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Learn how to make the best homemade Garlic Hummus Recipe ever! This recipe produces a creamy, smooth, and light homemade hummus!
Have you ever opened a $6 tub of grocery store hummus, and thought “I wish I could make this”?
Friends, I’m here today with a simple recipe for the tastiest homemade hummus you can make yourself. This is better than storebought. This is YOUR homemade hummus!
If you love spicy flavors and hummus, you should check out our Buffalo Hummus recipe.
Ingredients & Variations
This recipe has:
- Garbanzo beans/chickpeas – canned or homemade
- Tahini
- Garlic, and lots of it. No vampires here!
- Fresh lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Spices – smoked paprika and sumac
- Garnishes {optional} – sesame seeds and parsley
If you found yourself saying “what is sumac” when looking at the ingredients list, you’re not alone. I said that the first time someone recommended this spice to me for hummus.
It’s available at well-appointed grocery stores or on Amazon. If you can’t find it, dial up the smoked paprika a bit, and sub in cumin for the sumac. It’s not exactly the same but it will still be delicious!
What Can I Use Instead of Tahini in Hummus?
You can leave out the tahini if you’d like but it will change the texture and taste of the finished product. I would recommend substituting unsweetened almond or cashew butter.
Or, if you have a tree nut allergy, try sunseed butter, which is made from ground sunflower seeds.
How Do You Make Hummus Smooth?
There are three tricks to making homemade hummus smooth.
Trick one: the order in which you blend things matters. I first create a “paste” of lemon juice, tahini, garlic, olive oil, and salt, before adding the chickpeas. This gives you an incredibly smooth base in which to blend everything else together.
Trick two: use a power blender or food processor. Hummus is simple to make but you will be blending it for up to 10 minutes. You don’t want to motor of your blender/processor to burn out.
Trick three: if you don’t have a powerful blender or food processor, boil the cooked chickpeas for at least 10-15 minutes before blending them.
This will make them much softer when you start the blending process, and you’ll get a smoother finished product. You will need to cool the boiled chickpeas a bit before making hummus with them.
You can also remove the skins from the cooked chickpeas for a smoother finish but expect to add 10-20 minutes of work to achieve this.
How to Store Homemade Hummus
Homemade garlic hummus can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Can You Freeze Hummus?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze hummus! I prefer to freeze it in smaller portions because it defrosts more quickly, and you don’t have to thaw out a bunch when you just need a small amount. Check out these step-by-step instructions in our post on can you freeze hummus?
If your family eats individual hummus cups, consider freezing your homemade hummus in 4 oz canning jars. I also love to freeze it in 2 tbsp Souper Cubes and 1-cup portion Souper Cubes. Transfer the frozen hummus to freezer-safe storage.
Hummus will keep in the freezer for 3-6 months. Sometimes the thawed texture can be a little grainy, but stir it with a fork and it will smooth out again.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes:
- Tahini can usually be found near the peanut butter in the grocery store. Use extras to make this Lemon Tahini Salad dressing.
- If the hummus seems too thick, drizzle in reserved chickpea liquid (called aquafaba) instead of adding more olive oil. The aquafaba makes the hummus smooth and light.
- I don’t recommend using bottled lemon juice, as it makes the hummus bitter/acidic.
- If raw garlic is a bit much for you, roasted garlic might be right up your alley. Check out my Air Fryer Roasted Garlic and Instant Pot Roasted Garlic for various techniques. I would roast 1-2 heads of garlic in lieu of the 5 fresh cloves that this recipe recommends.
- Instead of canned garbanzo beans, try making chickpeas in the Instant Pot.
- Add in roasted red peppers, or some muhammara sauce.
- The recipe below is mine, but it was inspired by The Homemade Pantry.
More Tasty Recipes Like This
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS
One serving has 1 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.
Garlic Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 14 oz cans garbanzo beans {drained with liquid reserved}
- 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp sumac
- sesame seeds for garnish
- dried parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Drain chickpeas, setting aside the liquid (this is called aquafaba).2 14 oz cans garbanzo beans
- In a blender or food processor, blend the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt on high for 2-3 minutes. Add a bit of the reserved liquid from the beans if the mixture is too thick.1/4 cup tahini, 5 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp kosher salt
- Add the chickpeas and blend on high, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.2 14 oz cans garbanzo beans
- Once the hummus is super smooth (3-6 minutes), stop the machine and add the smoked paprika and sumac. Pulse a few times.1/8 tsp smoked paprika, 1/8 tsp sumac
- Optional: garnish with sesame seeds, a pinch of smoked paprika, parsley, and additional olive oil.sesame seeds, dried parsley, 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
Notes
- If the hummus seems too thick, drizzle in reserved chickpea liquid (called aquafaba) instead of adding more olive oil. The aquafaba makes the hummus smooth and light.
- I don’t recommend using bottled lemon juice, as it makes the hummus bitter/acidic.
- If raw garlic is a bit much for you, try roasted garlic instead.
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ok, I am not a huge hummus person, not sure why, but I had this at your house and it was REALLY GOOD! I may have to try this out (and shock my husband 🙂 )
Just wanted you to know that my EXACT words, which I said aloud to an empty house, were ‘what the fuck is sumac?’
Also, thank you for posting this, I’m really tired of spending a ridiculous amount of money on the hummus I have been consuming lately. It’s become a staple of my regular diet the last few months and even purchasing the large size at the bulk store it’s pretty pricey. It’s definitely a snack I feel little guilt over eating (extremely large quantities of).
I’ve made this several times now but like you, I tend to veer from the original and tonight made this with cannellini beans and i dare say I almost prefer it to the original version. Sometimes the garbanzo’s don’t rest on my palate well.
how many ounces of hummus does this make?
I’m going to guess you’re European, because most Americans would ask for it in cups!
In all honesty, I have no idea. I think I can fill up about 2 pint canning jars with 1 batch.
I am American, just curious to see how much cheaper it is than buying the mass produced hummus such as Sabra.
You must have been the one who paid attention in 7th grade math when we learned the metric system. I certainly did not! ;-D
I won the “Hummus Throwdown” at work with this recipe! The only prize was the glory of the title, but I thought I’d share it with you. Woohoo! I found some roasted red pepper tapenade that looks pretty sitting on top and tastes yummy too. Thanks, after finding the recipe we’ve had lots of hummus happiness at our house this summer.
a) Thank you for telling me! Yahoo!
b) mmmm to the tapenade!
c) Hummus Throwdown? How freaking fun and delicious does that sound?
We’ve been looking for a good hummus recipe, so I’ve gone through the ingredient search, myself. No joy on the Tahini at the grocery store, although I may have to check again in the peanut butter section – silly me has been looking in with the international foods. As another commenter said, you can get it and the smoked paprika (and GIANT bags of dried garbanzos, too) at the business Costco (there’s one in Lynnwood, WA, for those of us in the more northerly Puget Sound area). However, there is an awesome hole in the wall (but in a good way!) Persian grocery near my work that has both tahini and sumac, so I will definitely have to try this!
Just made your hummus…it was yummus! I followed step 4 to a “T” 🙂
So glad to hear it! I bet your breath is awful right now, LOL
Found you on pinterest,I love yourblog! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Love this recipe. Would also add that if you are serving it for a fancy pants dinner party (call the veggies “crudites”, pronounced “crew-dit-ay”), lay it out in a shallow dish and drizzle with olive oil and olive tapenade (or mashed up black olives). You’ll be some kind of super-hero.
Also, try zaatar next time instead of the sumac. It’s a middle eastern spice mix in the same family as thyme (I think) and it is excellent.
instead of tahini (which is just toasted sesame seed butter) use peanut butter, it makes it less claggy in your mouth.
HTH
dxx