How to Make Hummus?

Updated on February 07, 2010
C.J. asks from Frisco, TX
24 answers

My little guy gobbles up Hummus & thinks it's cheese for his yummy crackers & pita chips!
Problem is that it seems a bit on the expensive side when I get it at Market Street and I'm not sure where else to buy it.
I can't find it pre-packaged in individual cups anywhere so I just get it from the olive bar.
So, I tried to find a recipe but it calls for "Tahini"... what the heck is Tahini??

Does anyone have experience making Hummus?
Please share so I can make "cheese" for lil' man!!

Shhhhhhhhhhh, he'll never know!
- C.

8 moms found this helpful

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A.V.

answers from Dallas on

Costco sells it in individual servings. It's very inexpensive...it's about 4.99 for 20 individual 1/4 cup servings. That is a SUPER great deal....and since it's individually wrapped it keeps forever. They also sell a big bag of Stacy's pita chips for about 5.00 too.

2 moms found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

Tahini is ground sesame seeds, you should be able to find it pretty easily at most grocery stores. Usually by the peanut butter sometimes in the ethnic aisle. It helps hummus keep it's consistency. My son also likes it with baby carrots. But you should also be able to find the pre-made stuff in the deli department at any grocery store. I know at Kroger it's usually by the fancier cheeses.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.D.

answers from Dallas on

They sell hummus in the deli area at most grocery stores. I love the Sabra brand. They do make individual serving sizes. I think they sell them at Target.

Tahini is ground sesame seeds.

1 mom found this helpful

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A.D.

answers from Dallas on

Hummus is super easy to make. And you can incorporate almost anything he likes into it to make it more flavorful.
Here is a simple recipe that I got from a friend. I add sundried tomatoes or kalmatta olives to it some days if I am looking for a different flavor.
Oh, and tahini is ground sesame seeds.

2 cans garbanzo beans (or butter beans for a creamier taste) - drain, save liquid
1/3 cup Tahini...I prefer the roasted tahini over the raw. it has a better flavor
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt to taste (I use Tony's Creole seasoning instead for added spiciness)
2-3 cloves of garlic - minced or at least cut up a bit (I typically use 3 cloves of that gourmet garlic.
olive oil
paprika

Place beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt & garlic in food processor
Blend till smooth (if it's too dry then use some of the liquid from the beans to get the texture you desire)
Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle paprika
Hope this helps!

3 moms found this helpful
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K.G.

answers from St. Louis on

You have some good responses already. I just made hummus with my 3-year-old boy, and here's what we did:

strained 2 cans of garbanzo beans
poured beans into food processor
peeled and tossed in 2 big cloves of garlic
cut lemon in half; squeezed juice into food processor (take out any seeds)
spooned in 3 teaspoons of tahini (ground sesame seeds; ethnic food market or in the ethnic section)
salt and pepper to taste
about 2 T olive oil

Blend. Taste. If it looks or tastes "off", just try adding a little of the ingredient that you think is missing. Blend again, and taste again. Just keep trying, tasting, and experimenting. Have fun! (And if you feel up to it, have your little guy help you. He'll love it!)

2 moms found this helpful
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L.H.

answers from Dallas on

The quick way:

Two cans of chick peas (drained/ rinsed)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup Tahini (sesame seed "butter" for lack of a better word)**
1/2 cup lemon juice

Process peas in food processor. Add garlic and salt. Alternate between Tahini and lemon juice as you put that in. If it is really thick, add a little water but not too much or it will not be good. Olive oil is a great way to thin it out to the consistency you are looking for.

Long way: Soak a 1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas overnight.
Boil in water 3X the amount of peas for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to simmer for an hour. Follow the above steps and use the boiling water to get your consistency (again...not a lot of water).

**I can't find Tahini at Albertsons, but they have it in the ethnic aisle at Kroger. I would wager that places like Central Market would have it as well.

Hope you like it...
-L.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.N.

answers from Dallas on

Deceptively Delicious by Jerry Seinfeld's wife has an EXCELLENT recipe for hummus. Can't make enough of it! It's called Greek Dip and it's amazing. Oh, and for getting kids to eat their veggies without even knowing it, Deceptively Delicious is an awesome resource!

1 C chickpeas, drained
1 C artichoke hearts, quartered/drained
1/2 C mayo (FF or RF, ok)
2 T grated Parmesan (FF or RF, ok)
2 T lemon juice
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t black pepper
1/8 t salt
1/2 t onion powder

Process chickpeas till chopped, add remaining ingredients and continue processing till pureed. Makes 4 - 1/2 C servings.

We eat it with those rice crackers from Costco. DELICIOUS!

You can also find hummus pre-packaged in little cups at Costco, they're in the refreigerated section (near the meats and cheeses).

2 moms found this helpful
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L.M.

answers from Dallas on

Drive to Sam's. They've got some GREAT hummus. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

You've gotten some good answers. However if you don't want to make it yourself, buy the Sabra brand. It is the best, most authentic hummus you can get. I know good hummus, as we travel to Israel quite a lot!

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L.M.

answers from Dallas on

Walmart now sells tahini.

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

My husband eats hummus at an alarming rate (for lunch nearly every day), and it's easy and SUPER cheap to make yourself. The absolute cheapest way is to buy dry chickpeas in bulk--we'll cook up a big pot, then divide it into freezer bags according to the measurements for the hummus recipe (you've gotten good ones below), then take one out and stick it in the blender to make some up. We can't usually find tahini at Albertson's, but get it at Mike's Health Food Store at the NE corner of 75 and White in McKinney. I would expect they probably have it at Market St, too--just ask.

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H.F.

answers from Dallas on

I am not exactly sure what Tahini is, but I have seen it on the shelf next to the peanut butter in Sprouts.

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K.R.

answers from Dallas on

Tom Thumb and Kroger have Hummus in a package that has 4 individual size cups. I have been told that Hummus is nothing but chick peas mashed up. I am sure there is more to add to it, but my friend has made it herself and I guess it's quite easy, but I don't know that it's that much cheaper to do yourself. I believe Kroger even has Hummus in their own brand with different flavors. You will find it at both stores in the special deli section. I love it since my cousin introduced it to me last summer. Good luck and it's great that your child loves it!

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J.C.

answers from Dallas on

Put in blender:
1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained, reserve liquid
1 small can black olives, drained
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic

Blend until smooth, adding small amounts of the liquid you saved from the beans as needed.

This is how I make it for me and my girls and we all love it!! You can also leave out the garlic if it's not your thing. Try adding other ingredients such as pepper, lemon juice or anything that sounds good!!

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M.K.

answers from Cheyenne on

Main ingrediants,
Chick peas, Lemon, sesame oil, parsley, tahini (chinese food stores will carry this!) and a little bit of lime juice and salt to taste. Mash the chickpeas and add the other ingredients. It's easy tasty and healthy. If you need anymore help feel free to message me.

oh yeah garlic too! real important!

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M.K.

answers from Dallas on

There are a ton of variations on the basic hummus recipe, but the crucial ingredients are chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, and tahini. I usually find tahini with the peanut butter in the grocery store (you can think of tahini as 'sesame seed butter').

P.S. Straight tahini is great on toast for little ones, you can use it like peanut butter (i.e. tahini and jelly sandwich).

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C.V.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Hi there,
Hummus is really quite simple to make. It's pretty much to taste. Tahini is sesame seed oil. I'm not sure where you could get it. Probably somewhere like Russo's. My husband is a chef so he gets it through his restaurant. It's garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, salt. We like roasted red pepper hummus so we put that in there but you could do it plain as well. If you can't find tahini you could try to subsitute olive oil but I think the tahini is not easily replacable. Good luck and have fun.
Chris

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S.H.

answers from Dallas on

You can find tahini at walmart and market street. One container will make alot of batches of hummus.

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S.D.

answers from San Francisco on

I've used this recipe - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/hummus-reci...

Tahini is ground sesame seeds, the consistency of peanut butter and even comes in a jar like peanut butter. You *might* be able to fake it without tahini or even get good results with peanut butter/cashew butter/almond butter. (Peanut/cashew and almond will all be a tad sweeter.) It is worth a try.

Check the "ethnic" section of your grocery store or the health foods section if it is not right next to the peanut butter. And worst case, it should be at a healthfoods store. (Someplace like HEB would have it.)

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E.P.

answers from Houston on

You buy the garbanzo beans and put them in the blender with extra virgin olive oil. Add some garlic and blend. Then pour out and sprinkle a little bit of paprika powder, or not...yummmm!!!

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L.C.

answers from Hartford on

You can find tahini in the grocery store where the peanut butter and jelly is. I believe it's in a white container with orange and brown color. Another bean to use in the blender and prepared with olive oil is the white cannellini bean in a can. It is wonderful! If your son will not mind the green color use cilantro....so yummy!

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S.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

My daughters also love hummus. I just take a can of chick peas, salt, garlic (2 cloves), juice of one lemon (or to taste) and olive oil. Just put the peas salt, lemon juice and garlic in the food processor and get it to the consistency you like it by slowly adding olive oil. Most recipes do call for tahini paste but I don't use it and it tastes yummy. You can add lots of things to hummus if your son is up to it. Black olives, sun dried tomatoes, red peppers... It's fun to experiment.

Another easy, cheap snack my girls LOVE is toasted chick peas. You just drain a can of chickpeas, put them in a skillet and toast them by themselves for 15 minutes (stir them once in a while) then add some salt and paprika and cook another five minutes. Seriously my girls can eat a can in one sitting!

Oh, you can find tahini paste by the peanut butter. Just in case you still want it!

K.I.

answers from Spokane on

You can buy tahini in any grocery store. I work at an Albertson's and it comes in can (like peanuts or almond) and we carry it in the isle with the "kosher" products, Matzo balls, etc.

Also, our local favorite Greek restaurant sells hummus by itself and it is way better than the grocery store stuff and really quite cheap!

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M.L.

answers from Dallas on

Not sure of a good recipe but I'm sure you could google it and find something. Also, the site myrecipes.com is wondeful...I find great stuff there all the time. If you wanted to buy it Costco has a HUGE tub of organic hummus that is wonderful. It costs around $5 and is yummy. Hope this helps and I think its great that your little one loves hummus...it is really healthy for you!!

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