Skip to Content

The Best Simple Hummus

A quick, easy, delightfully creamy hummus made from pantry ingredients. Better than any store-bought hummus you have tried.

Simple Hummus in a bowl sprinkled with paprika next to a plate of chips

Hummus is a spread, dip or savoury dish that originates in the Middle East. It is made using cooked chickpeas which are then mashed or puréed with tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice, and garlic.

The earliest known recipe for hummus dates back to 13th Century Cairo, Egypt. The preparation and presentation of hummus vary across the region, in both preparation and the way in which it is served.

Salty Ginger's Version of Hummus

Many moons ago, how many years to be exact, I'm not sure, my husband and I made our first batch of homemade hummus. It was not long after I purchased my knock-off nutribullet (which is still going on today). My husband found a recipe from the BBC Food site and we made it.

The only reason I know this is a BBC Food recipe, because my husband, being the scientist he is, wrote *BBC Food next to the recipe when he copied it into my hand written book.

We were pleasantly surprised but decided it needed improvement. Over the years we have played around the ratios of ingredients, watched more hummus videos, were impressed with the chickpea peeling method, but it was never 100% right - according to us though. Then I decided to add ground coriander - perfection.

South African's love coriander - you will find it in our boerewors, you will find it in our biltong. Give me a coriander heavy savoury dish any day of the week and I'm happy.

Ingredient's for the best simple hummus

A tin of cooked chickpeas. You can cook your own chickpeas, but I always have a couple of tins of chickpeas in my pantry at all times. Because I love them.

Two cloves of garlic. Over the years I have found that 2 cloves of garlic is the perfect amount of garlic, I have tried going heavier on the garlic and found it just overpowering.

Tahini or sesame seed paste. It just adds a great flavour. I find that 2 tablespoons is the right amount.

Cumin, coriander, salt and pepper add depth of flavour.

Lemon or lime juice - I use the reconstituted lemon or lime juice, because that is what I always have on hand in my fridge. You can use fresh juice if you like.

Olive oil - use the best you can afford.

Making Hummus

Making this hummus is really easy - all you need to do is toss all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

BUT before you do that, I implore you to peel the chickpeas. This really just takes the dish to a whole new level. You can do this by gently rubbing the chickpeas between two tea towels or two paper towels.

Chickpeas being peeled on a paper towel

Once you hummus is blended to perfection, scoop out into a bowl, make a few swirlies with the back of your spoon, add a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika.

Serving your hummus

Hummus can be served in a variety of ways. My go-to is with a bowl of chips and some toasted pitas to scoop up the deliciousness. Another favourite method of mine is to spread hummus on a pita, add some baby spinach, roasted lamb and a dash of tzatziki.

Storing hummus

Hummus can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week (if it lasts that long).

Recipe Card

Bowl of Hummus sprinkled with paprika.

The Best Simple Hummus

Mary-Lou
A quick, easy, delightfully creamy hummus made from pantry ingredients. Better than any store-bought hummus you have tried.
5 from 1 vote
Prep time.30 minutes
Total time.30 minutes
CourseAppetizer, Lunch, Snack
CuisineMiddle Eastern
Servings 2 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tin of cooked Chickpeas
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon tahini
  • 2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
  • 4 tablespoon cold water
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • paprika and olive oil to garnish
  • 2 cloves of garlic

Instructions

  • Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then lay them in a kitchen towel and rub gently to remove the skins. Once all the skins have been removed, place the chickpeas into your food processor or blender.
  • Add the rest of the ingredient to the chickpeas, and blend until nice and smooth.
  • Spoon the blended hummus into your bowl of choice, swoop a few furrows and top with a splash of good olive oil and sprinkle of paprika or pepper.
  • Serve with pitas, as a dip, with your favourite lamb recipe.
  • This hummus can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

To make an even better hummus, I would greatly suggest taking the time to remove the skins from the chickpeas. If you don't have the time and/or patience, this hummus will still taste great without the additional labour but no skins result in a creamier hummus.
For this particular recipe, I do not use fresh lemon or lime juice but the reconstituted lemon/lime juice, because that's what I always have in my fridge. Feel free to use fresh juice instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 8servings | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Sodium: 151mg

Nutrition information is an estimate. If scaling the recipe remember to scale your cook and bakeware accordingly. All temperatures stated are conventional, unless otherwise stated. Recipes tested in grams and at sea level.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Comments

No Comments

Leave a question, comment, or review :)
Recipe Rating