This simple hummus without tahini takes 5 minutes to prepare, uses common ingredients, and is so much cheaper than the packaged stuff.
I make this simple hummus without tahini all the time. I absolutely love hummus, and typically have some stocked in my refrigerator. I’ve tried just about every fancy variety and flavor combination of hummus that there is. At some point I started wondering, why is this little tub of bean dip so expensive? I mean come on, it’s mostly just beans, which cost next to nothing. So, I started making my own.
Not only is it cheaper to make your own hummus, but you control the quality of ingredients that go into it. So, there are no weird preservatives or fillers in your dip.
To make this dip, add garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and a little bit of water to a food processor. Then, blend until smooth. That’s it! It really is simple. Serve it up with your favorite dippers, like whole grain crackers, chopped veggies, or tortilla chips.
Why skip out on the tahini? Well, you certainly don’t have to. I just find that tahini is one of those ingredients that I don’t always have on hand. And, it’s by far the most expensive ingredient in hummus.
Tahini is a paste made out of sesame seeds. It kind of reminds me of sesame flavored peanut butter. I like it. And, I like hummus that has tahini in it. I just don’t find it necessary. So if I don’t have it, which I often don’t, this is my go-to recipe.
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Simple Hummus Without Tahini
Video
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- 2 to 4 tbsp. water
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
- ¼ to 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Add the garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons of water, the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and ¼ teaspoon of salt to a food processor. Process until smooth and creamy. If needed, add additional water to thin out the hummus and ¼ teaspoon of salt to your taste preference.
- Store covered in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Still want tahini in your hummus? No problem. Just add 2 tablespoons of tahini to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.
I worked in a Greek restaurant when I was in college and the Greek woman who owned it made the hummus herself. She would never give me the full recipe, but she insisted that the reason that her hummus was so good was that she never used Tahini. She said she didn’t like the bitter after taste. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe, I no longer live in my college town and I miss her hummus a lot. I can’t wait to see how this compares.
AND to make it even cheaper (and have even MORE control of the ingredients)–make your own garbanzo beans. In the morning just throw about 1/2# dry beans in the crock pot, cover about 2″ over the beans with water and cook all day on low–DONE!
This recipe is a keeper! I absolutely love how well proportioned the ingredients are… The recipe is so simple yet so delicious… I wilk definetly be making this one very often.
Thanks Virginia! I’m so glad you like it! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it really is quite good. So happy to not have to use Tahini. After reading some of the other peoples responses to it I decided to put some of them to good use and add a few of my own. I did use the liquid from the chick peas instead of plain water. I also added some lemon zest, toasted sesame oil, black pepper, freshly grated romano cheese and a little bit of honey/sugar. This was so good I polished off the whole container in 3 days; and that’s only because I was pacing myself. I used less EVOO and cumin only because I am not a huge fan of these. Great recipe. A true keeper. Oh…btw…I peeled the whole can of chick peas because I read somewhere that the skins tend to give off a bitter taste. Don’t know if that’s true but but mine came out smooth, creamy and absolutely delicious.
Thanks for sharing. Just one cuestion, it’s the Cook or raw garbanzo?, if i don’t want to use cans! Thanks
I just made this Lemon Hummus tonight, to go with falafel. I used my Kitchenaid blender on the “mix” setting and scraped down the sides a few times when it seemed to get stuck. My husband and I agreed that it tasted DELICIOUS and was great with the falafel, white Jasmine rice, and my toppings were diced tomato, avocado, and English cucumber. After he got up to clean up, he scraped out what was left in the blender to lick it off the spatula!
I think I put a touch too much Cumin, but after a few tastes, I loved it. I may try adding a bit of sesame oil next time. We are into the Japanese taste of sesame.
Cute!
Just a recommendation, If you’re concerned about sodium, just rinse the canned beans before using.
I just made this and it came out so delicious. I doubled the batch. It was quick and easy did not miss the Tahini. Thank you for sharing all your recipies
Hi Ana, Thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it!
Fantastic! Finally an excellent ‘hummus without tahini’ recipe!
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe! Your hummus looks great! What seasonings do you put on top of it (as pictured). It looks so inviting and delicious!
Thank you Kay! I believe that was just a drizzle of olive oil and some crushed red pepper flakes. Hope you like it!
Great recipe, love it!
For 1 15oz can of beans I Also added 1/2 tsp lemon pepper salt & 1/2 tsp powdered onion.
My solution to avoid peeling the skins is to invest in a small grinder/chopper.
I have a Cuisinart. It’s great for many recipes.
the machine is powerful & the blade is very sharp & does a great job resulting
in a very smooth & creamy hummus paste, thus no skinning.
As with every recipe I use, I taste & add more/other ingredients as I go.
Hope this helps some out there!
I was in search of the perfect hummus recipe, I am definitely tying this! 🙂
In order for hummus to be smooth, you need smaller batches and the peas need to be skinned. Skinning chic peas is a long and annoying process though. I wonder if this recipe is bland? You use so little garlic cumin and lemon juice, and no paprika? Tahini is not that expensive. Pay $6 for a jar that makes 4-5 batches?
I’d also suggest using dry beans instead of canned. You cut out TONS of sodium that way and you save money.
Feel free to use tahini and dry beans Kellie.
Hi this is great, I love hummus! Do you know how long it will keep!
Hi Lana,
I don’t like to keep anything fresh like this for longer than 7 days. But, this hummus is always gone before I reach that point 🙂
I make this for everyone in my family. Even my picky 8 year old loves it. Quick and easy
I made this recipe a couple weeks ago and loved it, however I was well into the prep when I realized I was out of cumin. So today, I start a double batch and realized I never bought any cumin. So, I used the zest from the lemon and subbed 1/2 tbls of sesame oil for the olive oil. Remember this was a double batch.
Next time for sure I need to have cumin in the pantry! However adding the zest and and the sesame oil helped punch up the flavor! It’s soooo creamy. I already portioned out some for my lunches….
That sounds great! I’m so glad you liked it!
I’ve tried making homemade hummus with several similar recipes, but I just can’t for the life of me get the stuff to be soooo smooth like the storebought kind. Do you have any tips for that? Mine usually looks about the same texture as yours. Thanks!
I found it is the processor that makes the difference. When I started using a high power blender instead of the cheaper one I had before it made a huge difference. Sometimes a tiny bit more liquid.
You can make the Hummus creamier by shucking off the skins after you rinse them…….it just takes a few minutes per can, but the difference is amazing…..smooth as peanut butter….I also reserve some of the liquid from the can and use that instead of water, it gives it more of the chick pea flavor
One trick I use is to blend in some tofu. I know sounds weird but it comes out super creamy (I do this with refried beans too) also I’ve found if you used a blender instead of a food processor that helps too. (Of course you need to scrape it down a few times) when using tofu you may have to increase the spices a bit. I always add corriander, and fresh chillies (green my son likes spicy) hope this helps! As a bonus you now have a super protein spread if you are eating vegan/vegetarian! (We do)
I learned from another blogger that processing it longer and with a little juice from the beans makes the difference– i now process it 4-5 minutes.
I cook dry beans four about an hour in pressure cooker and it is smooth as butter
Thanks so much for sharing this!!! I absolutely LOVE hummus, but I am allergic to sesame seeds, nuts, the whole shabang, so I can’t usually have it. I can’t wait to try this out!!!
I imagine if you are missing the flavour of tahini, you could trade out a bit of the olive oil for sesame oil….. I think I am going to try it your way tho’ with none. I think it will be great.
My sister has a sesame allergy so we have always mdd it this way. I some times add a little peanut butter or powders peanut butter for the nutty flavor. A pinch does the trick.
I have a hummus recipe similar to this and I add 1 tsp of sesame oil and the lemon zest as well. It is delicious.
I’ve also read that. peanut butter works as a perfect substitute. I’ll be trying this later
Oh I would lick this bowl clean in NEGATIVE 2 seconds!!
Thank you so much ., I didn’t have tahini and thought I had wasted all my ingredients. but since I haven’t tasted it yet , I think you saved it for me. Bea