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.
Delicious! I couldn’t mimic your super-smooth texture in my food processor, but the flavor is amazing. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lisa!!
My son and I just made this hummus and it’s everything I hoped it would be! It’s smooth, not grainy, and tastes better than my favorite store bought hummus. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely the best hummus I’ve made or tasted. Having lived in the Middle East for 20 years, I’ve tried many. Being back in England now, finding good hummus is quite hard, so to make my own this good is a revelation. And yes, cooking for twenty minutes with a little bicarb makes a massive difference. Thank you
Hooray! I’m glad it passed the test, Tracie!
I love this hommos, but made a little change: insrtead of overcooking the chick peas, I now whizz them in a powerful blender. Less mess. Thanks for your consistenbtly delicious recipes, Kate!
Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Such an easy and yet detailed recipe with great tips! I’ve made hummus before but nothing like this! The taste and texture are perfect. Just to add a little extra , I added a small boiled beetroot right at the end to make my hummus pink. I’d seen that at a restaurant and decided to try it. Looks absolutely amazing! Would be a big surprise for a dinner party! Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing your variation, Leyla!
My hummus has a nice smooth texture but is a little bitter. Any idea where I could have gone wrong?
Tks
Betty, I find that the tahini sometimes has a bitter flavor depending on the brand.
Maybe its the olive oil
This recipe is delicious and the best hummus I have ever made. I don’t have a super fancy blender, just my Ninja for the garlic/lemon/tahini and then my cheap target food processor for the final mixing with the chic peas. The texture came out perfect! The only thing I did differently was I keep an ice cube tray full of fresh squeezed lemon juice and instead of adding ice water to the food processor I just dropped in a few more lemon ice cubes.
I’m glad you were able to use what you had and get the same creamy texture! Thanks for sharing, Tracy.
Best hummus ever, can’t stop eating it!
Great to hear, Carolina!
Wow, absolutely delicious and easy to make! I decided to make starting with dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and used my frozen Meyer lemon “ice cubes” for the fresh lemon in the recipe but otherwise followed exactly as written and I hand this creamy, silky hummus that is better than what I get at a local restaurant. Thank you for another great recipe Kate!
This is by far the best hummus I have ever made! (And I’ve made many ). Cooking the chickpeas with water and baking soda-brilliant! Even my son who is not a Hummus fan loved it!
Thank you ♥️
You’re welcome, Suzanne!
One word… AMAZING!
Thank you, Jennifer!
Just made it yesterday! It’s very creamy just like I was hoping for!
I added a dash of maple syrup in it…because, why not? Haha I’m canadian and put syrup in everything thanks for another great recipe!
I’m glad you loved it, Saraheve!
The taste is fabulous but it came out a little thin. Any suggestions?
That’s interesting! Did you add any additional lemon to taste? Was your tahini pretty runny?
I usually just eyeball everything and it always turns out too thick and kinda bland. I am so glad you posted these techniques, this is the best hummus I’ve ever made! Yay! I pulled a bunch of the skins out when I drained the chickpeas, just because it was so easy. But this is spot on. Thank you!
This is my first time making hummus! Is it better to remove the skins or should you leave them in? Thanks!
Soooooo good! Thanks
You’re welcome, Barbara!
I can’t seem to load the nutritional info, please could you advise?
Hi Amy! Make sure you allow cookies in your browser. Let me know if you are still having issues!
I just made this hummus recipe. Boy is it good! Very fluffy and creamy. So worth the extra effort of boiling the canned chick peas!
I’m excited you loved it, Caron!
I’m ruined now! I won’t be able to eat store bought hummus anymore. Thank you for the recipe but especially the baking soda/boil tip. Makes all the difference!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved it, Jamie.
This recipe solved the mystery for me. The ingredients of the recipe I followed before was very similar but the technique is key! Thanks so much! So smooth and creamy!
You’re welcome, Chantal! I appreciate your review.
This was GREAT! Absolutely loved it. I made it with dried chickpeas which took a long time, but it was so worth it. I added some sumac, and even before that the flavour was wonderful. I don’t even like hummus, but after trying some in a Turkish restaurant a couple of weeks ago that was deliciously smooth, I couldn’t resist. I was not disappointed! Can’t recommend this enough, and so easy to follow.
I’m glad you loved it!
Thank you Thank you thank you!
Best recipe I have tried, turned out great delicious, perfect.
Went with the extra salt and lemon.
You’re welcome, J!
Absolutely the best hummus i’ve eaten & definitely the best I’ve made so far. It was creamy, smooth & yummy.
Added some lightly toasted sesame seeds, paprika & olive oil. It was the STAR OF THE dinner party past night.
Thank you ever so much!!
I’m glad it was a hit! Thanks for your review, Radhika.
This is the best hummus I have ever had. I too added a little bit more lemon juice at the end. I made it the second time with an entire head of roasted garlic, so delicious!
Hooray!
Made this today, followed the recipe to the letter. Cooked the chickpeas, but it came out with a consistency of thin pancake batter. Not sure what I did to mess it up…
Kathryne, I made your hummus recipe yesterday, and you’re right, cooking the garbanzo beans made such a difference. This recipe makes the smoothest, silkiest hummus I’ve ever made, or eaten. I upped the lemon factor by adding the zest as well as the juice. Cant wait to eat it today for lunch as well – thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for your review, Victoria.
Indeed, the best hummus recipe!!! Totally worth the extra steps for the fluffy and creamy texture. I used a red chili infused olive oil from New Mexico and garnished with toasted pine nuts. So yummy! Thank you for all the research you did to come up with this recipe.
Thank you for sharing, Deidra! I appreciate your review.
Hi dear, tried the PESTI DRESSING and served with variety of green leaves with corn n chick peas cherry tomatoes in it. My son took the salad to office for lunch enjoyed it throughly. Thank you so much . Also the Mac n cheese ( vegan) he liked it too. Really liking your recipes .
I’m so happy to hear that, Anita!
In the above hummus recipe Tahini u mean sesame seeds n not the tahini sauce . Right
You will use tahini for this recipe, not whole sesame seeds.
Excellent! Thank you! I made hummus a while ago from a recipe – and it took almost five hours… and it wasn’t as good. This is perfect! Thank you! (and – thanks for many other recipes… I’ve been lurking for a bit).
You’re welcome, Jen! Thanks for your review.
I can’t wait to try this recipe, Kate! I love hummus now, but I have tried never made it.
Thanks, Grami!
This is delicious. My husband loves it, and he’s a bit uptight about the consistency. He loved the smooth texture and the flavor. I do, too.
I’m excited it was such a hit!
Never achieved smooth hummus in my life….I am over 50!! Today I did following your recipe. Thank you so much for all your research and effort putting the recipe out there.
I’m glad you loved the result! Thanks for your review, Stephanie.
My son just loved this hummus. I added sesame seeds. What is the difference between sesame seeds and tahini
Hi Anita, sesame seeds are whole, tahini is the ground version. I hope this helps!
Sorry I did not read about the baking soda….it does not go in recipe but boil canned chickpeas in it then rinse. I may try it again, Mine has off flavor but healthy anyway.
Oh no! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. If you try it again, be sure to let me know!
I’ve made several different hummus recipes and was always disappointed. But I just made this recipe and it is wonderful, I also added jalapeños to it. Thank you for posting your recipe.
I’m glad this didn’t disappoint, Jill! I appreciate your review.
Gorgeous creamy good tasting hummus. First time I’ve ever made homemade hummus and I think it turned out pretty well. Thanks for the recipe and all your helpful hints.
Thank you, Angie!
THANK YOU for doing all the hard work researching the best way to make the best hummus. Many on the internet claim to be “the best”. THIS TRULY WAS. Made it with your ZHOUG for a dinner party to rave reviews. <3
I’m glad you loved this one too, Asako! Great combinations, too.
Loved this recipe! I cooked the chickpeas in the instant pot with a pinch of baking soda, adding one extra minute of cooking and it worked out well.
I’m glad you love it, Jen!
This is the best hummus I have ever made! So smooth and creamy, and super easy as well. Just takes a little more intention than throwing all the ingredients in at once :)
I’m glad you loved it, Lina.
I have made this twice now. Twice because even though I doubled the recipe, my two teenage daughters devoured it in a couple of days. It was delicious! I have given up on store bought hummus because : the flavor is inconsistent and it always comes in a plastic container! I am transitioning to making as much as I can to avoid buying plastic that now has no place to go for recycling! This recipe makes the change a win-win AND it is awesome!!!
I love why you want to make it homemade! Better flavor, but then reduces your foot print. Thank you for your review, Yolanda.
Thank you very much for sharing your recipe, but that is too much tahini for that amount of chickpeas. I would certainly recommend making another batch using half the amount of tahini.
Thank you for your feedback, Davut! I really like this ratio, but happy you found what works for you.
Best hummus ever!! I didn’t follow the measurements exactly but the way you mix everything makes all the difference in the world! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Susan!
Perfect! My husband loved this too (and he’s a foody with discriminating taste!) I used a hand immersion blender. I don’t have a food processor and didn’t want to have to clean my Ninja blender. I may never buy packaged hummus again.
I’m so happy you both loved it!
This recipe looks amazing! I am making it for an appetizer for 60 people…
How many servings is this recipe?
I will let you know how it turns out!
Thanks sooo much!
I will watch here for response. My email is down
That’s a lot of people! I would recommend making it in batches and give yourself enough time as it will add to the overall time. As for the servings, this one is roughly 2 cups, or 8 servings.
Made this on 6/12/19. Very good.
I’m glad you loved it, Jewel!
I just made this, I used dried chickpeas as I always have them on hand. Soaked over night, boiled for an hour and then proceeded with your recipe as shown. I don’t own a blender exactly or a food processor, but I do have a Ninja IQ which is like a bullet blender. I used that and I did need to scrape it down a couple times due to the fact that its sp confined and vertical. But this came out absolutely amazing! It is the creamiest hummus I have ever had!!! Could you suggest a way of making a super spicy topping for my hummus? I love the supremely spicy hummus but have no clue how to go about it … this was my first time making hummus and I will always make it this way … so much better than store bought!
Thank you for sharing what you did to make this work for you, Mary!
I personally add a small can of chipotle to the recipe. If you want something else I can sugest:
A) diced jalapeño AFTER you make it.
B) dried chilli pepper oil (I.E: like the chinese food one) instead of regular oil in the tahini (if you make yours)
C) any king of high OC pepper diced (ghost pepper, carolina reaper, habanero and so on)
Thanks for sharing!
Amazing. First time I tried making hummus. The whole family loved it. Blended mine in a ninja and came out smooth.
I’m happy to hear it, C! Thank you for your review.
Dear Kate,
This is the first time I’ve made hummus and it won’t be the last. It is delicious. I served it with tortillas, carrot, celery and bread.
Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Sarah! Thanks for your review.
Thank you for doing the research, Kate! I trust this recipe more than any (your passion for hummus sounds very sincere!), so I did not need to fish around for a good hummus recipe online. Thank you!! I did not have quite enough lemons for the amount of chickpea I had (4.5 cups), but it turned out excellent. Next time I will get more lemons. I removed lots of skins floating around when I was cooling down the chickpeas in water in the pot (I know I was supposed to just run cold water over it, but I had so much that my strainer was not big enough). Do you think I should not do this and leave the skins in there? It was fun to see the tahini mix suddenly becoming paler and smooth as I added ice cold water. I will make it again soon.
You’re very welcome, Etsuko!
In case any other readers want to make from dried chickpeas I wanted to share what worked for me. 1.5 C dried chickpeas soaked overnight will yield about 4.5C cooked. I cooked them in my instant pot for 12 minutes w the baking soda and let them naturally release. This will make a triple batch of hummus & it just fits in my cuisinart. My family goes through it so fast that I need to do a triple batch each time I make it! Thank you so much for this great recipe!!!
You’re welcome, Jeni!
I have made it twice now and it is so creamy and delicious.
Thanks for commenting, Karen!
Delicious recipe! Creamy and flavorful. I took your advice and added the extra lemon juice and pinch or salt. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome, Elizabeth!
I’ve been trying to make hummus that my 7yr old will like as much as store bought hummus. This is it! Thanks for all the helpful tips to make a smooth, creamy, yummy hummus.
You’re welcome, Melody!