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.
Excellent recipe! I made a somewhat good yet average hummus with another recipe. Not satisfied, I found yours and what a difference in terms of the smooth texture and delicious taste in your hummus recipe. My whole family and in-laws could not stop eating it!
That’s great to hear, Dennis! I appreciate your review.
Very good! I left out the cumin because I’m not a fan of it & i also left out the extra tablespoon of olive oil because I added my own homemade tahini to this recipe & it already contained 2T of olive oil! This is the first homemade hummus recipe I ever made. I may try not cooking the chickpeas next time to save some time & work and see if it still comes out as good…
I’m NEVER buying hummus again!!! This recipe is the best….better than a restaurant!!
I love this recipe, last time I made it, it was a huge hit. Do you think it would still work if I make it now and add the lemon juice later?? I forgot the lemon :(
Thanks!
You can try it! I hope it was delicious.
Great recipe – used a few different appliances and settled on the food processor. Super smooth and the texture was better than store bought.I did notice that my hummus was a bit sweet, not sure why? Do I need more salt? Lemon?
I’m happy you loved it! You can try to adjust it to fit with your taste. I’m not sure where sweet came in.
I made this for my friend’s surprise party. She loves Hummus. I think it is delicious but you are right I wish I had added another tablespoon of lemon juice. I did add some lemon zest too and I felt it could have used just a touch more salt (I am a salty). Great recipe – thanks for sharing. Definitely will make again.
You’re welcome!
Kate’s recipes continue to impress. This hummus is wonderful. I’ve made many batches of hummus in an effort to make one as tasty as the local Mediterranean restaurant. Their hummus is so good — and so expensive. This recipe is the best so far. The key is definitely the “overcooked” chickpeas. Thanks Kate!
I have made this about 20 times or more. This is my go to. I am a major hummus lover. And it is so dang easy to make. Everyone in my household devours it when I make it. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I love to hear that, Liss! Thank you for sharing.
Just made it and it is nice and smooth and creamy. Thanks for the tips. They were very helpful. I followed the recipe exactly as written. Very happy with the result
That’s great to hear, Linda!
This is indeed the best hummus recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jim!
Hi, I’ve been making hummus for years!!! I love your recipe!! I have one suggestion, instead of cold water with the hummus to make it so creamy, try the aqua faba juice instead. Ha! It’s just the garbanzo liquid. Make it super cold or freeze it in an ice cube tray and use it instead of the water. Wow!! If it’s still too thick, add an ice cube! Now, that’s some better hummus!! I’ll def have to try blending the lemon juice and the garlic in the beginning, and I’ll try the drizzle method for the outlive oil too. I never thought of that!!
I live how such a simple recipe has so many tricks to it!! Thx for the info!!
Yummy! Good job giving credit to Solomonov for the inspo! If you want it to be the best hands down, I’d highly recommend his book Zahav for even more tips. Also SOOM tahini makes a world of difference. You can get it on Amazon now.
OMG YESSS!! I love hummus so much, but EVERY SINGLE TIME I make it from home it’s not like the restaurants and I’m disappointed… not with this recipe!! I will almost certainly NEVER buy hummus outside again. This is a restaurant quality hummus recipe. I almost wasn’t going to make this, but this recipe called for me boiling the chickpeas, which I have never done before. Lo and behold, it is the TRUE secret behind creating the most delicious and creamy hummus!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this amazing recipe ❤️ you will not be disappointed with the product that comes at the end. If you love hummus, just go ahead and make yourself a batch… but I recommend doubling it because it’s so good, it will be gone before you know it!
Just made this for the first time. Fantastic! One batch, I swapped the sea salt with a bourbon\garlic salt. Sooooo good.
Hi there,
Normally when I make your recipes I just scroll down to the ingredients list and maybe look at oven temp or whatever and then go from there. Well not anymore.
I followed the instructions this time and it was a game changer for my hummus. I always thought that I made awesome hummus but you might say that I’ve been humbled by your hummus. I endeavour to be an attentive student from now on and throughly read your instructions!
Happy New Year and I am looking forward to more great recipes in 2024
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Peter.
Grazie, cara Kate. I just made your hummus recipe here in Chianti, Toscana where I live, and it was truly delizioso! To give it a little bit of colour and taste, I added some tumeric (curcuma)…and drizzled sesame oil on top. Truly the best hummus taste, even in the Middle East. Buon Anno- happy and serene New Year to you, and please continue with your wonderful recipes. Ti abbraccio.
I always add plain Greek yogurt to make it thinner and creamier, looking forward to trying this instead.
Kate
Doubled your recipe for plain humus, your recipe looked exactly like your photos and tasted delicious! No more store bought humus for me!!
I did add sun dried tomatoes, using some the extra virgin oil from the jar!
I found that boiling the chickpeas is an unnecessary step if, instead of a food processor, I use a high-powered blender, the kind that can actually purée foods. It seems like the high speed of the blender blade smashes and fluffs the hummus to the smooth and creamy texture you mention. I have tried the recipe in my processor, but it doesn’t have the grunt needed to force the desired texture. I’ve also eliminated the tahini paste in favor of roasted sesame-seed oil, which I think is an easier to handle and portion. By the way, I’m the guy who commits hummus heresy by mixing in an indefensible amount of Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce for extra flavor.
Second time and it is truly delish. A little time consuming to make but it is so tasty. Serving this weekend for family.
I make hummus from dried chick peas as well as canned. The canned version is typically a bit grainy. I made your recipe today using your suggestion to boil the chick peas with baking soda. It made a huge difference! Nice and creamy.Thank you!.
I didn’t change the recipe at all at it is perfect. I have some fresh roasted peppers that I diced up for a garnish. Dinner guests tonight will be happy!
Great recipe – very creamy. Love it!!
Thank you for your review, Delwyn!
I just made this recipe. Last time I tried to make hummus had to be at least 20 years ago and it got shovelled into the garbage. This turned out fantastically and I am delighted with it. I increased the cumin to a tsp.but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Barbara!
Just made this and she’s delish. For garlic lovers, toss in a couple extra cloves and to give it some extra pop next time I’ll double up on the cumin, salt and lemon juice (stick to the recommended water if using more lemon juice thought). Super creamy and delicious!! Cheers
Hi, can you please suggest some of your favorite olive oils for this hummus and for salad dressings? They all taste so different. Thank you. Kim
Hi Kim! I Try to buy organic and single source when I can. I don’t have a current go-to brand.
Excellent recipe with great tips. I had not been impressed with my previous attempts to make hummus; it always turned out grainy and tasteless. This creates ultra smooth delicious hummus! I’ve made it several times and look forward to tweaking the add-ins. Next: roasted green chili hummus! Thanks for the recipe!
Wayyy too much lemon juice. Made it very tart and runny. I would cut it in half next time. Ruined this batch though :(
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. Thank you for your review.
I have tried making hummus before and it was always grainy and unappealing. This hummus is superior in every way! I read your notes and followed them exactly. I also made sure to get a better Tahini, and I think that made a lot of difference, as well as cooking the chickpeas really well. I made this in the morning thinking that I would have it for an afternoon snack. Nope. I ate it for breakfast! I couldn’t stop once I started. I think it might be too good…
I’ve never made a hummus from scratch that I liked before, until now. This is my favorite hummus ever and I will be making it weekly going forward. So smooth and creamy and delicious!
Great to hear you tried it and loved it!
The name says it all! By far the best hummus recipe I’ve ever used – and to think that just 20 minutes and a little baking soda makes such a difference! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lisa!
I have been to Aladdin and this recipe does indeed rival their hummus! I will never make it any other way!!! Thank you so much!!!
I saw the Michael Solomonov recipe then I saw your similar version using the canned chick peas. Turned out perfect and as good as the best Mediterranean restaurant hummus I have had. Cooking the chick peas, mellowing the garlic in the lemon juice seviche style, and ice cold water makes the difference as long as you use the best tahini you can get. The Soom brand of tahini is great. Made a double batch exactly as printed and added 1/4 tsp salt and half a lemon at the end to get it spot on. No need to look at any other hummus recipes. Thanks!
Easy and yummy hummus! Made it twice-once with sun butter because I ran out of tahini. Both versions were delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
I made your hummus and it was nice and fluffy. The only thing I found was that it was a bit bitter compared to the one I usually buy. I used a different brand of tahini than what you recommended- Nuts to You brand. I just need to figure out what made it bitter.
Thanks Kate for all that you do!
I’ve never made hummus before, but this is absolutely delicious and that’s even with slightly bitter tahini and jarred garlic. Definitely a keeper!
absolutely delicious.
This recipe was a hit! So creamy, easy, and delicious. My kids and husband loved it.
Love this recipe!!!
YUMMY.
I just made this and it is indeed the best! So smooth and creamy! I add sun dried tomatoes and it is simply delectable…thank you!
You’re welcome, Frances!
I’m sure I’m just overlooking it, but I can’t see how to cook the garbanzo beans in the Instant Pot. Please repeat it.
Hi Jill, See the post. I don’t recommend it :)
Best hummus I have ever made. Love the trick to make it creamy. Thanks!
Your recipe is truly amazing! No more store-bought, over-priced hummus for us! Thank you so much
I’m glad you love it, Kristi!
made this several times. feb!
That’s great to hear, Joan!
The best hummus! Delicious. Adding the baking soda and cooking the chickpeas until mushy is a must for this creamy, smooth, delicious hummus!
Even after I first tried this recipe, I continued to experiment with different versions. BUT I can tell you – this is the ONE! Turns out perfectly every time. And don’t skip out on simmering the canned chickpeas. It really does make the hummus creamier. A+
Thank you for sharing, Linda!
This. Is. So. Good. Best hummus ever. Thank you for this recipe!!
You’re welcome, Meryl!
Always use this recipe to make hummus. Never buy it in a shop anymore. Thanks Kate
Absolutely delish! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Georgia!