This Creamy Hummus will become your go-to recipe for sure! This makes about 4 cups of hummus so you may want to make a couple of different variations.
I love hummus and have been making it for years. Many recipes start with blending the chickpeas and adding a bit of olive oil and maybe some lemon and/or garlic.
The secret to the creaminess of this recipe is the tahini. Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. Look for one that is 100% sesame seeds - one ingredient. I used Al-Rabih brand that I found at Food Basics.
The consistency is similar to peanut butter -maybe not quite so stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth. It will separate into past and oil, like natural peanut butter. Just stir it back to an even consistency.
Apart from that this is really about blending canned chickpeas, tahini paste, a bit of olive oil and your flavourings in a powerful blender. I made the basic hummus and then divided it in half - about 2 cups + 2 cups. Then I added the different seasonings.
My guests were raving about the hummus- especially with a bit of Dhukka on the side. I served up a platter of this Fast, Easy Flat Bread. Dhukka is an Egyptian spice mix with hazelnut or almond, sesame, cumin and other things. You can buy it in reasonable size packet at any store specializing in Middle Eastern products.
I got mine at Kishki World Foods in Kitchener. I spend more than an hour poking around all the interesting spices and juices. This is also where I first found pomegranate molasses, although I find it now in many different grocery chains. Be sure to check out Za'atar spice if you are in a Middle Eastern grocery store.
One of the treats at Kishki World Foods is the fresh bread section- Lebanese flat breads, Syrian bread and an amazingly huge round Afghan flat bread. You may want to pick up an intersting bread to use with your hummus.
You can mix up the hummus seasonings to anything that suits your fancy. It really is something of a blank canvas!
The first variation shows no cooking time if you choose to use fresh garlic cloves and spices.
I chose to season one with caramalized onions because I love them and as you may know I tend to have some in the freezer at any given time. I added a touch of cayenne pepper to spice it up. It will take about 20 minutes to caramelize the onions if you are making them specifically for this recipe.
The other I made a classic lemon, garlic flavour using roasted garlic to give a soft, sweet garlic element. Roasting a bulb of garlic will take 45-60 minutes if you are making it specifically for this recipe.
By the way... this hummus keeps well for a day or two in the fridge -so -MAKE AHEAD! It is also freezer friendly! I have frozen it many times. It may lose a bit of zing on thawing but you can remix it with a bit of fresh lemon juice and/or olive oil.
However you choose to serve it - enjoy!
Creamy Hummus
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Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Basic Hummus
- 1 19 oz can chick peas drain and reserve juice
- ⅔ cup tahini paste
- ¼ cup olive oil
Lemon Garlic Hummus
- 2 cups Basic Hummus
- 1-2 clove fresh garlic to taste or meat of 1 bulb roasted garlic
- 1 lemon juice only
- drizzle of olive oil for serving
Caramelized Onion Hummus
- 2 large yellow or red onions thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Instructions
Basic Hummus
- Blend chick peas, tahini and olive oil in a blender until smooth. Add some reserved liquid from chick peas while blending, a bit at a time, until you get a consistency that spreads. (A little wetter than peanut butter).
- Divide the Basic Hummus into 2 equal portions. This should be about 2 cups and 2 cups.
Lemon Garlic Hummus
- If roasting a garlic bulb, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the top off the bulb of garlic but do not peel. Place garlic bulb on a piece of foil large enough to wrap the bulb completely. Drizzle some olive oil over the cut top of garlic bulb. Wrap up securely and roast in oven 45- 60 minutes. Allow to cool and squeeze the roasted garlic pulp out onto a dish and add to the 2 cups of Basic Hummus in your blender.
- If using fresh garlic, chop the clove roughly and add to the 2 cups of Basic Hummus n the blender
- Add the fresh lemon juice and blend all together until evenly mixed and smooth.
Caramelized Onion
- Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add the onions slices and cook over medium heat about 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar and stir. Cook another 2 minutes. Add red wine vinegar. Cook another 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until onions are soft and golden brown, approximately another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Put 2 cups of Basic Hummus into your blender. Reserve 2 Tbsps of caramelized onions for garnish. Add the remainder to the hummus in the blender with the cayenne pepper. Blend until well mixed and smooth. Serve with reserved onions as garnish.
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