Easy Homemade Hummus (Three Ways!)

This easy homemade hummus recipe will have you ditching store-bought for good. Whip up classic, roasted red pepper and spicy black bean with a handful of pantry staples, and say goodbye to throw-away plastic containers.

Are you a habitual hummus eater, too? I find it’s one of those items that’s easy to dress up for a party or to dip veggies into when I simply can’t wait another minute for dinner.

There are some great brands and flavors at every grocery store, but each tub purchased means more plastic entering the environment. Even if you try to recycle everything, like we do, there’s no guarantee that plastic won’t hit the landfill.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make hummus at home with a handful of pantry staples in say…about 7 minutes? And, be able to make any flavor you’re craving at the moment?

And, brag that that you made it from scratch when your friends and family are stuffing their faces with your awesome hummus? Aaannnd, never have to throw another plastic [hummus] container in the “recycle” bin again?

You’re nodding a big YES, right? Okay…let’s do this!

(Psst…interested in reducing waste in your kitchen? Check out this post about single use items you can replace with sustainable products!)

Ingredients for Easy Homemade Hummus

I’ll show you how to make hummus three different ways, but the base ingredients for each are pretty much the same:

Chickpeas — You’ll use one can of beans for this recipe. Simply drain and rinse. Save the liquid from the drained chickpeas in case you need to thin out your hummus. This liquid is call aquafaba and it = flavor.

Tahini — Tahini is a ground sesame paste, similar in texture to nut butters. It can be used in so many recipes and is a traditional ingredient in hummus. I like tahini, but I personally don’t like a tahini-heavy hummus, so I don’t add much. If you’re on the tahini train, increase the amount you use. Conversely, you can absolutely leave it out and still have a great tasting hummus.

The remaining ingredients include staples like:

• fresh garlic
• lemon juice
• extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt 
• cumin (or other spices)

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How Easy Is It to Make Homemade Hummus?

This is almost embarrassing. Dump all the ingredients into a food processor or high-speed blender and let it run.

My work here is done.

Seriously though, there is one simple trick to achieving really smooth hummus — blend it for at least four or five minutes. That may seem excessive, but I promise that your hummus will be as silky as store-bought. (You probably should scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice during that process, but that’s it in a nutshell.)

Making Different Flavors of Hummus

Changing up the flavors can be as easy as adding different spice or herb combinations, or mix-ins, to your hummus. Here are three simple combinations.

Classic	Roasted Red Pepper	Spicy Black Bean
1 can chickpeas 1 clove of garlic juice of half a lemon 1 tablespoon tahini 3/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp ground cumin	1 can chickpeas 3/4 cup roasted red peppers 2 cloves garlic juice of half a lemon 2 tablespoons tahini 1 teaspoon sea salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne	1 can black beans 1 charred jalapeno pepper 2 cloves of garlic juice of half a lemon 1 tablespoon tahini 3/4 teaspoon sea salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

To roast your own bell peppers:

• Preheat your oven to 400F degrees.
• Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.
• Place them cut side down on a sheet pan and spritz with a little olive oil spray.
• Roast for 20 minutes.
• Place the hot peppers in paper bag, zip-top bag, or bowl and seal with plastic wrap or a silicone bowl cover. Leave them to steam for about 10 minutes. 
• When they’re cool enough to handle, simply peel the skin away from the pepper. 

To char a jalapeño pepper:

• Place the pepper on a square of foil or a small metal pan and broil for a minute or two on each side.
• Or, using tongs, hold the pepper over an open flame (if you have have a gas cooktop) and turn it until it gets charred on all sides.

Serving Suggestions for Easy Homemade Hummus

In addition to being a great vehicle for raw veggies, crackers, pita and chips, you can use hummus in a myriad of ways:

• Mix it into burger patties, chicken salad, casseroles
• Make a pasta sauce with thinned hummus
• Create a salad dressing
• Amp up the flavor of deviled eggs

Here’s some of my favorite ways to enjoy hummus…

I hope you try one or all of these Easy Homemade Hummus recipes for yourself and discover how simple it is to make anytime!