Homemade Hummus

With the holidays comes parties and get togethers and what better way to celebrate than wow-ing everyone with a homemade dish! I'm guessing most people know what hummus is since it has gained a lot of popularity and is now commonly found in restaurants as an appetizer or on wrap sandwiches. However, if you do not know what it is, it's a Middle Eastern dip or spread made from chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans). 

If you have never had hummus before you should absolutely try it! Partly because it's completely delicious and partly because it's actually really good for you. Chickpeas have very high amounts of insoluble fiber; this type of fiber is great for colon health. I know, the colon  is not something people want to talk about when thinking of food but if eating something as yummy as hummus could possibly help prevent colon cancer I'm on board with that! Plus, isn't that the point of eating real food - to get healthier! And it tastes good.

Hummus is so simple to make at home. It took me a total of about 10 minutes to get all the ingredients out, make the hummus, and put everything back. So let's get started.

You will need 1 can of chickpeas (15 oz.) - this can also be done with dry chickpeas if you want to soak them overnight. Dry chickpeas are definitely cheaper but I prefer canned ones since I can whip this up whenever I have a minute and it doesn't have to be planned out. This is totally a personal preference. 

You will also need Tahini. Before I made hummus for the first time I had never even heard of Tahini. It actually took me awhile to find it in the grocery store. Tahini is just ground sesame seeds. I found it in the speciality food section of our store. Other stores have it in the ethnic food aisle and others have it by the peanut butter. My motto is: when in doubt just ask someone.

 If you are using canned chickpeas make sure you drain and rinse them first. Then pour the can of chickpeas, 1/3 cup of water, 3 Tablespoons Tahini, 2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1/8 teaspoon salt into a food processor.

You can leave the hummus as is and it will be great or you can individualize your hummus. If you like it a little bit spicy you can add another clove of garlic, some people enjoy pine nuts, olives, or pesto, the list goes on. I chose to add sun dried tomatoes to mine

Now just turn the food processor on until the hummus is a nice creamy consistency. And viola! You just made homemade hummus Yay! Now you can use it as a dip for crackers or veggies, or spread it on a whole wheat tortilla to make a delicious wrap.

Cost Break Down!!

I found a can of organic chickpeas for $0.95. The 16 oz jar of Tahini cost me $3.50 which is $0.22 an ounce. 3 Tablespoons is 1.5 ounces so the Tahini for the hummus cost $0.33. A head of garlic cost me $0.25 so I'm guessing 2 cloves would cost maybe $0.05. A fresh lemon cost me $0.15 but you could also use just a bottle of lemon juice. My 32 ounce bottle of olive oil was $4.99, so this is $0.16 an ounce; 1 Tablespoon costs $0.08. I honestly don't know how much my salt or cumin cost me but I'm going to guess the small amounts I used cost about $0.10 (and I'm overestimating) 

All together I made 16 ounces of homemade hummus for $1.66 That is just $0.10 an ounce!! 

A 10 oz container of hummus at the grocery store costs $3.99. That is $0.39 an ounce.