Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups (250 grams) cooked chickpeas
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini, see our homemade tahini recipe
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) water
• Dash ground paprika or sumac, for serving

Instructions

• In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy.
• Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended. Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1 to 2 minutes.
• Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until you reach the perfect consistency.
• Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and dash of paprika. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.

TIPS

• How to Cook Chickpeas: You can use canned or home-cooked chickpeas for this recipe. To see how we cook dried chickpeas, see our simple tutorial here. We have included three methods including how to do it in a slow cooker.
• If you love a strong garlic flavor in hummus, you might want to increase the garlic by a clove or you can add roasted garlic — here’s how we roast garlic.