Roasted Squash Houmous (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade hummus not creamy? ›

You might need more tahini, garlic, lemon and/or salt and very likely more chickpea water. Add a bit of each as you need, the recipe explains. "Blitz the hummus until very smooth, a few minutes at least. Don't worry about the hummus being too loose; it will thicken as it sits."

As I said earlier, tahini has a mildly bitter flavour, so if your hummus is bitter, you've most likely added too much tahini. Also make sure that the tahini you do have is hulled, as opposed to unhulled. Hulled tahini just means that the bitter husks on the outside of the sesame seed have been removed before blending.

A: Many packaged hummus brands are pretty healthy – the basic ingredients are chickpeas, tahini (sesame seed paste), olive oil, garlic and lemond juice. But making it at home allows you to control the sodium, calories and nutrients.

Next, enhance the blank slate of flavor with a few squeezes of lemon juice, a sprinkling of garlic salt, a turn of freshly cracked pepper, a heavy-handed sprinkle of paprika, and a generous drizzle of your nicest olive oil. Bonus points if you have an herby olive oil on hand with a little color to it.

Tahini is sesame butter, and to make creamy hummus, the secret is to first turn that into sesame cream! To do that, you need to emulsify the tahini in a water based liquid first. This will not happen if you just put everything into a food processor all at once!'

Baking soda: Adding baking soda to the chickpeas helps make the legume easier to digest, softer, and makes them easy to peel. Don't skip this ingredient! Lemon juice: I never suggest using pre-bottled lemon juice, but I especially urge you not to in homemade hummus.

If you feel adventurous, try replacing the tahini with an equal amount of peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, Greek yogurt, chopped roasted peppers, pitted olives, roasted beets, steamed sweet potato, avocado, or thawed frozen peas, to name just a few possibilities.

By using freshly cooked chickpeas, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and top-notch tahini, you're guaranteed a hummus that bursts with flavor. On the other hand, store-bought hummus, while convenient, often lacks the same level of freshness.

Moore claimed that overdoing it with this dip could lead to gastrointestinal issues, arguing that because hummus is made from chickpeas—a legume that takes a while to break down—eating hummus could cause gastrointestinal inflammation for some individuals.

Ground cumin and salt help to make it taste amazing, and the ground cumin adds a little more spice and richness. Olive oil makes the texture of the hummus luxurious.

Is cumin necessary in hummus? ›

In this hummus recipe, adapted from "How to Cook Everything," tahini is essential, as are garlic and lemon. But this dip is also flexible: cumin and pimentón are optional, as are herbs or blends like za'atar. Hummus can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one week.

Hummus pairs perfectly with fresh veggies and crispy salads. This crunchy cucumber and tomato salad is a refreshing side dish with a bowl of hummus, but it also works beautifully as a topping for a loaded and colorful hummus.

For starters, homemade humus will almost always spoil faster because store-bought, which is prepared in sterile and contamination-controlled environments. Homemade varieties will generally last anywhere from 3-4 days, whereas store-bought brands generally lasts 6-7 days after opening.

The key to smooth and creamy hummus

It doesn't need to have oil added to it, except a little on top, to be mixed in - or not - as desired. But it does have to be excellent extra virgin olive oil. Great hummus needs a decent amount of tahini. Not just a tablespoon or two but lots.

If you find the hummus too thick, add some of the reserved cooking liquid and thin until you get the desired texture. Taste the hummus and add more salt, if needed. Spoon and spread the hummus into a shallow serving bowl (or two of them depending on size), building up the sides a little.

Replace with cold water and repeat 3 times. This process not only gets rid of the grainy skins, it also helps cool the chickpeas, giving the hummus a wonderful creamy, not gummy texture. Use a super high powered blender or food processor if you can (I use a Vitamix, but I've also heard Thermomix works well).

If , for some reason, you ended up using more liquid than you should have or if you still want a thicker consistency, you can add a bit more tahini. And if you chill the hummus for an hour or so before adding any garnish, that should help as well.