Did I ever mention I grew up in the restaurant business? My mom’s restaurant served the best hummus. And over the years, after the countless batches of hummus I made at the restaurant during prep time, it turned out I could replicate it easily at home.

There is no need to ever buy store-bought hummus again. It’s so easy to make!! I often do this weekly so I always have something to snack on.

There are two key factors to a successful hummus: taste and texture.

The beauty of hummus is it’s pretty forgiving if you’ve got enough ingredients. By this I mean, if you get the texture or taste wrong, you can keep adding to it until you’ve got it right.

Texture:
The desired texture is subjective. The challenge is to keep your hummus from being too runny or too dry. To thicken it up, add more chickpeas and/or tahini. To soften it up, add more lemon juice or olive oil, or some of the reserved liquid from the chickpeas can.

Taste:
This is also subjective. For me, garlic is the most critical ingredient. I load my hummus up with garlic. Then, I need the following things to tantalize my tastebuds — red chili flakes, salt, and lemon juice. You may decide you want additional flavors like roasted red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes. Cool, go for it — but I like to stick with the classic.

First step is partially drain your can of chickpeas. When I open up the can of chickpeas, I immediately pour its liquid into a separate container. I then rinse/drain the chickpeas to remove the starchiness.

I pour the chickpeas into the food processor, and I add 1/3 of the liquid reserved from its can into it as well.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of tahini, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1-2 cloves of garlic (or 1 tablespoon minced, to start).

Cover the food processor and pulse until the consistency is apparent. If the consistency is off, add more ingredients as needed. See above for texture remedies. You’ll probably be glad you saved the chickpea liquid to balance it out if it turns out you need to add more chickpeas.

Once you get your hummus consistency correct, that’s when you’ll want to give it a taste. At this point, it should be rather bland other than the garlic flavor. This is where you add in the lemon juice to give it some acidity and add your spices. I start off with 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice. You’re welcome to add other spices in, too, like paprika, cumin, coriander, black pepper, etc. I usually don’t.

Keep pulsing and tasting until you get it right for your flavor palette. Serve with veggies or pita dip, or use it on sandwiches as a spread, or as a versatile addition to many other dishes.

Enjoy!

Total cook time, approximately 15 minutes to prep.

1 can (420 g) chickpeas
2-3 tablespoons of tahini
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic or 1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Makes 8 servings

Calories: approx 250 per serving