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 am OBSESSED with this recipe. I follow the directions exactly as stated, and then I top with chopped marinated olives. I seriously make it every week. Thank you!!
Your’e welcome, Kberg!
My wife and I love this hummus recipe and make it often. We also make your baba ganoush recipe and like it as well. My wife is an avid gardener and had a bumper crop of assorted eggplants this year. So we combined the roasted eggplant from baba ganoush with the basic hummus recipe and it was wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Great to hear, Paul! Thank you for your review.
I made hummus once and it was so meh that I didn’t try and make it again for years. Store bought stuff gets uneaten in our fridge because it’s so unappetizing. I’ve been looking for a hummus that reminds me of the creamy dollops of hummus from Mediterranean grills. Craving satisfied. This hummus was so incredibly delicious! Light, creamy, flavorful, smooth, not bitter whatsoever. I will be making this again and again. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome, Holly!
Do you blend the chickpeas with the skins or do you pIck them out after you cook them?
No need to discard. I hope you enjoy it, Alana!
Thanks for the recipe Lisa!
Second time of making it and disasters- my nutribullet has given up the ghost. I’ve had to use a stick blender to blend the mix and it’s not smooth at all, but I’m giving up after 30 minutes blending. Oh well it still tastes lovely.
I saw a food show about Israel. They were talking about another secret to creamy hummus is blending it for 3-4 minutes. Doing so upped my hummus game tremendously. This is a fantastic recipe. I am making it again tonight for Mediterranean veggie pitas. It’s probably the best recipe I have found for hummus. So smooth.
Great to hear, Kimberly! I appreciate your review.
Dearest Kate. This recipe makes amazing hummus! Your website has become a top favorite of mine. THANK YOU!
You’re welcome, Ann!
Deeeeeeelish!!!! This is the silkiest, smoothest hummus I’ve ever tasted – and my family is from Lebanon and Israel! My husband has hounded me to make more and more – he eats it every day. The mushy chickpeas that don’t have to be peeled are a game-changer – they do make all the difference!! THANKS for sharing this recipe! I can’t wait to try some of your others…baba ganoush may be next.
Thank you so very much Kate , by far the best recipe I’ve tried on the internet.
Me for the last 10 years: “I don’t like hummus.”
The store brands have never tasted good to me. And the only homemade hummus I’d ever tried, I now realize, was very underseasoned. I thought I just didn’t like hummus, but I really wanted to! Lately I’ve been hearing how much better homemade tastes, so I was off to the Googles to find a good recipe… and boom! So glad I picked this one! This hummus is so simple, and tastes absolutely amazing.
Me today: “I love hummus!”
Yum! This is the creamiest, best hummus ever!
This is really the absolutely best hummus we ever ate.
My husband and I just ate the WHOLE batch with loaded potatoes.
It was so good, we couldn’t stop. Next time I definitely need to make more :-)
This tips with the garlic, ice water and the very soft chickpeas are fantastic! Thank you!
Omg!! I can’t believe how great this actually turned out! This makes me so happy because my friend and I are on a health kick and she’s been buying hummus like crazy, and is having a hard time finding a really good one. Her birthday is coming up, so I thought I’d try and make her a batch of this and see how it turned out. I’m glad I times the recipe by 4, because now I also get some.. haha. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this awesome recipe!!! I’m going to go sit and eat this now.
Made this and had to throw away. I did stick to the exact amounts!!..other receipies ask for 1 tablespoon of tahini taking your 1/2 cup of tahini not sure!! If this is equivalent! but the killer was the baking soda just tasted awful.sorry !! What was I doing wrong? Other comments are very positive would love to know
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this recipe. I appreciate your feedback, Sheena.
Did you put the baking soda in the actual hummus? It’s the just for boiling the chickpeas with. The tahini you have is probably not a good one. Some are very bitter but if you get a good one it will be amazing in this recipe!
You have to rinse the baking soda off the chick peas very well before you add them to the tahini/lemon/garlic mixture. Btw I added extra lemon juice at the end which gave it a sharper taste too.
I had given up on humus not anymor
Well the bicarb cooking really makes ALL the difference! Adding water too, I’ve made this tonight but ran out of lemon juice, which as you have said needs more – never mind I’ll rush out tomorrow and just wizz it in.
Thank you for sharing such an important secret to so many of us that have tried and failed in the past x
I’ve been making hummus for years and this is by far my favorite recipe. You had me with the photograph of the ultra smooth swirls so I had to try it myself. I add zatar, a dash of soy sauce, and a little sriracha for an extra bite.
Preface- I HATE HUMMUS. Also hate lemons…
and then there was THIS! Did my typical thing and made it my own (lime, double EVOO, heated cumin in skillet) and asked the gf ” are you a hummus person?” She tried it and said she is now. I tried it and am in awe. She foundbout i made it in a blender and wont talk to me because im too good for her. Hummus has arrived
I make this recipe once a month or so, recently we’ve been so busy that I’ve resorted to buying store hummus and let me tell you, my husband is NOT having it, this past Monday while buying garlic and lemon my husband perked up and said he would help me with chores so I could get around to making it
Goodbye store-bought hummus! Thank you for the recipe and sharing the tricks for boiling the chickpeas and letting the garlic mellow in the lemon juice. Small but mighty game changers!
I did make a boo boo and put bicarb in the hummus had no idea it was for the chickpeas as I used tinned!! Will certainly try again hopefully will have great success next time.thanks for input
Fool proof! I was hesitant to make it because I don’t have a food processor, just a regular blender. I decided to give it a shot, used all ingredients as listed and it came out great. I did use an extra tablespoon of water as suggested but otherwise was able to follow the recipe exact. It came out so smooth and delicious. One can yields enough to last you a few days. Eating now as a snack. Can’t wait to make it again.
Fabulous and easy!!
Hi!
Could you please tell me what the equivalent of 1/2 a cup of tahini is in grams?
Thanks!!
I don’t provide metric conversions. Sorry!
This turned out so smooth, I love it, I had made hummus before but always turned out a little gritty, now I know the secret. I did add extra cumin and some garlic powder for my taste. Fantastic recipe ! Thank you
You’re welcome, Brenda!
I’ve tried to make hummus many times and I’ve always failed. THIS IS THE BEST HUMMUS RECIPE! Smooth, creamy, and oh so tasty. Oh, and did I mention it was quick enough to make for lunch? Thank you!
You’re welcome, CJ!
If using canned chickpeas do you have to cook them?
See the post. It helps ensure the best results.
Y’all need to RUN to try this. I’m not even finished blending in the olive oil and I stopped to make this review. It’s the most delicious hummus I have ever made/had.
Thank you, Chelbs!
I didn’t know I could make hummus! It was perfect.
Why do you use baking soda if you’re using canned chickpeas?
Hi Iva, see the post. It helps make sure all the chickpeas are cooked evenly.
We loved this hummus directly after making it, texture and taste was perfect. We put it in the fridge for a few hours and took it out to have more and the flavor completely changed and doesn’t taste good at all. Any suggestions on what might have a caused the flavor change?
That’s strange. I’m not sure. Sounds like something may have gone bad.
Kate, you have saved my barfalicious humus with your efforts to share the wisdom of the great wizard Solomonov. The olfactory and gustatory circuits of my family thank you.
Just made this. Super good! Super easy. And super smooth hummus! I dislike the standard store bought kind that can be a little moussy and prefer the texture of Sabra, and this is just like that. Nice and creamy! I did mine in a ninja blender so I couldn’t gradually pour things in as I blended, but it worked fine just dumping it in, blending, then dumping the next thing in. No issues! Great and will be a staple recipe for me :)
By clove garlic, do you mean one clove or the whole bulb?
Just clove of the bulb of garlic.
I have made this recipe so many times and it’s always perfect. Making another batch tomorrow for work lunches this week. Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe.
You’re welcome, Joseph!
I just made this hummus and it’s delicious. I added a little more salt, cumin and I added some garlic powder. I topped it with roasted garlic
This is the best homemade hummus recipe I have ever come across and has promptly replaced all others in my recipe file. Randomly made this in between some other things on a food prep day and literally ended up going on a snack break to indulge right away!
Love it! The boiling trick is what I’ve been missing. No more grainy hummus for me! Thanks.
I CANNOT wait to try this recipe! My boyfriend lives on Lana’i Island (just south of Maui) and they have 2 very small stores on the entire island. Finding Hummus is impossible! The weekly barge delivery never seems to deliver the same thing from week to week. It is so frustrating. TEXTURE is huge for me… I’ve come to enjoy Hummus, but never a fan of the texture. This looks and sounds excellent and the reviews speak for themselves! THANK YOU for sharing – waiting on my Tahini (from you link above), so I can make this delicious recipe!
I hope you love it, Kelly!
I just found and made this recipe – went totally by the book except I didn’t have sea salt so I used regular salt. It turned out great! My guests loved it. I will make it again on a regular basis. It’s the best hummus I ever had. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Lynn!
I’m getting ready to make this. Since I’m in Europe, I’m trying to get the best tahini before. I found many with Ethipian seeds, but should the be peeled or not peeled seeds? Any experience with this? Thank you!
Hi Paulina, Typically it is hulled.
After having painstakingly peeled a can of chickpeas, this recipe has been a godsend. Making hummus is no longer a chore…thank you. I rarely buy store bought❤️
Great to hear, Krista! I appreciate your review.
Great recipe, thank you! I find using my food processor (rather than blender) mixes the tahini more effectively and I don’t need to use as much ice water (limiting to the 2 tbsp). It also results in a silkier hummus, particularly when running for up to 5 mins, with some scraping down!
This is the BEST hummus ever! I’ve made the recipe countless times and it’s way better than any store bought (even from nice delis.)
Perfect recipe, loved all the little tips along the way, like soaking the garlic in the lemon juice, add an ice cube to lighten texture and colour … texture and flavour were both amazing… this recipe is a keeper!
Thank you for your review, Debbie!
Best hummus I ever made, and probably the best I ever ate! (but I’m biased ’cause I made it!) Nutty. Great texture. The Tips really make it: cooking the chickpeas, adding the ice water slowly. It’s like chemistry experiment watching it change and become hummus. Note I think you really need a food processor for this. I’ll never buy hummus again.
This is the BEST recipe I’ve found. One of my coworkers is from Jordan. I told him I made hummus and he turned his nose up at it. He asked to “look” at it and when he did he said it was perfect. That’s all the validation I need. Once in a while I’ll add hot sauce and bleu cheese to it to make it “buffalo style” for our Bills games. So delish
I’m happy you enjoy it, Andrea!
Hey! I’m almost there, definitely best hummus I made! My tahini was rather on a liquid side, but it got quite thick when mixed with lemon and garlic. Is that normal? I used more water as suggested in the recipe, but it didn’t help much. Should I use more olive oil or sth? Or is my tahini simply not good? Thanks!
It could just be the type of tahini you used. Did you stir the jar of tahini? It can be more runny than peanut butter or nut butters. How did it turn out?
Yup,it was quite runny. Now, when I think about it, maybe I used too big speed for stirring (I’ve got thermomix and did it in there). I suppose it just needs to connect together and doesn’t have to be extra stirred… thank you!
I have eaten a lot of hummus in restaurants but this recipe by far is the best hummus I have ever eaten. This will be a staple in my home going forward.
I’ve been making hummus for over 20 years and have always stuck to two recipes, until now. This is going to be my GO TO! It is absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try other variations with this as the base. I plan on making some for our family get together for Christmas also. I’m so glad I came across it, thank you!
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Jo.
Years ago I tried making hummus and didn’t like the results. Now, I decided to try again and absolutely love this recipe. It was so much better than store bought. I’m getting ready to make another batch right now.