Easy Hummus Recipe: An Inexpensive, High Protein Snack (2024)

This easy hummus recipe is fabulous served with a bit of feta cheese and kalamata olives or on a vegetable platter. It’s a great high-protein appetizer or light lunch.

For something a little bit different, try this fava bean hummus. It’s beautiful AND tasty!

This recipe was originally published in August 2011; it has been updated.

It kind of blows my mind that so many people buy hummus out of the refrigerator case. But then it occurred to me that maybe it’s because that store-bought hummus is the only hummus they’ve ever had. Maybe they don’t know how easy it is to make!

Case in point:

Recently, my son came home with a friend of his. They were hungry, so he decided to make a batch of this easy hummus. His friend was in awe. “You can make your own hummus?” She had no idea this was a possibility. All she’d ever known was the plastic tubs of hummus from the grocery store.

She didn’t realize hummus was made from garbanzo beans.

And of course, once it was made, her comment was not surprising: “I can’t believe it’s that easy!”

Not to mention, friends, how much less expensive it is to make your own hummus! Protein-packed homemade hummus is a college student’s dream. [More on cooking with inexpensive dry beans here.]

Classic Hummus Recipe

The first time I had hummus it was homemade by a woman who was hosting a toddler playgroup at her home and she graciously shared her easy hummus recipe. Eons ago.

I’ve been using that easy hummus recipe ever since.

I daresay, that was before hummus was even sold in most stores, so at the time, if I wanted to have it again making it was my only option. (And that toddler I was attending with? Official adult!)

This recipe calls for simple ingredients that you can easily keep in your pantry. It’s an oil-free hummus recipe, though some people like to drizzle the finished hummus with a little bit of olive oil. (Totally optional.)

Ingredients:

Garbanzo beans: Traditional hummus is made with a base of finely processed garbanzo beans, aka chickpeas. It’s the standard ingredient for making hummus, but a person could also experiment with using white beans or black beans for a different flavor.

Tahini: A paste made of ground sesame seeds, tahini can be expensive to buy. (Though a jar does go a long way.) It’s also a hummus ingredient that many households won’t have on hand. Once you get in the habit of making this hummus, you’ll make sure it’s in your pantry! I know a woman who dislikes the flavor of tahini and uses ricotta cheese instead. Another option? Peanut butter.

Lemon juice: Use fresh lemon juice if you have lemons. If not, bottled is fine. The amount on this is variable, depending on just how tangy you like your hummus spread. If you need more liquid for the recipe but don’t want to use the full amount of lemon, add some reserved water from the beans.

Garlic cloves: Definitely use fresh raw garlic for this — garlic powder just won’t cut it. I’m a fan of a very garlicky hummus recipe and often add a few extra cloves for extra kick.

Cumin: This seasoning gives this easy hummus recipe a little earthy depth.

Sea salt: Let your tastebuds determine how much salt the hummus needs. If the beans are salty, you might need less.

Making Hummus

This is a recipe that will require afood processor for the best results. Can you use a blender? Sure, but you’ll need to add a little more liquid and make a thinner batch in order for this option to work.

If you have neither, you could do like my son did when he was away at college and use the back of a heavy-duty wooden spoon to smash it all. It will not be a creamy hummus this way, though!

Let’s go ahead and assume you’re making this with a food processor.

Start by placing the garbanzo beans in the bowl of the food processor. Turn the machine on and process until the beans are quite well smashed and smooth.

Some people swear by rubbing the chickpea skins off before processing to make a smoother hummus. I don’t, but if you’d like to, place drained garbanzo beans on a dry kitchen towel and rub to loosen the skins.

Scrape down the sides of the food processor and add the rest of the ingredients and process further, blending until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.

Whether you like a thick hummus or a thinner consistency is personal preference. Add more liquid — cooking liquid, water, or lemon juice if you like it tangy — to thin as desired.

Serving

• I love this creamy hummus recipe served with flatbread and a bit of feta cheese, kalamata olives, and sliced tomatoes.
• Traditionally, hummus is served with pita bread. Pita chips are another option for serving with hummus and makes for an easy appetizer.
• Serve it with vegetables like celery sticks, red bell pepper, and other fresh veggies for a wholesome snack.
• Use it as a sandwich spread for extra flavor or top veggie burgers with it.
• Add a scoop to grain bowls or make these hummus bowls.
• Do like my son does and spread some on a plate, top it with fried eggs, and add some sauerkraut.

If you love high-protein hummus as much as we do, be sure to try this spicy hummus recipe and this roasted red pepper hummus.

Storage

Keep leftover hummus in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you like to meal prep for lunches on the go, portion the hummus into smaller containers that you can easily grab to add to lunch boxes.

★ Did you make this easy hummus recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!★

Easy Hummus Recipe

Yield: 4 cups

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Processor Time: 3 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

This easy hummus recipe is fabulous served with a bit of feta cheese and kalamata olives. It's a great appetizer or light lunch.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked garbanzo beans (canned or prepared dry beans, see below)
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1/2-2/3 cup of lemon juice
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• sea salt

Instructions

1. Drain beans, reserving some liquid.
2. Measure all ingredients except salt into the bowl of a food processor.
3. Process until smooth, adding a little more lemon juice, some of the reserved liquid, or water if necessary. (My husband thinks it’s too lemony if I use the full amount of lemon juice; I like it that way – this totally depends on your preference.) Add salt to taste. Store in fridge.

To use dry garbanzo beans in this easy hummus recipe:

1. Soak one pound of beans overnight, making sure they’re covered by about 4″ of water. Drain and rinse beans. Put beans in a stock pot, again covering them with about 4″ of water. Gently boil for about an hour or until beans are soft. Drain, retaining about 1/2 cup of the cooking water to use for thinning the hummus as necessary. Use four cups of cooked beans in recipe and freeze the rest for next time.

Notes

If you don't have a food processor, you can still make this easy hummus recipe, though it will take a bit more effort to smash the garbanzo beans. You can use a pastry blender, a potato masher, or the back of a wooden spoon.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 177Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 7gSugar: 5gProtein: 9g

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