This life-changing homemade hummus is creamy, fluffy, and packed with a nutty, lemony flavor. Easy to make with minimal ingredients, this versatile dip is 10x better than the vastly inferior versions sold in grocery stores.
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, (plus more to taste)
3 cloves garlic, (chopped (See Note 2))
1 teaspoon ground cumin, (plus more to taste)
Diamond Crystal kosher salt ((see Note 3))
Freshly cracked black pepper
6 to 10 tablespoons (90 to 150 mL) ice water
⅓ cup (75g) good-quality extra virgin olive oil
5 large cloves garlic, (thinly sliced)
4 to 6 strips of lemon peel, (about 2 inches long (don't peel too deeply to avoid the white pith))
Flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, (chopped )
Paprika or Aleppo pepper ((or sumac) )
Warm pita or lavash bread (for dipping)
Categories
Appetizer
Condiment
Sauce
Cuisine
Middle Eastern
Steps
Soak the chickpeas. Add the chickpeas to a large bowl. Cover with cold water and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Soak for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.
Cook the chickpeas. Add the drained chickpeas to a medium saucepan with ½ teaspoon baking soda and 6 cups (1.4 L) water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pot, and reduce the heat as needed to maintain a rapid simmer and cook for 30 minutes.Uncover the pot and add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chickpeas are very soft and smush when pressed with a spoon/fork or pressed between your fingers. Drain well.
Drain the chickpeas, then transfer to a food processor. Blend for 1-2 minutes until you have a smooth puree, scraping down the sides as you go.
To the food processor, add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, 1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper to taste. Blend, and with the motor running, stream in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.After 6 tablespoons of ice water, evaluate the texture. If it’s still stiff or you want it to be looser, stream in more water, and continue blending until smooth and creamy. Once you reach your desired texture, taste for seasonings, adding more salt, garlic, cumin, or lemon juice as needed.
Make the Fried Lemon-Garlic Topping. Fit a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Add the olive oil to a medium frying pan and turn to medium heat. Once the oil is warm (but not too hot), add the thinly sliced garlic and cook, swirling the pan or stirring frequently, for 2 to 2 ½ minutes, until the garlic just turns golden (don't wait until it browns—it will turn bitter).Add the lemon peel strips and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring almost constantly. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into the strainer, reserving the oil in the bowl.Transfer the garlic and lemon zest to a plate and sprinkle them with a bit of flaky sea salt.
Transfer the hummus to a shallow bowl or plate with a lip. Use the back of a spoon to make waves or a well in the center. Spoon the reserved oil into the ridges or into the well. Top with the fried garlic and lemon zest mixture. Top with chopped parsley and a few shakes of paprika or Aleppo pepper. Dig in with warm pita!
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 320 kcal
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Protein: 10 g
Fat: 22 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 449 mg
Sugar: 3 g
Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
Reviews
Mysty on 2026-07-05 (3 stars): What's wrong with the truth? Not everything is rainbows and unicorns.
I too found it just meh.
Kim on 2026-07-04 (5 stars): Nice and creamy. I added more garlic and cumin as I like a stronger flavor. I also like ask the extra toppings for additional flavor and presentation. Thank you!
Amanda on 2026-06-27 (2 stars): Disappointed. First off, this makes an ENORMOUS batch of hummus! Rehydrating dried chickpeas more than doubles their size, be prepared to have 3 cups, up to a quart of hummus by the time you're done. Second, I was surprised at how bland this ended up tasting. I had to add much more of ALL of the seasonings to get it to my liking. I also processed in about 1/2 cup of chopped flat parsley. The only thing I gleaned from this was cooking the garbanzos from dried, but this white girl will stick to her own recipe.
Sharee on 2026-06-22 (5 stars): I can’t stop making this!
Melissa Fagan on 2026-06-15 (5 stars): No Idea who hurt Philip down below, but he has no clue what he's talking about. This recipe is FIRE!! Made it twice now and turns out better each time. The only thing I noticed is that my chickpeas cook SO FAST. 20 minutes and they were practically mush. I soaked them while I was at work for 10 hrs, dran them, and turned them on a rapid simmer. 20 mins later there was a mush layer around the edge and they easily squished between my finger so blended it. Only needed 3 tbs of water. It would have been too thin, so not sure what I did there. It sure was AMAZING though. Thank you!!
William on 2026-06-10 (5 stars): Made this for a Friday night get together with neighbors and it was a big hit. The flavors were like being at a restaurant…very satisfying and exotic.
Clarence on 2026-05-19 (5 stars): I love hummus so I had to try this variation. Unfortunately, I did not have but one lemon but I also had a lime so I combined the two. I love, Love, LOVE garlic so I added six cloves. Since I forgot to chill the water, I used ice cubes instead. It's a variation of your recipe, but it still turned out very smooth, very tasty. Thank you!
Jami Hanna on 2026-04-25 (5 stars): This is SO yummy! Thank you!
Philip on 2026-04-12 (1 stars): Utterly horrible find a different recipe
Home Sweet Home on 2026-04-05 (5 stars): Make the oil garlic lemon peel topping. Only takes 3 minutes and well worth. Do not leave it out!
