Creamy homemade hummus

Truly creamy, not pasty. The trick is an ice cube in the blender.

10 min
Total time: 10 min
Hands-on: 6 servings
Servings: 185 cal
Per serving: Easy
Difficulty: Blender
Method

Photo: Serge Melki from Indianapolis, USA · CC BY 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Ingredients

6 servings

Nutrition facts

per serving

185cal

Protein: 7 g15 %
Carbs: 14 g31 %
Fat: 11 g54 %
Fiber: 5 g
Sugarstotal, including the natural sugars in fruit and dairy: 1 g

Approximate values, calculated from food composition tables. They vary with the brands and cuts you use.

Step by step

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Creamy homemade hummus

Truly creamy, not pasty. The trick is an ice cube in the blender.

1Step 1 of 4

Start with the tahini and lemon

Put the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt in the blender. Blend for 30 seconds: you'll see the tahini thicken and turn pale, almost like a paste. That's what's supposed to happen.

Tip: This first step is what separates creamy hummus from grainy hummus. Don't skip it.

2Step 2 of 4

Add the chickpeas

Add the drained chickpeas and cumin and blend for a full minute. It will look too thick: that's normal, you're not done yet.

01:001 min · Add the chickpeas

3Step 3 of 4

The ice cube trick

With the blender running, drop in the ice cubes and keep blending for 1 or 2 more minutes. The hummus will lighten in color and gain volume: the cold emulsifies the fat in the tahini.

02:002 min · The ice cube trick

4Step 4 of 4

Adjust and plate

Taste for salt and lemon. Spread it on a plate, making a swirl with the back of a spoon, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with paprika or cumin.

About this recipe

Homemade hummus often turns out pasty, like mashed chickpeas, which is exactly what we don't want. The hummus in Middle Eastern restaurants is silky, almost whipped, and you get there with two tricks that cost nothing.

First: blend the tahini with lemon before adding the chickpeas. Second, and the one you'll notice most: a couple of ice cubes in the blender. The cold emulsifies the fat in the tahini and the hummus turns pale and fluffy before your eyes.

Five minutes, one can of chickpeas, and it keeps for five days in the fridge.

Tips for getting it right

The tahini at the bottom of the jar separates. Stir it well before measuring or the hummus will taste bitter.
If you have five minutes, peeling the chickpeas by squeezing them between your fingers makes it even silkier. With the ice trick it's hardly necessary.
Go easy on raw garlic: one small clove. Too much and it overpowers everything else.

Variations

Beet hummus

Add a cooked beet when blending. It turns a spectacular pink and a little sweeter.

Roasted red pepper

Add a roasted, peeled red bell pepper. It's the family favorite.

Storage

5 days in the fridge in an airtight container with a drizzle of oil on top. It freezes well for up to 2 months.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why isn't my hummus creamy?

Three common reasons: not blending the tahini with the lemon first, not blending long enough (you need 3 minutes in total, not 30 seconds) and not adding cold liquid. Ice cubes fix almost any hummus.

Do I need to peel the chickpeas?

It's what restaurants do and you can tell, but it's tedious. With the ice trick and three minutes of blending, the difference becomes very small.

Can I make hummus without tahini?

You can use peanut or almond butter instead, but then it's not really hummus: the flavor changes completely. Tahini is inexpensive and keeps for months in the fridge.

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