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Wednesday, April 3, 2019
How to Make the Best Homemade Hummus With a Few Easy Tricks
You’ve probably bought dozens—if not hundreds—of tubs of hummus at the store, and been reasonably satisfied most times, but making hummus at home is not only easy and way cheaper, it’s far more delicious. Our senior video producer Guillermo Riveros got the scoop from DEZ chef and co-founder Eden Grinshpan on how to make the perfect hummus from scratch at home.
You may know Eden from Eden Eats, or from “Top Chef Canada” (which she co-hosts); she fell in love with the Food Network at a young age and was inspired to create her own dishes for her family. Eventually, she attended Le Cordon Bleu instead of college, with the full support and encouragement of her parents. So she knows her stuff, and hummus is no exception. It may help that she’s also half-Israeli.
What makes hummus so good?
As Eden proclaims, having fresh homemade hummus in your fridge is such a great feeling; it’s so simple to make but so impressive, and not only delicious enough to appeal to everyone (it was one of the first foods her daughter ate), it’s suitable for practically any diet, since it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free, and loaded with protein and fiber.
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She shared a recipe for a beautifully blushing beet hummus with us (and if you subtract the beets, it’s a perfect basic hummus), but first, her key tips on what separates great hummus from merely good.
The Keys to Perfect Hummus
The Chickpeas
Starting with dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) is best, and if you go that route, you need to soak them overnight. The next day, cook them in a fresh change of water with baking soda to help break down the skins, and test for doneness by pinching a bean here and there; they should be super creamy and break easily between your fingers.
Palouse Brand Dried Chickpeas, 5 pounds for $14.20 on Amazon
Dried beans will always give you the best flavor and texture.
If you’re already thinking There’s no way I’m ever soaking beans overnight and cooking them from scratch, not to worry! Eden advocates for using canned chickpeas to make your own hummus if the choice is between that and picking up a mass-produced tub. She admits to using canned at home, too. But she does advise you use low-sodium beans, and rinse them well under running water before you throw them in the food processor. (And if the issue is just the soaking part, try a trick from Cookie and Kate and briefly boil some canned chickpeas with baking soda; this combines the best of both worlds for almost-last-minute hummus that’s also the creamiest it can be.)
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The Lemon Juice
A good amount of fresh lemon juice really brightens up the hummus and keeps it from being dull or flat. You’ll be adding garlic and salt to help boost the flavor too, but the fresh citrus cannot be underestimated (or skipped).
The Tahini
Eden uses a lot of tahini (aka sesame paste) for a velvety smooth texture and nutty depth of flavor. She likes Soom, but choose whatever brand you prefer. If you’re new to tahini, note that it will always taste somewhat bitter, but if the bitterness is overpowering, you should hold off on hummus until you can get a better brand of tahini.
Soom Foods Premium Sesame Tahini, 2 for $16.50 on Amazon
A favorite of many (they also sell a chocolate tahini spread that's amaing).
The Ice Water
Yep, a little ice water blended in further elevates the light, creamy, fluffy texture of the hummus, and is a nifty trick to keep up your sleeve—or share with everyone you know.
The Swoosh
It’s a technical term! Or at least it’s a great way to create rims and wells in the hummus that’ll hold your toppings (more on them below). To do it, load up a bowl with fresh hummus and hold it in one hand; with the other, apply the back of a large spoon to the surface of the hummus, and keep the spoon still while you rotate the bowl against it. The hummus should hold the mark like a stiff whipped cream will hold peaks, or a good buttercream will show swirls from a spatula. See the video if you need a demo.
The Extras
You know how some brands of hummus include a drizzle of oil and a measly ring of toasted pine nuts or flecks of red pepper? It’s a good idea, but you can do it so much better at home. Eden likes a bright lemon vinaigrette with jalapeño (find her recipe below), but a delicious, high-quality olive oil alone will also do the trick. Be generous with your pour, then add some other goodies, like toasted pine nuts and Aleppo pepper flakes or fresh herbs.
Variations
You can blend pretty much anything into hummus, from roasted peppers to carrots to olives and so on—but for a gorgeous pink hue and earthy-sweet flavor perfect for spring, try beets! Eden roasts her beets with vinegar, cardamom, sugar, and salt, for a brighter flavor than you sometimes get. They’re incorporated into the hummus itself and also scattered on top, along with fresh mint, pine nuts, and more of that fantastic lemon vinaigrette.
Chowhound
How to Serve Hummus
In the U.S., we tend to serve hummus as-is, with an assortment of pita chips, veggies, and other dippers (sometimes just arrayed around the grocery store container; for shame), as a crowd-pleasing dip or appetizer. But in Israel, where there are tons of hole-in-the-wall hummuserias that specialize in hummus, it’s often served warm and always super-fresh, in bowls intended to serve a single person, with plenty of fresh pita to scoop it up. Depending on the place, you can get all kinds of things added to your bowl of hummus, too, like ground lamb or roasted eggplant. Some people even put shakshuka on it.
At home, try eating your amazing made-from-scratch hummus as a meal, still warm, with whatever toppings strike your fancy—but be sure to get the best, fluffiest pita bread you can find, because you’re going to want to scoop up every last bit from the bowl!
How to Make Perfect Hummus from Scratch
This recipe is for Eden Grinshpan’s beet hummus, but if you’re not swayed by that beautiful pink hue, just omit the beets and you’ll end up with a bowl of traditional—and delicious—hummus.
Ingredients
For the Beets:
- 4 beets, yellow and red variety
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 cardamom pods, optional
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons salt
For the Hummus:
- 1½ cups raw chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Fresh water to cover
- ¾ cup raw tahini
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ⅓ cup cooked beets
- ⅓ to ½ cup ice water (use less for a thicker spread)
For the Lemon Vinaigrette:
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- ½ jalapeño, finely chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
- Kosher salt, to taste
For the Garnish:
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- Additional beets, chopped
- Mint leaves
- Pine nuts
Instructions
- Make the beets: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place the beets with the vinegar, cardamom (if using), sugar, and salt in a deep roasting tray. Pour in water to come halfway up the beets, then cover well with foil and place in the oven to roast until a knife slides through the beets easily, around 45 minutes.
- Remove the beets from the liquid and use a kitchen towel to remove the skin while still hot.
- Make the hummus: Drain and rinse the chickpeas after they’ve soaked overnight. Place in a deep pot with baking soda. Pour in water to cover, then bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and skim the film that forms on top.
- Let simmer on medium heat until the chickpeas are creamy and break between your fingers when pinched, around 30 minutes.
- Strain the cooked chickpeas and place in a Vitamix or strong blender with tahini, garlic, salt, and beets. Blend until smooth, then slowly pour in the ice water until creamy.
- Make the garnish: Place the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, jalapeño, and salt in a blender and combine until very fine. Top the hummus with the jalapeño mix, beets, mint, and pine nuts. Serve warm.
Check out our hummus recipes and get inspired to create your own variations based on Eden’s technique. If you’re short on time, you can also cook your soaked chickpeas in the Instant Pot.
And check out the rest of our Chow-To series to learn more delicious dishes from great chefs!
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Whole Foods Announces Price Drop on More Than 500 Items
America’s favorite fancy supermarket, Whole Foods, and parent company Amazon, have announced the slashing of prices on more than 500 items in an effort to shed its image as overpriced food retailer of record.
Taking effect today, and focused largely on produce and some meats, marked-down items will see an average drop of 20 percent with some cut as much as 50 percent. In an official press release and joint statement released earlier this week, Amazon said its Prime members can also expect to save an additional 10 percent on Whole Foods sales items and deeper weekly discounts, including “more than 300 Prime member deals” on some of the season’s most popular items.
Just a few of the items included in the brand’s new pricing structure include organic asparagus (down $2 per pound), large yellow mangos (now just $1 each), and air-chilled chicken (down to just $1.79 per pound and a savings of 40 percent).
Amazon and Whole Foods are making it easy to peruse the discounts with a “New Lower Price” filter (although at last check it seemed to be experiencing some technical difficulty), but we’ve gathered a few of our Whole Foods favorites with their shiny new price tags for your convenience!
Justin's Classic Peanut Butter (Pack of 10), $5.30 (was $7.20)
Justin's peanut buttery goodness for less!
This is the third time Amazon has announced major price cuts since it acquired the national supermarket chain in 2017. Last year the brand announced Whole Foods discounts and deals exclusively for Prime members, and now through the end of April customers who try Amazon Prime also get $10 off a $20 purchase in-store at Whole Foods.
All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission. For more great hand-picked products, check out the Chowhound Shop.
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