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.
The best hummus ever tasted! Thank you sooo much!
You’re welcome, Melanie!
The only hummus recipe I make. So delicious and creamy. I cook dry chickpeas usually, but always add the baking soda whether I use dry or canned chickpeas. This time I added smoked paprika and some dried hatch red and green chiles on top along with the olive oil. Pitas from Ottolenghi’s recipe are great with this recipe.
That’s great to hear, Sandie!
Very good recipe. Love the light & creamy texture. Next time, I’m going to bump up the garlic a little – personal preference. Great work! .
Thank you, Angela!
This is delicious! It’s the best hummus I’ve ever had, and with all fresh ingredients, nothing artificial added!
Thanks for sharing! Delicious! I added too many red peppers so it’s a bit thin. Oh well, still tasted so good!
My husband and I had a hummus “throw down”. I won. Thanks to this recipe of course.
I have made hummus many times, but always look for a better recipe. I think you are right ~ the secret is the baking soda in the water, as well as letting the garlic sit in the lemon juice before blending the rest of the ingredients. I just made the hummus with the ice water in the end, and it does taste more fluffy. Can’t wait to serve it for dinner tonight.
Great to hear, Debra! I appreciate your review.
You nailed this!!!! I have been trying different recipes for years to make the perfect hummus……this one is it! Thank you so much for the recipe. It’s always in my fridge now!
I made this a few months ago and now I have to make it weekly. My husband eats this every day during his lunch break. I make my chickpeas from scratch and have varied my spices but it’s always amazing. I’ve tried to tell him it’s a labor of love because it’s a bit of work, especially cleaning the food processor. I add some chipotle spice but otherwise follow the recipe. I’ve caught him eating it with a spoon right out of the bowl. Will also add that it’s a great source of fiber!! And, the tahini from Amazon is definitely the best!!
This recipe turned out amazing despite me using minced garlic from a jar and lemon juice from concentrate (I didn’t have fresh ingredients!). Good call on boiling the canned chickpeas – the hummus turned out silky smooth.
I’m a hummus snob and this recipe is hands down the best ever! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Leslie!
hi Kate! Could I swap the chickpeas for black beans?
I’m not sure if the process would be the same, sorry!
Very good dish. I made in a regular blender and it was difficult and labor intensive. Would not recommend unless you have a food processor or high power blender. The end product is delicious
Kate, I LOVE this recipe, and have made it probably 20 times over the past year. It is my go-to for any sort of pot-luck event, having people over, or if I just want darn good food for myself!
Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Wendy! Thank you for your review.
It really is the best hummus of my life. Thank you. Been making this for over a year, and finally getting around to adding my 5 star rating to the thousands.
I made this and literally wanted to cry… tears of joy of course. When I think of the time wasted peeling the skin off of each chickpea… I thought it was the only way to smooth humus. Life changing thanks a million
I used to keep my food processor in the pantry. I have now found a spot for it on the counter so it is always out and ready to make this fabulous hummus. Thank you so much for doing all the research and trial and error so we don’t have to. It is perfect!
For cooking dried chickpeas into mush, or really for cooking any type of dried bean to perfection without any soaking time: an Instant Pot. The smallest size will do nicely.
Lovely recipe.
Love your hummus. You are a go to spot for recipes. Thank you
I’ve made this recipe several times and every time, it’s delicious! I always have dry chickpeas on hand, so I pressure cook them for 35 minutes with the baking soda and they turn out perfectly mushy for this recipe.
Thank you for sharing, Danica!
Wow. I just made this for a gathering tomorrow. It is amazing. All of the other hummus I have ever made has been so heavy because of all the added olive oil. This recipe is a game changer! I added a bit more salt, lemon juice and cumin at the end. Perfect.
Thanks so much for this recipe!
You’re welcome, Pam!
Hello, 2 years I lived in Tel Aviv, Israel and traveled a lot. Often been in Nazareth, Jerusalem, Eilat and more. Had many different versions of hummus. Last night I found this recipe and I decided to try to make it at home. I must say like fore very 1st time it came out super. Reminds me of hummus I had often on shuk haCarmel , Alenby, Ben Yehuda/Bograshov etc
Thank you Kate.
Now I must try to make falafel, t’hina, shawarma and more…
Good idea
Toda raba
Kris
Thank you!! I have been looking for a way to make my hummus smooth and creamy…you solved it! Absolutely delicious
Great to hear you loved it, Lily!
Love your recipes. This is my favourite hummus recipe, but I wish you would include the nutritional info like calories and carbs for diabetics like me. XO
Hi Christian, The nutrition information is below the notes section of the blog.
This is absolutely delicious.
Warning: May want to throw a towel over the food processor if you have a small one during the garlic + lemon step.
WOW! I have been looking for a good hummus recipe for years, I’ve tried it with making my own chickpeas from scratch and different kinds of canned beans. It just always falls short of my expectations until today! Omg! This is actually the very best hummus I’ve ever had ! I was licking it off my spoon and eating it by the spoonful out of the food processor! I love your recipes Kate! Keep em coming! Thanks for ending my search for a hummus I love ❤️
Britt in UT
You’re welcome, Britt!
This was not good! The baking soda was a really bad choice. I will make this again but not with baking soda. It ruined the whole batch.
Hi Erin, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you follow to rinse once boiled?
Thank you for the recipe it’s fantastic!!
Great to hear, Anna! I appreciate your review.
Excellent recipe. I boiled the garlic with the chick peas for a softer flavour. The best hummius I’ve made so far.
I have made this my own. I toast the cumin in a shallow pan and replace the lemons with Limes.
Best recipe, hands down!!! Everything about it is superb and everyone loves it when I make it! Ty for this!!!
I’ve made this hummus recipe a few times and it’s always a big hit. I’m about to make it now for a graduation party but realized I am out of baking soda. What can I use in it’s place?
Oh no! What did you decide to do?
I used Baking powder but 3 times the amount of baking soda and it was still a big hit. Thank you.
I think Cookie is super cute!!! Am in the middle of trying your hummus recipe. It looks like it will be good. Best greetings from a KC native now living in FFM, Lara
Thank you, Lara! I hope you love this recipe.
How far in advance can you make the hummus?
This makes great leftovers! Leftover hummus keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week.
I’ve used this recipe several times in the past few months and my husband and I absolutely love it!!! I use the tahini from Amazon and also add a small can of chipotle sauce while the hummus is blending. My husband wanted a bit more flavor and it’s a great addition. It’s definitely one of my favorite things to make from scratch. I always cook too many chickpeas so we have leftovers for salads and such.
For once, I decided to follow the recipe, and I’m so glad I did. This hummus is light and fluffy. I’ll make it this way from now on. Thanks!
omg okay!!!
soooooo much went wrong during this process for me, but this is some of the best hummus I’ve ever had.
I don’t want to get too philosophical, but life is so similar.
Thank you so much Kate for sharing this recipe! It’s amazing :)
This technique worked perfectly. Very clear instructions. I reduced the garlic and tahini some based on my preferences, and next time I’ll likely reduce the salt a bit—you gave me an incredible starting point! Thanks!
Thanks for this amazing recipe. I use it all the time. I like to sprinkle Cayenne pepper along with the paprika and then a big dollop of Calabrian chili in the middle. People rave on it.
Best.EVER. Cooking the canned chickpeas and NOT peeling…absolutely LOVE this part!! I had roasted 3 garlic heads yesterday and added to my food processor at the very end. This is THE creamiest, most flavorful hummus I’ve ever made. It will be forever mine!
The hands down best hummus I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for the detailed tips and directions. They helped so much! I will be using this recipe to make humus from now on.
is the baking sofa neccesary?
It helps give the smooth consistency. I hope you try it!
Hi is it possible to freeze this houmous? i’m trying to decide whether to batch cook as the reviews look amazing. many thanks
Sure, let me know how it turns out for you!
I adore this recipe! The hummus always comes out so wonderfully creamy and flavorful. My only adjustment is that I use 1/2 the tahini, just because I make my own and it’s really strong (it’s also a pain to make so I want to stretch it as far as possible!). The boiled chickpeas are a great fit for my hand-me-down, not-super-powerful blender
Found your recipe yesterday after I bought a container of tahini, so thought I’d try it since I’m tired of the ones in the store. I’m pretty amazed I found a good recipe the first time! I read the recipe several times and followed it exactly, adding one chiltipin to the mix because I like my humus spicy. I have absolutely no complaints! Delicious, smooth, and just the right amount of everything! Thanks so much. Next time I’m making a double batch cause I think it would be easier to do in the food processor, but mine’s so big that I doubt it would work unless I do.
I’m passing this along to all my friends!
I’ve now made your recipe twice and it’s such a winner! So creamy. The chickpea cooking tip and the garlic-in-lemon-juice suggestions are the difference between your recipe and the lumpy stuff I’d been making.
Used your recipe with a bag of uncooked garbanzos. Did the soak and cooked until they practically disintegrated. Made it plain this time, but I can’t wait to mix it up with sun dried tomatoes!
Thanks for the best hummus recipe!
Greetings from Ireland ☘️ made this this morning in my farmhouse kitchen and it is super delicious. Thank you
I would make at least double or 4x the recipe next time for a party. It was so good !!! I made copy cat chipotle chicken to go with it!