Hummus Recipe Without Tahini

Warm the chickpeas and break down their skins: simmer drained chickpeas briefly with a pinch of baking soda, drain and rinse, then blend while still warm and add a few tablespoons of ice cold water or an ice cube as you process to emulsify. Removing or loosening the skins and using the hot then cold trick is the single biggest texture hack home cooks use for truly silky hummus.

What are the best tahini substitutes that still give a familiar hummus flavour?
Sunflower seed butter, smooth cashew or almond butter and mild peanut butter are the most common pantry swaps. Sunflower butter is a great sesame free option because it gives a similar nutty richness without the sesame note. Expect a small flavour shift when you use nut or seed butters, so adjust lemon and salt to balance.

Some cooks use a bit of aquafaba to help emulsify but if you use canned chickpeas many prefer not to use the can liquid directly because of possible canning brine or off flavours. A safer technique is to simmer the drained beans in fresh water, discard that water then blend the warm beans adding fresh cold water or ice as needed. If you do use aquafaba from your own cooked beans, it can add volume and silkiness.

Brighten and season strongly: increase fresh lemon juice, add enough salt and don’t skimp on garlic. A finishing drizzle of good olive oil and a little extra lemon or salt after tasting will lift the flavours and make the hummus taste complete. After making this countless times we've found that seasoning at the end and tasting is what turns a good hummus into a great one.

Yep, quickly toasting raw sesame seeds and grinding them with a neutral oil makes a fresh small-batch tahini with lively flavour. It can be milder or more fragrant depending on how long you toast the seeds. Making your own also lets you control bitterness and texture and many home cooks prefer it when jarred tahini tastes too bitter or thick. If your a regular reader you already know we like to keep things fresh as possible and this is why we prefer the flavour of using sesame seeds vs jarred options.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, simmer them briefly with a pinch of baking soda to soften the skins, drain and rinse again then blend the warm beans and use cold water or ice cubes while processing to whip the mixture into a glossy emulsion. If you want the absolute smoothest result peel the skins but for most people the baking soda plus blend while warm method gives restaurant quality texture without much hassle.