Creamy, Dreamy Hummus

Once you start making your own hummus, you won’t ever feel right about ordering it at a restaurant for $15 (unless it’s out of this world, of course.) I’ve enjoyed mannnnny a hummus during my days of restaurant blogging. And let me tell you, out of probably 50 different hummuses I’ve tried (just an estimate,) I only really *loved* a few, and those were from authentic Mediterranean restaurants. You can always tell its the real deal because the hummus is so fluffy, silky and soft, and you can tell it’s made with a great quality tahini.

This hummus is restaurant quality and easy to make at home. I have three tips in making the absolute perfect hummus of your dreams. And no, I’m not going to tell you to peel your chickpeas. Although it helps achieve maximum creaminess, we don’t have time for that. And I will say, I once peeled my chickpeas and still got lumpy hummus due to my food processor. So, in my opinion, peeling isn’t the one size fits all solution!

Tip 1: Use a blender instead of a food processor. Blenders have a “suction-like” blade motion, while food processors rotate around and around and around. I used to make hummus in my food processor and no matter what I did, there were always chunks (ugh.) Granted, my food processor was pretty cheap, but it was Kitchenaid and I expect good things, always! On the other hand, when I make hummus in a blender, the motion of the blades pulls the food down in order to crush the chickpeas and purée asa much as possible. A super creamy hummus is a purée, so therefore, a blender does the best job. The hummus you see in the photo above was done with unpeeled chickpeas in a blender, and its pretty damn smooth and fluffy to me!

Tip 2: Use ice cold water instead of room temp or slightly cold water. The cold water helps it become fluffy and dreamy when it’s blending. I know some people use chickpea water from the can, so feel free to add ice to that and give this a go.

Tip 3: Save some chickpeas for topping! I mean, this doesn’t make the hummus taste better, but it really takes the appearance from “at home dip” to restaurant quality level, in my opinion.

The great thing about hummus is that you literally throw everything into a blender and that’s the recipe. Of course, you give a little swoosh with the spoon and top with whatever you want, but the hard work goes into measuring the ingredients (which, less face it, isn’t hard) I love garlic and lemon in my hummus, but keep in mind, this is a recipe you can veer off of and make your own. If you don’t like garlic, skip it! If you don’t like lemon, skip the zest and add a little lemon juice. In my opinion, a little bit of lemon and garlic make hummus go from okay to amazing, so that’s why I include them in this recipe. I will say, the amount of garlic is not relevant enough to make me call this hummus a “garlic hummus.” To me, this is still just a classic hummus with a lil’ bit of flare. If you want more garlickiness, I love to add 2 cloves. If you want EXTRA garlickiness, add 3. Anything beyond 3 is going to burn.