Homemade Hummus

Homemade Hummus

Recipe from Sandy Thomas

I've shared a few of Sandy's recipes that I've slightly modified for my family's tastes.

Her recipes are so good, and easy to make, and are dishes that we all really like.

Sandy is a Holistic Health Coach and friend.  If you are local, you should consider her cooking classes that start up again in the Fall.  I had such a great time attending them this spring!

Find out more about Sandy's services at www.zenchoice.com

Our family really likes hummus.  David prefers it on bread, pitas, or these new lentil chips that I found at our local health food store.

While I like hummus on chips any time, I usually use it is as a dip with vegetables instead of ranch dressing.

I understand that hummus is originally from Egypt, but is very popular throughout the Middle East, and luckily now in the U.S.!

I usually have one of these packages on hand, but last year started making hummus when I realized how easy it was, and how I could make it without the additional preservatives.

I've followed a few different recipes for hummus that are essentially very similar.

But I liked Sandy's a lot when we made it in class, so this is the one that I'll probably stick with going forward.

This recipe makes about 3 cups of basic hummus.

You can divide the hummus like we did and make different varieties once you have your basic recipe made. 

The seasoning and flavoring possibilities are endless!

Fresh hummus can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week.

My helper made this dish for us.

He methodically got out all the necessary ingredients, placed them in the food processor, then pulsed it to the consistency we like - pretty smooth.  He scraped down the sides of the food processor once, but overall it took about 5 minutes from pantry to finished product.

We used 2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, 3 cloves of garlic, juice from one lemon, olive oil, black pepper, Kosher salt, cumin, tahini, and water.

I buy tahini at Kroger.  It's much like peanut butter, but a little thinner and is made from sesame seeds.

The only modification I made from Sandy's original recipe was to add a little more olive oil and water to make it a little bit wetter, like the Sabra brand.

Once you have this basic hummus made, you can dig in, or you can make any number of different varieties.  Here are some of the varieties Sandy shared and that I've made in the past.

Cucumber Dill

David asked for the cucumber/dill variety the night we made this batch of hummus.

So I took 1 cup of the hummus and added about 1/3 c of chopped cucumber (skin on), and 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill.  It was fantastic with vegetables!

Roasted Red Pepper

I've also made red pepper hummus in the past by adding in 1/4 c jarred roasted red peppers (well drained) into the food processor before serving.  This is fantastic on pita.

Pine Nut & Garlic

I made a pine nut and garlic version one night for a party by adding 3 additional cloves of garlic into the food processor, then topping with 3 Tbsp pine nuts before serving.  This was a big hit.

Cilantro Chimichurri

For a Mexican-themed get together I made a cilantro chimichurri recipe by using ingredients in classic chimichurri sauce (which I absolutely love).  I added cilantro, parsley, red pepper flakes, lime juice and zest, and just a splash of soy sauce and Balsamic vinegar to my basic hummus.

Sun Dried Tomato

One of my favorite varieties is the sun dried tomato version.  I just added 1/3 c of jarred sun dried tomatoes in oil to the food processor.  Great on crostini.

Olive Tapenade

I love, love, love olives and tapenade in general.  I made a tapenade hummus one time but it wasn't my favorite.  I added extra garlic and olive oil, lemon juice and zest, capers, and a splash of Balsamic.  Once I took the hummus out of the food processor, I mixed in coarsely chopped Kalamata olives.  I might need to play with this recipe again because it sounds delicious as I'm typing it!

Hummus is healthy, flexible, and delicious.

What's your favorite variety?

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

بالهنا و الشفاء!
(Egyptian for Bon Appetit!)