have to make my own, I bought garbanzo beans and tahini. I’ve never made hummus. The first recipe I tried tasted mainly of olive oil and was not creamy. A friend sent me your recipe. LOVE IT! Due to my previous dislike of the Olive Oil flavor, and reading that some people use no oil, I used a little more than 1/2 TBSP of my favorite flavorless oil: Organic Chosen Blend Avocado, Coconut, Safflower. No need to try any more recipes. This one is perfect. I didn’t have fresh organic lemons, so I used bottled organic lemon juice.
Agree this is the best ever.. trawled the internet after my first batch was NQR.. found your site and followed recipe to the letter .. almost swooned at the taste.. thank you
The creamiest hummus ever…and absolutely delicious!!!
Thank you so much for sharing
Best,
Marilyn
OMG! This is by far THE best hummus I have ever tasted in years. I grew up in the Middle East and this hummus reminded me of my childhood. Real smooth and creamy. THANK YOU!
Best hummus I have ever made. Thank you for this recipe. It is so smooth and tasty.
Best hummus ever! I’m already addicted, and I just finished making it 1/2 hour ago! I guess there are worse things to be addicted to. ;-)
Looking forward to more cooking with Cookie and Kate, since I don’t have much else to do right now. :-o
I hope you find more recipes you love! Thanks for sharing what you thought of this one, Heidi.
I have been making hummus at home for quite a while, but decided I needed a better recipe. I am so glad I found this Best Hummus recipe because it really is the best. Smooth, creamy, light, and flavorful. I grind my own cumin seeds and buy sumac in bulk at a Middle Eastern market. I can’t wait to try the recipe again with some Ethiopian tahini!
Plus I am excited to try your other recipes since I am eating a lot of vegetarian meals these days.
The best
This is the best Hummus recipe I have ever tried. I also use dried chickpeas, which I soak overnight and then boil, along with the baking soda. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome, Steven!
This is a perfect hummus recipe – thanks! If i were making jalapeno hummus, at what stage would i add the fresh jalapenos? Would it be after the tahini? Thanks again!
Thank you!! Yes, I think that sounds like a good time to add the jalapeños. Great idea!
This was my first time making hummus and I’m never buying it from the store again! So delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
I’m glad you loved it, Elaine!
I have never been able to make good hummus and have been discouraged, but this one is AMAZING! I absolutely love the recipe and how the hummus cane out. The texture is exactly what I’ve been trying to find! Thank you for this recipe.
I just made this but doubled the recipe. All I taste is tahini. Wish I would have started with less and added more.
Hi there, Cookie and Kate.
I absolutely cherish this recipe. I have tried before and …. failed. gluggy thick mess. :-)
Thank you for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that, Shelley!
Thank you so much as I am trying it tomorrow.
I always make my own hummus. Always from canned chickpeas. I’ve never boiled them with baking soda before (although I did read that somewhere along the way). Figured it was worth a shot. Wow was it delicious. That definitely made the difference. I made a double batch and used oregano in the hummus along with cumin. I’ll make it this way from here on out. Served it with mixed roasted veggies, cherry tomatoes and pita chips. One of my favorite dinners. Thanks for another great recipe!
I have been making my own hummus and tahini for a long time ant have come up with numerous different variations. Hummus is an easily made dish.here in india canned items are hard to come by but fresh chickpeas and other all other ingredients make it better……my latest hummus is flavoured with sauteed capsicum.,curry leaf and tomato. in addition i always use cummin and green corrainder.
Love the recipe it’s the best the ice water is a great hack I add extra lemon juice and less salt and everyone loveslovesloves it with thinly sliced fresh baguette toasts. Adding the baking soda to the canned garbanzo during boiling also works since I’ve tested it both way. Follow the steps for the smoothest most delicious hummus you’ll ever eat.
I am looking forward to trying this recipe! Could you advise on using the traditional method for soaking the beans overnight and cooking for this recipe? When should the baking soda be added for this technique? during soaking or just during cooking? Have you used a crock pot and how was that? Thank you for sharing your passion!
Hi Elizabeth! I’ve not tried cooking beans in a slow cooker, but it should be possible. If cooking on the stove, you could follow this method (note that this recipe yields more than mine, so the quantities don’t match up perfectly). Hope that helps!
Just finished making this hummus. Delicious .
My trick to getting the chickpeas very soft? Simmer them as described in the recipe, and then forget them while doing Saturday morning crossword puzzles. After 1hour take off heat ♀️ Luckily they did not cook dry! But I have the smoothest hummus!
I have been scouring the internet for a good hummus recipe and this is the best I’ve found to authentic tasing hummus!
When making it in the past, mine always came out to lumpy.
I use to dump everything in together but now see how the order of ingredients, the ice water and cooking those beans really makes a luscious smooth hummus.
what exactly does the baking soda do?
I added extra lemon juice and cumin. Next time I’m going to experiment with other spices. Everyone loves this thank you!
I also bought good tahini from a middle eastern store and leave it in the cabinet instead of refrigerator which makes it to hard. I think its good that way for a few months but now I will be going through it much quicker.
Amazing!!!!
I love this recipe! I make it at least once a week. I wanted to make another batch this week but I only have great northern beans. Will those work? And if so, would you boil them in the water with baking soda like the chick peas? Thank you!
Hi Lindsey! You really need chickpeas/garbanzo beans to make this hummus. I haven’t tried with another variety, sorry!
This recipe is amazing. I just tried it and had it for dinner along with some freshly baked bread and it was excellent, thanks a lot for sharing this. I can’t wait for the restrictions to be lifted, i’ll be making this when i have friends over. In the interim, i have shared the link to this page with friends.
Hi Katherine!
Your hummus is worth for the Gods! I tried another recipe before yours and my family were not impressed, but they liked yours right away. It is absolutely deliciousssss. Thank you so much for your research. I am so happy I found you.
Thérèse, Toronto, Canada
You’re kind! Thank you for your rave review.
I always have problems finding good tahini, so I made my own and added it to this hummus. Thanks for the great recipe.
You’re welcome! I like you used your own tahini.
Recipes from *Occupied Palestine but hummus was great!
Absolutely delicious! Question: can I freeze it?
Thanks Sirie! I think you can freeze the hummus. Let it defrost in the fridge and then whisk it back together well. Keep in mind that freezer burn and long freezer storage times (longer than a couple of months) can negatively impact flavor.
I made this and it was perfect.
Exactly how you described and a world away from the grainy supermarket versions.
So much so we wondered if it was supposed to be that creamy! Luddites!!
Hi Kate,
Could you please post the recipe for tahini to put in the hummus. It’s lockdown and there is no way to get store bought tahini. I have sesame seeds at home. I saw a tahini recipe in your blog. Since it isn’t kind to the hummus recipe, I assume that it cannot be used in the hummus recipe.
Thanks,
Nandu
thank you. this is a perfect tahini…subtle and rich.
I subbed sumac for cumin (personal preference). Used 1tsp salt, 4 tbsps water and 1 enormous lemon (1/4 cup juice). Would definitely make again. Thanks for sharing this excellent recipe!!
Was amazing. Will never buy store bought hummus again!!!!
I dehydrate my roma tomatoes so they aren’t in oil and soft but very yummy. How would you add them for a sundried tomato flavor?
Hi Mary, sounds delicious! If they’re soft and pliable, I think you could easily toss a few in while blending the chickpeas. If desired, add more to taste and blend again. *If* your tomatoes aren’t soft enough to blend, you’ll just need to soak them in warm water for a bit.
Thanks I may use the water I cooked my garbanzo beans in to soften up the tomatoes before I add it to the rest of the mix to thin things out a bit. Thank you we love this hummus and love the cumin touch made a big difference!
Hello, I just want say how much I enjoyed making the Best Hummus and the Best Tabbouleh recipes. I have enjoyed both at restaurants plenty but I have wanting to make my own. Now that we are staying in place I eat out 99% less. I was very pleased at the final results. Next time I will look for an Ethiopian Tahini though.. Thank you for sharing with us
You’re welcome, Kim! Thanks for sharing you have enjoyed my recipes.
This is without a doubt the best hummus I have ever made!
It was a bit more labour intensive than I am used to and I burnt my first batch of chickpeas and only cooked for 10 mins the second time, but the extra effort definitely paid off for very smooth, creamy and fluffy hummus WITHOUT the preservatives! Thanks for your great recipe :-)
I love it! Thank you or sharing. I’m sorry to hear your first batch wasn’t as good. I appreciate your review, Rachael.
the BEST ever hummus I’ve made at home or have had anywhere! Like you said super light and fluffy. I did boil the chickpeas a little too long, but seemed fine. A lot of times the garlic is a little too much for me but I think soaking it in the lemon and salt was a great tip!! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
Best hummus ever! I used cooked chick peas and loved the subtle change in flavor from using canned chick peas. The proportion of ingredients in the recipe is perfect!
Looking forward to trying this. If you wanted to double the recipe would you need to double up the amount of baking soda? Or would 1/2 tsp still be good for 2 cans chickpeas. Thanks!
Hi! If you double this recipe, everything should be doubled. I hope that help! You want to make sure the baking soda has the proper impact on the chickpeas.