This is a guest post from Rachel of the Thriving Home.
Hi, I’m Rachel and I’m a hummus addict. (Hi, Rachel.) I can eat a whole store-bought container of hummus in one sitting if I’m not careful. That’s right, an entire $3.00 8 oz container of hummus. Go ahead. I give you permission to judge me.
That’s not to mention my other little hummus addicts at home. My kids love them some hummus too. My 3-year-old daughter–a budding recipe developer like her momma perhaps(?)–often requests a hummus and banana roll-up or cream cheese and hummus sandwich for lunch. That’s not my cup of tea, but I respect the girl for her creative healthy concoctions.
Here’s a snapshot of my 5-year-old sous chef showing off his hummus-dipping skills, as well… (and with the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, he can MAKE it himself too!)
So, you’ve done the math right? If I go through a $3 container of hummus even every other day, that’s at least $45 in hummus a month! I’m of the belief that good food is good (and cheap) medicine. And hummus fits that bill. It’s full of fiber, good fat, vitamins and minerals. It really is a nutritional powerhouse sort of food. But $45 a month for just hummus alone? Good grief. That doesn’t work in our food budget for long. (And that’s not to mention all the wasteful packaging going into all that store-bought hummus.)
Thus, I began my hunt for a homemade hummus recipe that tasted as good as my store-bought all-natural one and that was easy to make. After several different attempts, I finally found one that our family loves.
This Simple Blender Hummus recipe is incredibly easy, delicious, and cheap! We especially love it as a snack with veggies but also on sandwiches and in whole wheat tortilla roll-ups.
The best part is that this homemade Simple Blender Hummus cost me about $1.50 for 8 ounces (1 cup) or $4.50 for the entire recipe. That’s HALF the cost of my $3.00 8 oz store-bought version!
I hope you enjoy the taste and cost-savings of this homemade hummus as much as we did.
- ½ cup tahini paste
- ⅓ − ⅔ cup water drained from beans (use more or less depending on desired consistency)
- juice of 3 lemons
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2-4 cloves of peeled garlic (I like mine garlicky, so I use 4!)
- 1½ − 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- optional: cayenne pepper, to taste
- optional: black pepper, to taste
- 3 cups of cooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans (or 2 - 15oz. cans chickpeas), drained
- Add all ingredients except the chickpeas to a blender*.
- Puree until garlic is minced and liquid is combined.
- Add half of the chickpeas and blend until smooth. Add last of chickpeas and blend until smooth.
- Add more bean water to thin out hummus as needed. You may have to use a spatula to scrap the sides and bottom to make sure all the chickpeas are pureed.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, as needed.
- Store in the fridge for a week or freeze for up to three months in an airtight container.
- *Note: If using a food processor, you can add the first half of the chickpeas to the liquid ingredients in this step.
Video Demo by an 11-year-old who Knows How to COOK!
Get Some Freebies!
Download the free recipe we used in the video, and get 5 other kid-friendly bean recipes, a sneak peek at The Everything Beans Book:
In addition to Simple Blender Hummus, here are a few of our family’s other favorite healthy, real food snacks that you may enjoy:
Chocolate Banana Muffins – My kids sing “Mom is great! She feeds us chocolate cake!” when we make these together. They are tasty and yet full of real foods like bananas, pumpkin, flaxseed, organic yogurt and more. We often eat these for breakfast, too.
Homemade Popcorn – We make this on the stove top with just coconut oil and salt and it is the BEST tasting popcorn I’ve ever had.
Powerball Cookies – A no-bake little cookie that your kids can help you make. Watch out, these are deceptively addictive. (I think I see a pattern in my life.)
Super Food Smoothie – This is absolutely delicious! Makes for a great mid-morning snack and way to sneak in extra fruit and veggies.
Chocolate Coconut Cookies – You can feel good about feeding your kids (or you) this treat every once and a while. Chocolate and coconut…yes please.
Happy Hummus making to you! I’m off to hole up and devour another container of my homemade hummus…with a mostly guilt-free conscious now.
Time to fess up. What real food snack are you addicted to?
Rachel is a stay-at-home mom of three young kids and part-time Family Events Director at her church. She also co-authors the blog Thriving Home, where she shares healthy kid-friendly recipes, parenting resources and encouragement for moms, and tips for natural living. Find out more about Thriving Home here or you can follow them via their Facebook page or weekly email update.
Homemade broccoli salad (with craisins, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, and bacon). It’s the best addiction ever. 😛
Love hummus. The more garlic, the better! And powerballs/bars disappear really fast with a teenaged son around.
I used to get those little carrots once in a while, even though I knew they weren’t really “baby” carrots, but culls put through a grinder to salvage the undamaged parts, but when I heard they go through a chlorine bath before packaging (to keep them from browning), I thought “Yuck”, realized they had to have been treated with something, and have not bought them since. The real baby ones from the garden are a thousand times better anyway.
That’s a great point, Karen. I find myself making small compromises due to time constraints sometimes. Organic baby carrots are one of those compromises so that I have fresh veggies on hand. But, it’s a good reminder none-the-less!
Hi! I crawl this site like a parasite and I’m glad to see a blender hummus recipe, as my 2-year-old loves hummus, but since we moved from Berkeley, CA, I can no longer find the Wildwood version I love in stores.
I’m really commenting to ask a question, though. What is a good recipe substitute for yogurt? We have dairy and soy intolerances and until I can shell out $50 for the non-dairy contaminated yogurt cultures, I have given up on yogurt. I made muffins earlier this week and tried using mashed bananas in lieu of the yogurt the recipe called for, but I’m not sure how successful that was as the muffins were pretty dense. (I didn’t know what I was doing, I just thought I’d wing it…I love eating food and following recipes, but experimenting is not my forte’.)
I see the recipe for the choc/banana cookies up there also calls for yogurt, so what do you recommend I use instead that is soy-, egg-, and dairy-free? I know it’s not your recipe, but thought you might have a notion or two. Thanks for any ideas! Love your blog! It’s renewed my kitchen vigor, actually.
I’ve had good luck substituting water with a dollop of vinegar for cultured milk in recipes. In general, though, you’ll use less water because it’s more “wet” than the various milks. I use 3/4 c. water with about a tsp of vinegar? to substitute for 1 c. buttermilk. Maybe a little less water if you’re subbing for yogurt. It won’t make the recipe quite as rich and tender, but it gets decent results. Apple and orange juices can also work, if you do juice. Whatever you sub, you’ll need to make sure it’s still somewhat acidic otherwise your baking soda won’t react.
Anyways, I’ve done this substitution with a family buttermilk biscuit recipe and was not disappointed.
Thank you! I will try your suggestions!
When we had to remove dairy from our diet for a while, I used rice milk and almond milk as subs for the yogurt in the chocolate banana muffin recipe and it turned out fine.
I don’t pretend to be an expert in DF and soy-free substitutions, but have you investigated kefir at all? Although made from milk, it is 99% lactose-free and many lactose-intolerant people have good luck with it. I recently started making my own and it’s incredibly easy, cheap, and full of probiotics. I plan to do a series of posts on it soon. Anyway, it’s a little thinner than yogurt but it might work as a substitution.
Lastly, I also think applesauce could work as a substitution since it is a similar texture/consistency, although you may lose a bit of the richness in flavor.
My daughter has allergic reactions to dairy and even goat’s milk is not her friend. We love goat milk kefir, but simply can’t tolerate it right now. I’m hoping she outgrows her sensitivities. I used to drink water kefir a lot, but haven’t gotten any crystals since I moved to CA. Thanks for the thoughts! I keep applesauce on-hand and I didn’t try it with the muffins b/c I thought it served as more of an oil substitute. I’ll keep it in mind next time, for sure. Thanks, again!
Love hummus! I make a similar recipe, though I usually don’t use the water from the beans unless it needs thinning. Instead, for that amount of beans, I’d be using a cup of olive oil…:)
Look at that space between your son’s teeth! Good job, mama!!
Save yourself even more money by buying dried beans and cooking yourself. Dry beans are so very inexpensive!
Sounds like a wonderful recipe. Thank you!
don’t wait for the tahini next time… it’s ground sesame seed, essentially a “nut butter”, sub with another nut butter next time :>
I made it once, but was disappointed that I didn’t care for it much. But will try again sometime. It is easy, & good for you. I used peanut butter I think.
I just blend up whatever beans I have cooked mixed with lemon juice and garlic. Kids love it.
The best hummus I ever made was actually guacamole hummus. I added some avocado and the usual spices that I add to guacamole (cumin, lime juice, chili powder, etc.) in with the chickpeas and tahini, and it was such a hit with my family that it didn’t even last the evening!
FYI: Tropical Traditions has FREE SHIPPING until midnight tonight, EDT.
My favorite hummus is made with a zuchinni rather than the chickpeas. (raw hummus)
I make it without tahini (too expensive) and everyone loves it just the same!
Gail Brunt – always wondered if tahini was the magic part, or not…I’d be a little nervous that I’d react like Tiffany Guge if I used PB like Positively Healthy (Rob Portinga) rec’d, mayb could get away with almond butter? Hmmm…
will make, will enjoy!!!