Ever since Hutchinson on the Cheap blogger Patsy Terrell introduced me to Bella Luna’s excellent hummus, it’s been the late-night snack of choice around our house.
But I’m cheap, and Bella Luna doesn’t deliver at midnight, so we started buying pre-made hummus in the deli department at Dillons. Even with coupons, it gets expensive. I decided to find out how to make our own, and discovered that it’s so easy a fifth-grader can do it!
Now, I’m not saying it’s as good as hummus you can get in any number of excellent Wichita restaurants. But it is good. And if when that midnight craving hits…
I started with a recipe. But it’s really so easy you don’t need a recipe.
First you need some ingredients, and that 20-year old food processor you bought at a garage sale. (You could also use a blender.) We forgot to put the lemon (and salt) on the counter for the picture, but it’s in the list below.
- 1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas – they’re the same thing) 89¢ per can
- 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste!) $1.29 for a whole bulb, so about 13¢
- Extra virgin olive oil $8.99 for Kroger e.v.o.o., so about 26¢ for a drizzle or two
- Tahini (sesame seed paste) $8.50 at the health food store, so about 55¢ for 2 tablespoons
- Lemon juice $1.39 for the small packaged kind; it would probably be less than 17¢ for the amount you’ll use.
- Salt
Total: $2 (or less)
Make it:
Toss the garlic in the food processor or blender and give it a whirl.
Followed by the garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)
Process/blend well.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl to get everything processed well.
While processing, drizzle in some liquid reserved from the garbanzo beans (you can use water) just until the mixture starts to look creamy.
Add some lemon to taste. (If you must have a measurement, then start with a tablespoon.) You can add about a half-teaspoon of salt now, too.
Add your tahini (sesame seed paste). Again, I do not measure. If you like tahini, add more than I do in the picture. You don’t have to use it all if you don’t want to.
Drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. A teaspoon or two will do it.
Do a little more processing or blending until you’re satisfied. Taste and add more lemon and salt if needed.
Homemade hummus!
Enjoy it with pita bread, carrot or celery sticks, crackers, or even tortilla chips. Store leftovers – ha! as if – covered in the refrigerator.
Once you get the basic recipe for hummus down pat, you can experiment with adding different ingredients. Just remember to add anything that needs to be chopped at the beginning of the processing for best results.
If you’re not the courageous type, you can find about a zillion recipes for making homemade hummus. But this is the basic process, and it’s cheap!
Wichita on the Cheap reader Michelle shared a yummy-looking recipe for roasted garbanzo beans that looks great! Thanks, Michelle!
Thanks to my intern, A. Kid, for taking the photographs in this post! 🙂