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.
My daughter made your hummus recipe, it was so good I asked for the recipe. I made it today along with your epic baba ganoush recipe Both absolutely delicious!
That’s great to hear, Michelle! I appreciate your review.
oh my gosh, thanks for testing so many recipes and sharing all these tips, as they are so relavent and helpful!
Thank you for this recipe. It is truly the BEST hummus, and it was super easy to make. Anytime I want to make something lately I check your site first, so many tried and true recipes.
You’re welcome, Niki! It’s great to hear you keep coming back to the blog.
Best hummus I’ve ever had! I also have Syrian friends who said it was very good, so I consider that a major plus! It disappeared within 10 minutes at a dinner party.
Hooray! I love to hear that, Fleiler.
Easy and delicious!
Wow, this was easy and turned out great! I used a blender, accidentally just dumped everything in rather than sequencing it like directed, and doubled it, and it still turned out just fine. So soft and lots of fresh flavor. Plus, a ton cheaper than store bought, and no plastic. Thanks for a great recipe!
Extremely delish! I especially love the fact that you don’t need to remove the skins of the chickpeas. My favorite hummus, hands down!
Such a good tasting Hummus! Found this recipe easy to prep and make. It’s a keeper :)
Excellent recipe! 10 out of 10! If I am using roasted garlic so I still need to wait 10 minutes? It seems that the roasting would mellow the garlic already. What do you think?
Great to hear, Lucinda!
I have made this recipe many times and it always turns out great and of course, delicious! I like to add the roasted red peppers at the end.
YUMMY!!
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I had just cooked chickpeas and went looking for a recipe to make sure the balance was right. I found yours. So cooked the amount of chick peas for another 20 minutes with baking soda and followed the recipe exactly. OH MY GOODNESS!!! so creamy and just need to balance the salt. THANK YOU
You’re welcome, Linden! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Soom is 70 bucks. Wow. Out of stock too. Very interesting though!
TYVM!
Delicious thank you !!!
You’re welcome, Erica!
OH.MY.GAWD.!…….
EASY PEASY
DELICIOUS!
I will NEVER buy hummus EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!
SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Deneen.
This is my favorite hummus recipe! Cooking the canned chickpeas makes a real difference in the creamy texture. The ice water really does make it become light. Letting the garlic steep in the lemon juice cuts the bitterness. Those three tips are golden!! Rather than a food processor I use a Vitamix blender. I also make my own tahini. Messy but pays off in depth of flavor.
Fabulous!
OMG! This truly is the best hummus recipe I’ve tried so far and I think boiling the canned chickpeas really is the key. I live in China and Tahini is not so readily available but they have this amazing sauce that it’s used for eating hotpot which is a mix of toasted sesame seeds and peanuts and this was glorious! I also used a mix of lemon juice and lime juice since I like my hummus quite lemony, added a dash of paprika and voila, best hummus ever!
Great to hear you enjoyed it, Cristina!
I love your recipes and knew this would be great, BUT, it is so superb I doubt it will make it to cocktail hour, as intended. I am not fond of raw “sharp” garlic which ruins hummus for me. The garlic and lemon together took that sharpness away and I believe that and the mushy chickpeas made this dish. I added a little Tabasco, too. 10 stars! Sharing on my FB for all of my foodie friends.
Perfect! I made it exactly as the recipe said.
Great to hear, Stephanie!
What’s the point of adding baking soda if it’s going to be neutrilized by the lemon juice
Hi! See the post for details. It helps get everything to an even creamy consistency.
This is delicious…I really wasn’t expecting that, after attempting a few other failed hummus recipes I’d almost given up. I’ll be making this often, thanks!
I’m glad you tried this one, Jim! I appreciate your review.
This really is The Best Hummus! I was never a fan of hummus, until this!! Easy to make and totally yummy. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hummus is one of my favorite foods but I’ve never made it before. I just didn’t know how much better it would be but it’s so delicious! A little extra work to cook the chickpeas but so worth it. And I’m with you – extra lemon, please! Thank you for the great recipe – a keeper for sure!
This is a game changer for me! I’ve been dissatisfied with the lack of smoothness in my hummus but no way am I willing to peel chickpeas. This method really delivered — thank you!
Excellent hummus recipe! So easy. I added cayenne for a little kick. I made 20oz for about $1.75 vs $5.00 for 16oz at my low end grocery store. Plus I get to customize it!
KATE! GIRL! This hummus! I cannot even. For YEARS I have been trying to find the perfect hummus recipe and for years I have been disappointed. I didn’t even have the right tahini (although mine comes from Lebanon and I have to say it’s pretty darn good), but this recipe, these tips… I cannot even tell you. This is so good, I saved some for my husband to try when he gets home from work. That’s saying something, because this is some good hummus. ;-) Thank you thank you thank you thank you… tonight I shall go to sleep and dream of doing the backstroke in a vat of this beautiful stuff!
I’m delighted you loved this recipe!
I have tried a lot of hummus recipes that were good, but this is by far the BEST hummus I have ever made!!
Delicious hummus, BUT, in my experience, the quality of the tahini does “make or break” it.
Just tried this recipe today; the texture is silky and the flavor is perfect! Thank you for sharing the boiling in baking soda technique because I never would have thought THAT would be the secret to velvety hummus.
I’m happy you think so, Vaul! I appreciate your review.
I have made this several times, and it always turns out perfect. I wish I could take the credit for all of the compliments I get, but instead, I forward this recipe to everyone. Thanks for sharing
That’s great to hear, Jerry! Thank you for your review.
Spectacular. As delicious as Michael Solomov’s hummus, with the ease of using canned chickpeas. The schug on top added just the right notes. Full disclosure, I did use a stove top pressure cooker. Luckily the mushy garbanzo beans pureed beautifully into a silken mixture. I think your shortcut was pure genius!
This is the best hummus recipe I’ve ever tried. I didn’t have tahini so I just added about 1/2 tsp of sesame oil. I also used pink Himalayan salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. It was sooo good. Just the right amount of everything. It’s addicting. Thank you for your recipe.
Which Soom tahini product do you use before I order it from Amazon
( regular vs organic, not sure what unflavored tahini but that is a option also)
Thanks
I prefer organic, but which ever one you feel like will work for you!
This was an amazing recipe!! I’m very excited to make it again! I was just wondering how long you have seen this hummus last?
Thank you, Lisa!
Excellent recipe, one tip, in the last stage of blending the hummus add some bean water(aqua fava), either from the can or cooking water, with the processor running. It will cause the hummus to fluff up, turn whiter and become much lighter. Aqua fava is a trick used by bartenders as a egg white substitute and froths up nicely.
Absolutely delicious and creamy, such a great recipe. I took it to another lemony level by using Meyer Lemon olive oil. YUM!
Kate, I’m a die hard Ottolenghi hummus fan, and I make my chickpeas from dried. I’ve been pretty proud of myself but this recipe was a “game changer” as they say. This was incredibly easy and 10 times tastier. Thanks so much for saving the day…once again! Love your blog and default to it always when in search of a particular recipe!
I found rinsing beans beforehand and boiling in plain water made the hummus flavorless. So I cooked the beans in the liquid in the can with a lil extra H2O to cover and a tad of baking soda. Then drained but dod not rinse beans afterwards. Delicious!
My granddaughter(the hummus expert)
dipped her corn chip and said “ oh Nonna, this is really good hummus.”
Thank you for another great recipe.
Wonderful to hear, Marilyn!
Absolutely the best hummus I’ve ever had!! Boiling the chick peas is a game changer. Thank you!!!
I made it, I ate it, now I can’t stop thinking about it. So yummy, thank you!
This is the best hummus I have ever made. Thank you so much for sharing
Baking soda was the trick. This recipe is wonderful. I added the sun dried tomatoes and it is packed full of flavor and very creamy!
I’m happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for your review, Karen.
I have used this recipe about 5 times and everyone that has tried it, loves it!! I added roasted red peppers on my last try and it turned out great!
I love to hear that, Cris! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is hands down the most well thought and researched easy hummus recipe, the tips and tweaks are perfect. So easy, it was still warm when I served. Perfection ♥️
Great to hear, Melissa!
Hi Kate, all the way from Zimbabwe! I tried this recipe and it was fantastic, it finished in one day!
Any idea what shelf life is for it? Also how to store it for longevity?
Hi! See the last step – Leftover hummus keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.
Omg!! This is the trick. Best hummus ever!
Great to hear, Natalie!
Omg!! This is the trick. Best hummus ever! Thank you. Love it.
This is by far the best hummus recipe I’ve tried. Our family loves it. We now make it every week to have on hand for snacks. Soaking the garbanzo beans in the baking soda makes a huge difference.
I’m glad you love it, Jennifer! I appreciate your review.
This is the best hummus! The first time I made it, my adult son gave me a hard time about the tahini. He quieted down rather quickly once he tried it. We are all hooked! Thank you so much!
Great to hear, Julie!
I have made several hummus recipes, but I can honestly say this is the creamiest and the best flavor I have made. I love the cooked chickpeas. Thank you!
Great to hear, Diane!