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Learn how to make hummus from scratch with just 5-ingredients and a few simple steps. Instant Pot and stove top instructions included! Gluten-free, Oil-free, Vegan, Grain-free.
Plant-based or not, learning how to make hummus is a skill every home-chef should master. After you try this ultra easy method influenced by my travels in Israel, you’ll never go back to store-bought again. It’s light, fluffy and so smooth you won’t be able to stop dipping. It really is the best hummus recipe ever.
Table of Contents
3 Secrets to Making “Real” Hummus
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of taking a vegan tour of Israel. To be honest, I was not a huge hummus fan before my trip. I thought it was okay, but not great. Then I ate “real” hummus and realized that it’s very yummy, magical, and something I could see myself eating every day for the rest of my life. Yes, it was that good.
There are quite a few ways to make hummus, but this is the method that I’ll be sticking with. I’ve done some pretty extensive research and interviewed quite a few people — special thanks to Noam and Bentzi for your tips!
Here are the absolute Top 3 Must-Dos for making the best hummus:
- You really, really, really need to use dried chickpeas (not canned).
- Peeling the chickpeas is a must (seriously, just do it).
- ICE COLD WATER is essential to making the hummus light and fluffy.
What You Need for the Best Homemade Hummus
Hummus is made with 5 simple ingredients, but quality matters. Here are a few key notes:
- Chickpeas: Also known as garbanzo beans, chickpeas are the base of hummus. Most chickpeas sold in the United States are the Kabuli-type – light-colored, larger, round chickpeas. In the Middle East, however, Desi-type chickpeas (smaller, irregularly shaped, and darker in color) are much more common. When making the best hummus, the smaller the chickpeas, the better. Opt for the desi-type chickpeas when possible!
- Tahini: Hummus is not Hummus if there’s no Tahini. And the Tahini quality matters greatly – it should be smooth and runny. Generally speaking, the less English on the bottle, the better 😉
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves are always superior to garlic powder, and it’s especially true in homemade hummus!
- Baking soda: Adding baking soda to the chickpeas helps make the legume easier to digest, softer, and makes them easy to peel. Don’t skip this ingredient!
- Lemon juice: I never suggest using pre-bottled lemon juice, but I especially urge you not to in homemade hummus. The flavor or freshly squeezed lemon juice simply cannot be replicated.
How to Make Hummus
- Sort, then soak the dried chickpeas for 12 to 24 hours.
- Drain and rinse well, then add the chickpeas, garlic, and baking soda to a large pot or pressure cooker.
- Cover with water and cook the chickpeas until tender.
- Peel the chickpeas then discard the outer skin.
- Process the garlic, chickpeas, lemon juice and salt in a food processor until relatively smooth.
- Add tahini then slowly pour in ice water as the food processor is running. Process for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the hummus is fluffy and smooth.
- Serve hummus with toppings of choice.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Use this process as an opportunity to listen to a good soundtrack or podcast. I’ll admit peeling the chickpeas can be a long, tedious step. But if you’re determined and got something to listen to, you can easily get this step done in ~20 minutes. To try and speed up the process, you can try rubbing the chickpeas between a clean kitchen towel, but I didn’t find that it made a huge difference.
- Process the hummus for the full 5 minutes. Authentic, “real” hummus should not be thick and chunky. Good hummus is fluffy, creamy, and silky smooth. To achieve this, I definitely recommend “processing” your hummus for the full 5 minutes. However, I’ve been told if you blend it for too long, it spoils faster. I’m not sure how true that is because it never lasts over 5 days here, but you’ve been warned 😉
Serving Suggestions
Hummus is a delicious dip or spread to enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner. In the Middle East, hummus is often served warm as the center of a meal and topped with a drizzle of olive oil, and spices such as cumin, smoked paprika, sumac, za’atar, etc.
Try it spread on a Rainbow Veggie Sandwich, Vegan Pinwheels, used as a 3-Ingredient Hummus Salad dressing, drizzled on Sheet Pan Za’atar Chickpeas with Sweet Potatoes or turned into a Hummus Pasta.
If you’re looking for more homemade dip recipes, you’ll also love this Creamy White Bean Dip, Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus and this Healthy Buffalo “Chicken” Dip!
How to Store Homemade Hummus
Homemade hummus will keep best in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Defrost frozen hummus in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours until softened. If desired, run the hummus through a food processor for 1-2 minutes to make it nice and fluffy again.
Recipe FAQs
It is absolutely cheaper to make your own homemade hummus. Dried chickpeas are extremely affordable and will last for months in the pantry.
Although this recipe calls for dried chickpeas, it is imperative that they are cooked until tender before processing until smooth. Processing dried chickpeas will result in chickpea flour, which is very, very different.
Nope! Although many store-bought hummus brands are made with oils, authentic hummus does not need to be made with oil. A quality tahini will make it fluffy and creamy enough without!
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
How to Make (The Best) Hummus
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried Chickpeas about 2 cups, soaked in water overnight
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3-5 cloves of Garlic
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 -3/4 cup Tahini based on preference
- 1 cup Ice Cold Water* divided
- Optional Toppings: Olive Oil, Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Za'atar, etc.
Instructions
- Soak the Chickpeas: Sort through the dried chickpeas, then place in a large bowl. Cover with water and soak at room temperature (or in the fridge) for 12 to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.
- Cook The Chickpeas: Add the chickpeas, garlic, and baking soda to a large pot or instant pot. – Instant Pot (recommended): Fill the pot with water until it is 2 to 3″ above the beans. Stir, seal, and cook on Manual HIGH pressure for 10 to 12 minutes; let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before breaking the seal. (Note: if you soaked your chickpeas for closer to 24 hours, cook for 8 to 10 minutes instead). – Stovetop: Cover the beans with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 40 to 120 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender.
- Peel the Chickpeas: Drain and rinse the cooked beans until no bubbles remain. Pick out the cooked garlic cloves and set aside. To peel the chickpeas, gently “pinch” each bean; the skin should slide off quite easily. Repeat with the remaining beans and discard the outer skin once finished.
- Chickpea Puree: Add the garlic and 3 cups of the peeled chickpeas to a food processor with an S-blade attachment. Mix the lemon juice and salt together in a small bowl until the salt dissolves. Turn the food processor on and slowly pour the lemon mixture into the processor while it is running; process until the chickpeas are relatively smooth.
- Make the Hummus: Add 1/4 cup of tahini to the food processor and seal it shut. Turn the food processor on and slowly pour in 1/3 cup of the ice cold water. Let the food processor run for 4 to 5 minutes, to help make the hummus fluffy and smooth (don’t skip this step!). Add in extra tahini and water in 1/4 cup increments, if you would like your spread to be thicker and creamier.
- Serve: Top the hummus with the remaining peeled chickpeas and any other toppings of choice. Leftovers will keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- “Ice Cold” Water: place a few ice cubes in a glass of water for ~ 5 minutes, or stick a glass of water in the freezer for ~ 10 minutes.
- Baking soda: cooking the chickpeas in baking soda helps to soften them and make them easier to peel. You cannot taste any baking soda in the final recipe!
I made raised today and I have to say, its fantastic! It was way too much work peeling the beans, took me all day doing it in small sessions. The beans were soft so it made removing skins a super hard process. I used Iberia brand, soaked overnight then cooked 40 minutes. There wasn’t much garlic to be found so I chopped up a fresh huge purple garlic clove and processed it with beans so it did come out with a tangy garlic flavor that I love. Thank you for the detailed instructions.
Wow! Creeamy! Yeah, peeling them really stunk. I tried to recruit kids to help but that didn’t work. As long as you don’t over cook the them, the towel technique helps, i had to go through the whole pot as a lot of skins already came off in the pressurecooker… then i sifted through it for a while taking out the final beans mixed in. I think I lost my garlic in the skins cause I could use more garlic flavor… I only used 3… had some lemon infused EVOO and topped it w/ that and Smokey sweet paprika. Now I just need to keep the family away from it until tomorrow’s Father’s Day meal. ;o) Thanks for the instructions! Follow me on Insta @chefrover
Very tasty! It took me forever to skin the chickpeas (is there a trick other than squeezing btwn fingers?) but wow, smooth & creamy is an understatement! Only change I made was less salt, I only used 1 tsp because most recipes seem too salty for me & my husband.
Thanks Kim! It definitely takes a while for the chickpeas. I tried rubbing them between a clean kitchen towel to help loosen the skins some but it didnt help a ton.
I’m a little late to the party. Just tried this recipe for lunch today and it is fantastic! I did use canned chickpeas because that’s all I had in the house. But I still simmered them with the garlic for a few minutes and peeled them.
I can’t believe how much different this tastes from like the Sabra or other grocery store brands. Just give me a bowl and a spoon.
I’ll never buy hummus again.
So happy you liked it, Deni! 😉
Do you have any tips to remove the skins when you have about 12 cups to peel? The hummus is so much better but it takes an hour or more to people them all. I haven’t put baking soda in the chickpea water, maybe that will help with the pealing.
I like to add cooked (just to warm) green peas to my hummus. It is my daily work snack with cut veggies or spread on Lundberg Thin Stacks with sliced red, yellow or orange peppers on top. Carrots are my favorite veggie to dip in it.
Baking soda definitely helps! You can also just peel half and see if you notice a difference 🙂
So I just made this and it is so light and fluffy and delicious. However, it took about an hour to peel the chickpeas, and my food processor is way too small so I used my blender. Can I freeze it? There’s no way I’ll finish all this in less than a week.
You can, but the texture will change. I would recommend cutting the recipe in half next time!
Totally worth taking the time to remove the skins from the chickpeas! Creamy, dreamy hummus. I asked my teenage son to taste the hummus with the pita I made the day before. I could barely get it out out the food processor! This will be my go to method. Thanks for the recipe and great tips.
You are so welcome, Chelly!
This looks great. I have one question have not received a response to my dm on Instagram. My food processor is quite small and does not have a way to add liquid while it’s running. Will stopping it to add the liquid mess up the recipe?
Briefly stopping to add the liquid shouldn’t be a problem!
Made this today but with canned chickpeas because that’s what I had. Delicious!!! Me and my son enjoyed this. Thank you Caitlin!
I LOVE MAKING HUMMUS! IT’S SUCH THE PERFECT SNACK AND A GREAT HEALTHY OPTION FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
Couldn’t agree more!
I can’t wait to try your hummus recipe. I have so many allergies that hummus is one of my go to dishes. I make mine with canned chickpeas and cooked chicken. I am always trying to get more protein in my hummus. I usually eat my hummus with gluten free pretzel sticks. If I add cook brown rice to my hummus it helps the hummus stick to the pretzels better. I often travel with my husband on business and hummus travels very well.
Hummus is such a great dish. It can be used in so many different ways and lend itself to so many different flavors! Let us know how you like it!
Thank you so much this recipe is AMAZING!!! I’ve made many a hummus but never better than with this recipe! You helped me up my hummus game 100% percent! You rock!
Aw yay! Glad to hear that – thanks for making it!
4 stars for technique, 5 stars for flavor. We are still trying to master the chickpea/instapot ratio thing for easy peeling and no mush, but the flavor of this hummus is amazing. I would watch an entire video of you actually peeling the chickpeas in 10 minutes like your video says. For real…. so far, either 1/2 hour with both my hubby and I, or mush and unpeelable. But I read the suggestions and will keep trying!! LOVE this site, but I call BS on the 10-minute peel thing. LOL 😉
It’s all about the practice! Glad you guys like the recipe and are enjoying the site!
5 stars, the best is correct, thank you !
Thanks so much!
I am also a great Hummus eating fan. I can eat it every day. Earlier I used to eat it outside, but now I prepared myself for making it at home according to my taste. Now every time my family wants me to make Hummus. Everyone has its own taste in Hummus and I love experimenting with my recipe. I surely love to try yours also.
Thanks so much! The flexibility of hummus is amazing!
I have made this recipe several times for myself, and I always scrape the bowl clean! I also used this recipe for a potluck at work, and my coworkers were so impressed! Even people who normally didn’t like hummus went back for seconds! I’m just a little sad that my coworkers ate it all, because now there isn’t any left for me! Guess I need to make more…
That is high praise! So glad that your coworkers are enjoying it! Although, maybe save a little extra for yourself!
I have to say, I’ve made this recipe several times and it is by far the best hummus recipe ever. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m getting ready to make some right now.
That’s awesome! Thanks so much!
thanks a lot for your recipe. i don’t want to be the only person who doesn’t give it 5 stars altho in general i don’t consider anything perfect. i’m still trying to arrive at a good way to make hummus using a pressure cooker, which we use for rice and all our other beans, and a Champion juicer, since i don’t have a good food processor and any time i’ve tried to make anything like this with a blender i’ve always ended up chipping some wooden spoon into the mix.
a friend who’s a professional cook suggested that i purchase a “Chinese hat” screen but i don’t want to buy and don’t have room for any new gadgets around here.
i don’t think you mention what volume of beans to start with. as a good patriotic un-metric Amurkin, i decided to start with one measuring
cup of dried beans. i still have to work out how much water to use, whether or how much liquid to include when i push it thru the juicer and what ratios of other ingredients to use. i’m pretty sure i’ll stick to fresh garlic tho. i’m trying to approximate the dish i used to order at my now-closed favorite restaurant which was hummus, fava beans, chopped tomatoes, cumin, paprika (?) and olive oil. i’m using all organic ingredients except for salt and prefer not to use the can of beans most recipes call for and which i assume provides an appropriate amount of liquid.
Turned out perfect. Added some homemade grilled and smoke red pepper. So so delicious
Thanks for the great recipe and instructions
That sounds divine! Thank you!
thanks for your recipe.. I made it and it was yumm, despite the fact I have used canned chickpeas, I did take the skin off.. most of the work.. but in warm water they come off easily.
Thanks for giving it a shot! If you ever have the extra time, try cooking your own chickpeas and see if you like it better that way!
Hi! Two days ago I made it and I can say that it’s the best hummus recipe I’ve ever tried! Thank you!
Yay! Thanks so much!