I love hummus. It’s a great snack that’s flavorful and nutritious. Unfortunately, store-bought hummus will often turn out very high in oil/fat. I don’t want that, so I started making my own. The recipe I will share with you today is very basic, which means you can make it as versatile as you like by adding ingredients that suit your palate.  

I love hummus that’s very lemony, so when I make it, I add extra lemon juice plus a few drops of lemon essential oil. If you like it to be very garlicy, you can add extra raw garlic. For a milder garlic flavor use roasted garlic instead.

Here’s how to make it in about 10 minutes.

Preparation:

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans plus about half the canning liquid

Juice from 1-2 lemons (depending on your preferred taste)

5-10 peeled garlic cloves

1/3 cup of tahini*

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp salt

*Tahini is available at most grocery stores. Keep it in the refrigerator after opening it. It is made from ground sesame seeds. If you can’t find tahini, you can use peanut butter as a substitute.

Directions:

Get out your food processor or blender. Open the can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas and drain about half the liquid out, then dump the rest into the food processor. Squeeze in the juice from a whole lemon.

Drop in the garlic cloves and tahini and add the olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt. Then run the food processor or blender for about 2 minutes. Adjust salt to taste and voila! Super easy.

Adding Variety

Of course, you can buy dried chickpeas and use them instead of the canned variety. If you use the dried beans, soak 1 ¼ lb of them over night in a pot of water. Drain them and put in 7 cups fresh water. Bring pot to a boil then reduce to simmer for 1-2 hours until you get the texture you prefer.

The fun and creative part with hummus is that you can add things to your basic recipe – if you want. Get creative and see how the taste changes and which one you prefer. As I mentioned, I add lemon oil to mine. You can toss in a few roasted red peppers or roasted eggplant.

You can make the hummus spicey by adding a jalapeno pepper. Sprinkle in some dried cumin. I even put some pesto into the last batch I made, just to see what it would be like. Just think of hummus as the base and try out adding other flavors to it for a fun spread or dip for crackers, vegetables, or pita bread.

Try it and enjoy your delicious snack.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What’s your favorite snack? Do you prepare your own, or do you buy from the store? Do you like hummus? Are you a person who likes to experiment and add variety to your meals/snacks by trying out substituting/adding ingredients?