Hummus Recipe: How to Make Smooth Hummus from Dried Chickpeas

This hummus recipe starts with dried chickpeas: soak them overnight, simmer them with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda until very soft, then blend them with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt and iced water until smooth. It serves 6 as a dip and needs about 20 minutes of hands-on work, plus 8–12 hours’ soaking and 60–90 minutes’ simmering. We also cover what makes it smooth, how much tahini to use, toppings and storage.

What is hummus?

Hummus is a dip of cooked chickpeas blended with tahini (sesame paste), garlic, lemon juice and salt. The word is Arabic for chickpea, and Britannica explains that it is short for the dish’s full name, hummus bi tahina, “chickpea with tahini”. In parts of the Levant it is a staple, often eaten every day, and across the Arab world it is commonly eaten fresh with pitta bread or falafel. Some historians think its modern style was developed in 18th-century Damascus. In UK supermarkets you’ll often see it spelled houmous.

Hummus recipe from dried chickpeas (serves 6)

Makes: about 700g, enough for 6 as a dip. Soaking: 8–12 hours. Hands-on: 20 minutes. Cooking: 60–90 minutes. Total: about 10 hours, including 8 hours’ soaking, so start the night before.

Ingredients

• 200g dried chickpeas (kabuli chana)
• a generous pinch (about ¼ teaspoon) of bicarbonate of soda
• 120g tahini (about 8 tablespoons), stirred well
• juice of 1½ lemons (about 60ml), plus extra to taste
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• ¾ teaspoon fine salt, plus extra to taste
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• 4–6 tablespoons iced water
• to serve: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a pinch of paprika, sumac or Aleppo chilli flakes

Method

1. Soak. Rinse the chickpeas, tip them into a large bowl and cover generously with cold water, as they swell. Leave for 8–12 hours or overnight, then drain and rinse.
2. Simmer. Put the chickpeas in a large pan with the bicarbonate of soda and enough fresh cold water to cover them by 5cm. Bring to the boil, skim off any foam, then simmer gently for 60–90 minutes, topping up with boiling water to keep them covered.
3. Check they are very soft. A chickpea should squash easily between finger and thumb, with no chalky centre; if not, keep simmering, as older chickpeas can take longer. Drain, setting a few whole chickpeas aside for the top.
4. Blend. While they are still warm, put the chickpeas, garlic, salt and cumin (if using) in a food processor and blend for 2 minutes to a thick paste, scraping down the sides. Add the tahini and lemon juice and blend for 1–2 minutes more; it will look stiff.
5. Loosen with iced water. With the motor running, add the iced water a tablespoon at a time and keep blending for 1–2 minutes, until smooth, pale and soft enough to swirl. You may not need it all. Taste, and add more lemon juice or salt if needed.
6. Serve. Spread the hummus in a shallow bowl, make a swirl with the back of a spoon and pour the olive oil into it. Add the saved chickpeas and your toppings. Refrigerate any you are not eating within 2 hours.

Quicker options: our chickpea product page gives 15–20 minutes in a pressure cooker for soaked chickpeas; follow your cooker’s instructions. For same-day hummus, use two 400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, in place of the cooked dried ones. Soaking and cooking times for other pulses are in our guide to types of lentils and pulses.

No lemon? Dissolve a tiny pinch of citric acid, often known as lemon salt, in a spoonful of the iced water and add it little by little to taste: it is much stronger than lemon juice.

How to make hummus smooth

• Cook the chickpeas until very soft. Take them well past the point you would want for a salad or curry. Our chickpea product page’s tip for extra-smooth hummus is to cook them until very soft.
• Add bicarbonate of soda to the cooking water. A pinch, as our product page suggests, helps them soften: America’s Test Kitchen says the alkaline water helps break down pectin in the beans. CooksInfo, a cookery reference, says it is only really needed if your water is very hard.
• Peel them if you have time. Some cooks slip the skins off the cooked chickpeas before blending, and America’s Test Kitchen found this gave a far creamier hummus. It is slow work, so treat it as optional.
• Blend for longer than you think. Allow 4–6 minutes in all in a food processor, stopping to scrape down the sides.
• Add the iced water gradually. Stop when the hummus is soft enough to swirl; it firms up a little in the fridge, as chilled tahini is thicker.

How much tahini to put in hummus

Our Tahini Sesame Paste page calls tahini the key ingredient in hummus after chickpeas. This recipe uses 120g of tahini to 200g of dried chickpeas, which cook to roughly 480g: about one part tahini to four parts cooked chickpeas. The quick tinned version in our tahini guide uses 2–3 tablespoons per 400g tin for a lighter result. Stir the jar well before you weigh it out, as the sesame oil naturally rises to the top.

Hummus toppings

Britannica notes that hummus may be topped with spices such as cumin or paprika, or with pine nuts or minced beef. Olive oil comes first; then add one or two of the others:

• Olive oil: pour a generous spoonful into the swirl. Al Quds Palestinian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is fresh and fruity with a gentle peppery finish, in 250ml or 500ml dark glass bottles.
• Paprika: a dusting of Sweet Paprika adds deep red colour without heat; it is not smoked.
• Cumin: a pinch on top, as well as in the hummus, for a warm, earthy note.
• Sumac: Greenfields Sumac is tangy and lemony, made with sumac and a little citric acid and no added salt; dust about ¼ teaspoon over the oil. Our sumac guide has more ideas.
• Aleppo chilli: Greenfields Aleppo Chilli Flakes are mild and fruity, with notes of sun-dried tomato and raisin, and are prepared with a little salt and vegetable oil.
• Whole chickpeas and parsley: scatter over the chickpeas you set aside and some chopped parsley.

What to serve with hummus

Serve it with warm pitta or flatbread and raw carrot, cucumber and pepper, as part of a mezze spread with pickles and salads, with our falafel recipe, or in wraps and on plates with chicken shawarma. Britannica notes that it can be served warm, at room temperature or cold; for warm hummus, blend the chickpeas straight from the pan and serve it at once.

How long does homemade hummus last?

Homemade hummus contains no preservatives, so we suggest treating it like other home-cooked food. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says leftovers can be eaten cold if “cooked properly, cooled, and put in the fridge within two hours”, and advises: “Eat leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them if you think this won’t be possible.” Keep it covered; the FSA says “Your fridge should be set between 0 and 5°C.”

Can you freeze hummus? Yes. CooksInfo says it freezes well, although the oil from the tahini may separate as it thaws: stir it back in, and loosen with a little lemon juice or oil if needed. The FSA’s freezing advice is to label what you freeze, keep the freezer “around -18°C”, defrost food “in the fridge overnight” and “use food within 24 hours after it’s been fully defrosted”. Cooked chickpeas freeze too, so you could cook a whole 500g pouch and freeze the rest in portions.

Allergens: hummus contains sesame from the tahini, and sesame seeds are one of the 14 allergens that must be clearly labelled within the ingredients list of prepacked food, as GOV.UK explains. Our Tahini Sesame Paste contains sesame, and our chickpeas may contain traces of other pulses and cereals containing gluten, so check the pack labels.

You’ll find chickpeas in our pulses, rice and grains range, and tahini and olive oil in our pantry range. We deliver to UK addresses only; see our delivery information.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to soak chickpeas for hummus?

Yes, if you start with dried chickpeas. Our product page says to soak them for 8–12 hours (overnight), then drain; they then need 60–90 minutes’ simmering, or 15–20 minutes in a pressure cooker. Tinned chickpeas need neither: the FSA says canned beans purchased in the supermarket “have been pre-soaked and boiled”. Drain and rinse them, then blend as above.

Why is my hummus grainy?

The chickpeas most likely needed longer cooking, or the hummus needed longer blending. Next time, simmer them until they squash easily between finger and thumb, add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to the cooking water and blend for 4–6 minutes in all. To rescue a grainy batch, blend it again for a couple of minutes with a spoonful or two of iced water.

Can you make hummus without tahini?

Yes, though it won’t be hummus bi tahina, “chickpea with tahini”. Leave the tahini out and blend in 3–4 tablespoons of olive oil and a little extra lemon juice instead; the result is lighter and less nutty. If you are avoiding sesame, check labels carefully: tahini is ground sesame, and sesame is also a common za’atar ingredient.

How long does homemade hummus last in the fridge?

We suggest eating it within 48 hours, in line with the Food Standards Agency’s general advice: “Eat leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them if you think this won’t be possible.” Refrigerate it within two hours of making it, covered, in a fridge set between 0 and 5°C. If you freeze it in small tubs, the FSA advises defrosting food in the fridge overnight and using it within 24 hours.