Creamy Healthy Homemade Hummus

Blend together a few simple whole food ingredients like garbanzo beans, olive oil, garlic, tahini, and lemon juice to create the best Creamy Healthy Homemade Hummus ever! This homemade hummus recipe beats any store bought kind out there. Whether you are eating a Mediterranean Diet or just looking for a way to add more protein and fiber to your daily intake, this recipe is for you. It’s delicious, filling, easy to make, and packed full of health benefits.

The main ingredient in this creamy healthy homemade hummus is garbanzo beans – also known as chickpeas. Do you know the difference between Garbanzo Beans and Chickpeas? The answer is… there is no difference at all! They are exactly the same. Typically they’re referred to as Garbanzo Beans in the West and Chickpeas in the East. The funny thing is – they are not a pea at all! Garbanzo Beans, aka Chickpeas, are a bean from the legume family.

Before we make this amazing homemade hummus, let’s first look at all the nutritional benefits of garbanzo beans blended with Olive Oil, Lemon, Garlic, Sea Salt, Tahini, and Spices. Garbanzo Beans are full of fiber and protein (2.4 grams per tablespoon). They have the ability to aid digestion because they are digested slowly by the body, which in turn keeps you full longer and may help with losing weight. Consuming Garbanzo Beans can also help balance out blood sugar levels and reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol, and triglycerides. Oh, and they’re a heart healthy whole food too!

When you combine all the benefits of garbanzo beans with the added health benefits of quality ingredients like olive oil, lemon, and garlic, you have not only an amazing tasting appetizer or side, you also are eating ingredients that benefits your body. Each of these quality ingredients has something to offer!

Extra Virgin Cold Pressed quality Olive Oil is incredibly good for you. Please don’t fear healthy fats! We became one of the most obese countries when we cut healthy fat out of our diet and replaced it with sugar and processed foods. Your body needs healthy fat… especially your brain! After all, it’s 60% fat itself. One of the healthiest ways to consume fat is cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Even science agrees with this one!

A quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not only good for your brain, it also helps reduce inflammation in your body due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Olive Oil is full of antioxidants and considered heart healthy. A recent study by PubMed found that Olive Oil may help with rheumatoid arthritis and they are also looking into how olive oil may help fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. These are some pretty inspiring reasons to add a good quality Olive Oil to your diet!

Combining good quality whole foods and creating new recipes at home comes with many added health benefits. One of the most powerful ones is healing your body. So far we have the fiber and protein from the beans and the anti-inflammatory benefits from the olive oil. Now let’s talk about adding the lemons and garlic!

Lemons contain Vitamin C which helps aid the body with the absorption of iron. They also help the body with digestion and here it is again… weight loss! Garlic has it’s own set of health benefits. Just like olive oil it contains powerful antioxidants and is also being considered as a way to help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. Due to its antiviral properties it may help boost your immune system to fight against the common cold. It also may help reduce blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. The ingredients included in this recipe come with so many health benefits! This has to be one of the reasons health professionals recommend the Mediterranean Diet.

One last ingredient…Tahini. Have you heard of this? It’s simply ground up Sesame Seeds in their natural oil. One of the nice things about Tahini is its shelf stable. Even after the jar is opened it can be kept in your pantry. One jar will make several batches of hummus and it’s pretty easy to find. Of course, you can always make your own – yep you guessed it… another post in the making:) The Sesame Seeds in tahini contain calcium, antioxidants, and are also anti-inflammatory. So don’t skip adding the tahini to this hummus recipe.

Here is an Ingredient List:

• Dried Garbanzo Beans
• Tahini
• Fresh Organic Lemon
• Organic Garlic Cloves
• Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Olive Oil
• Cumin
• Onion Powder
• Sea Salt
• Everything Bagel Seasoning

Start by cooking 1 cup of dried garbanzo beans in 4 cups of spring water in the Instant Pot. These fresh whole beans are superior in quality compared to canned beans and also have the added benefit of being sodium free. Garbanzo beans cook in under an hour with no soaking required. Make sure to save the cooking liquid as you will need it for this recipe. Somehow, like magic, 1 cup of dried beans turns into 3 cups of cooked beans in the Instant Pot. Cooking these ahead of time will give you enough beans for several recipes and meals. Only 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans are needed to make this hummus recipe which will leave you left overs for making Protein Packed Chocolate Chip Cookies, Plant-Based Burgers, Falafel, or simply using the extra beans as a salad topping.

Add 1 1/2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans (save the liquid – you will need it for this recipe) to a food processor or high speed blender. I have tried this recipe using both and the only thing I can say is that it’s much easier to get all the hummus out of a food processor. On the other hand, the high speed blender is superior at achieving the most creamy hummus. So this one is up to you.

Next, add a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid from the beans (you may need more) so save remaining cooking liquid until your done making the creamy healthy homemade hummus. Add the juice from 1 small freshly squeezed lemon to the beans along with a 1/2 cup of tahini, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Blend together until smooth. With the blender/food processor still running, drizzle 2 tablespoons of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil through the opening and blend until creamy. If it is too thick, add additional cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Remove hummus and allow to cool slightly in a bowl. Drizzle an additional 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of the hummus. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of Organic Everything Bagel Seasoning over the olive oil. Not a fan of everything bagel seasoning? That is totally fine! Sprinkle hummus with Red Pepper Flakes, Onion Flakes, Smoked Paprika, or any spice you like. That’s the beauty of creating in your own kitchen. You can make food taste the way you like it! This fresh homemade creamy hummus will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week… if it lasts that long!

Serve hummus as an afternoon snack with chopped up veggies like cucumbers, carrots, celery, and tomatoes. Whole Grain Organic Crackers and Flatbread (recipe coming soon) also pair well. Whether you are snaking on hummus or adding it to a meal or wrap, its a great way to add more protein and fiber to your diet. It’s great in a veggie bowl too! Quinoa, brown rice, or a combo of both taste great with hummus.

Make it a Greek night! Add cooked brown rice or tri-color quinoa to a bowl (or a combo of both rice and quinoa) and top with your choice of chopped veggies. Aim for lots of different colored vegetables. It not only looks amazing on your plate or in your bowl – eating a variety of colorful vegetables comes with even more added health benefits. Every color has a different health benefit so the more colors the better – Eat the Rainbow.

Finish your rice or quinoa bowl by adding hummus, crumbled feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, and a squeeze of lemon on top. Plain Greek Yogurt works with this dish too! This makes the perfect summer meal and with a little prepping, it comes together quickly… especially if you pre-cook the rice and/or quinoa. The veggies can also be prepped (chopped or spiralized) ahead of time. While you are at it, cut extra for another meal or for left-overs.

Ingredients do matter and the food we eat is powerful. It has the power to help heal our bodies or harm us. Choose quality ingredients and start cooking at home – where you can control what is really in your food. Your body and your mind will appreciate it in the long run.

Below you will find my recipe for making Creamy Healthy Homemade Hummus at home. As always, I encourage you to use this recipe as inspiration to create your own homemade hummus creation. Remember you can always change the seasoning:)

Remember to be creative with your food. It doesn’t have to be complicated and there is inspiration all around you. If you haven’t tried making homemade hummus, what are you waiting for?

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