Perfect, Simple Hummus Recipe

This hummus recipe is SO quick and easy - in no time you can be enjoying perfectly smooth and delicately flavored homemade hummus.

Originally published March 2019. Updated Sept. 2021.

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For years, I've been making hummus that nobody loves.

I make it because it's SO very much cheaper than buying it, especially if you care about organic ingredients, which I do. The idea of plunking down $6 for teensy little tub of delicious hummus, that surely I can make myself just seems so wrong.

Except, that delicious $6 hummus is not what I make at home. I make hummus that causes my kids to declare they no longer like hummus, and my husband to insist that he's never liked hummus.

Until I pick up a tub of that store-bought stuff...in which case, everyone loves hummus again.

Last week as I pondered the economics of it, I came to a realization. I've been doing this all wrong. Instead of trying 27 different authentic hummus recipes from every one of my cookbooks and most of my library's - I needed to recreate the hummus my kids already love. The stupid $6 organic hummus in the tiny plastic tub.

So I pulled out my favorite hummus recipe, from one of my favorite-ever cookbooks, and figured that would be a pretty good jumping off point. Don't tell the authors of this cultural cookbook masterpiece that I used their recipe to get to this one-clove-of-garlic version of a hummus recipe, ok?

This is not intensely-flavored, garlicky hummus. This is "make the kids beg for more" hummus. This is "make husbands swear they've always loved this stuff" hummus. It's a darn good knockoff for the $6 hummus, and makes almost 3 times the amount in that tub, for about $2.74 worth of organic ingredients.

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If you love garlic (and I actually really do!), you might like putting in two cloves instead of one. It's pretty darn great that way too! Serve it drizzled with a little fresh good-quality olive oil, and maybe a little freshly chopped parsley to take snack-time to a new level.

One last word of advice. Don't be temped to skip on the food processor time. I know 5 minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but if your food processor is as loud as mine, it can feel like an eternity. That hummus is going to look smooth, done, and delicious, by 2 minutes. But take my word and go for the full 5 - the smooth and light texture is absolutely worth it!

Bon Appétit!