Crave Worthy Hummus

I have been attempting to make hummus for some time now.  I say attempting because my final product was nothing spectacular.  I wasn't ever able to come up with the magical combination that screamed "EAT ME!" It tasted more like "hide me in the back of the fridge until I go bad." So sad.  It really just made me miss store bought hummus.

We used to buy Sabra hummus.  Perhaps you've heard of it?  It comes in many delicious flavors that are so good my kids could eat an entire container in one sitting.  While there are worse snacks out there, I wasn't crazy about the soy/canola oil (i.e. GMO) it's made with or the mystery "natural flavors."  

Luckily for me I have finally made the Holy Grail of hummus- I actually think it is better than Sabra!  And of course I love that mine is completely organic and much cheaper!  I was scouring the Internet for recipes and trying to figure out where I was going wrong when I found this recipe on how to make creamy hummus.  It said I needed to cream my tahini first and then blend the rest of the ingredients.  

Eureka! My hummus turned out so much creamier!  I don't use her recipe, but one I've tweaked quite a bit and I think is the perfect base for any flavorings you would want to add- but it's amazing as-is.

Since hummus is such a staple for us, I try to keep cooked chickpeas in our freezer at all times.  I bag them up in 2-3 cup batches and freeze them with their cooking water so they are ready whenever I need them.  I prefer to make big batches of hummus since we eat so much but feel free to half this recipe.

Crave Worthy Hummus

1/3 cup tahini

Juice from 1 lemon

½ cup water, divided

3 cups cooked chickpeas

2-3 cloves garlic

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

In a high speed blender (a food processor would probably work for this) combine tahini, lemon juice and 1/4 cup water.

Blend on high until the mixture is smooth.  Stop and scrape down the sides as necessary. 

Now add the remaining ingredients and blend on high until completely smooth.

This is going to give your blender a workout but make sure you blend until the hummus is churning in the blender- this gets it really creamy.  You can add a little more water if needed.

I like to finish mine with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a dash of cumin.

So good- this makes me want to go get some now....

And Kota agreed!

P.S. She ate that entire plate of carrots and celery.  You can't argue with a dip that has those side effects!


This post is shared at Whole Foods Wednesday, Real Food Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Tasteful Tuesdays and Allergy Free Wednesdays.