Best Hummus
Sometimes the simplest dishes are the hardest to get right. Hummus is one of those recipes, just a few ingredients, but the difference between good hummus and truly great hummus comes down to quality and technique. This recipe from our friends at Soom showcases the beauty of both, proving that when you start with high-quality chickpeas and exceptional tahini, and treat them with care, you get hummus that's impossibly creamy, perfectly balanced, and absolutely irresistible.
The secret? Cooking the chickpeas until they're incredibly tender, almost breaking down. Letting the garlic mellow in lemon juice. Blending the tahini with ice-cold water until it transforms into something light and creamy. These small steps make all the difference between hummus that's good and hummus that makes you want to eat it by the spoonful straight from the bowl.
Why This Recipe Works
Great hummus is all about texture and balance. You want it creamy and smooth, not grainy or chunky. You want the flavors, chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, to be in harmony, with no single ingredient overpowering the others. And you want it rich but not heavy, substantial but still light enough that you can't stop dipping.
This recipe achieves all of that through a few key techniques. First, the chickpeas get cooked until they're very soft, much softer than you'd want for a salad. Then they simmer with baking soda, which helps break down their skins and makes them blend into something silky-smooth. The garlic gets mellowed in lemon juice before blending, which takes away any harsh bite. And the tahini gets whipped with ice-cold water until it's light and creamy before the chickpeas even join the party.
The result is hummus that's velvety, balanced, and crave-worthy.
The Star: Chickpeas
Let's talk about chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. These round, nutty beans are the foundation of hummus and countless other dishes across the Middle East, Mediterranean, and beyond. They have a distinctive flavor that's earthy and slightly sweet, and a texture that can range from firm and satisfying to incredibly creamy depending on how you cook them.
What makes chickpeas perfect for hummus is their ability to blend into something smooth and creamy while still maintaining their distinctive flavor. When cooked properly, until they're very soft and almost falling apart, they create that luscious texture that makes great hummus so addictive. Their mild, nutty flavor also pairs beautifully with tahini, lemon, and garlic without any ingredient dominating.
For this recipe, using high-quality dried chickpeas makes a real difference. They're fresher than canned, cook up creamier, and have better flavor. The extra time is worth it for hummus this good.
About High-Quality Tahini
The other star ingredient here is tahini, and quality matters tremendously. Soom tahini, made from Ethiopian Humera sesame seeds, is exceptionally smooth, nutty, and creamy, exactly what you want in hummus. Cheap tahini can be bitter or chalky, but good tahini is rich, almost sweet, and blends into something magical when whipped with ice-cold water.
If you've never made hummus with really good tahini, you're in for a revelation. It transforms the entire dish, adding richness and depth that makes the hummus taste professional and restaurant-quality.
The Technique
The process has a few steps, but each one is important for that perfect texture. You start by cooking the chickpeas with aromatics like garlic and bay leaves until tender. Then they simmer with baking soda, which helps break down the skins and makes them incredibly soft. Some people peel their chickpeas for extra-smooth hummus, but if you cook them long enough with baking soda, you can skip that tedious step.
While the chickpeas cook, you blend garlic with lemon juice and salt, then let it sit for at least 10 minutes. This mellows the garlic, taking away any harsh bite and leaving just a pleasant, rounded garlic flavor.
Next comes the tahini magic. You blend the tahini with that garlicky lemon juice until thick and creamy, then add ice-cold water a little at a time. As you blend, the tahini transforms, it lightens in color, increases in volume, and becomes incredibly smooth and fluffy. This is the base that makes your hummus creamy.
Finally, the cooked chickpeas go in and everything blends until silky-smooth. You want it thick but spoonable, so add a little more water if needed. Season with salt to taste.
Serving and Toppings
The fun part is the toppings. Scoop your hummus into a shallow bowl and use a spoon to smooth the top, creating that classic crater in the center. Drizzle generously with good olive oil, this is where quality really shows. Then get creative with toppings.
Traditional options include a sprinkle of paprika or Aleppo-style chili flakes, or a spoonful of whole chickpeas. But you can also try harissa paste for heat, pickled hot peppers for tang, crushed cumin seeds for earthiness, or fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro for brightness. Each topping changes the character of the hummus, so feel free to play around based on what's in your pantry.
Serve with warm pita bread, fresh vegetables, grilled meats, or honestly, just eat it by the spoonful. No judgment here.
Why Homemade Is Worth It
Once you make hummus this good at home, it's hard to go back to store-bought. The texture is silkier, the flavors are brighter and more balanced, and you can adjust everything to your taste. Plus, you get that satisfaction of making something from scratch that tastes better than anything you can buy.
This is the kind of hummus that disappears at parties, that you find yourself making weekly, that makes people ask for the recipe. It's worth every minute.
Serve and enjoy: Scoop hummus into a shallow bowl and use a spoon to smooth the top. Top with as much olive oil and other toppings as you'd like. Serve with pita, veggies, grilled meats, or simply eat it by the spoonful.
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