Our Least Favorite Store-Bought Hummus Comes From A Popular Brand

Hailing from the Middle East, hummus has become one of the most popular spreads in the West. You'll even find packets of hummus and crackers at airports and convenience stores for road trip snacks. Of course, we have a plethora of homemade recipes, but there are countless brands that have mastered the art of hummus for your convenience. We tasted and ranked 13 different brands of store-bought hummus to find that not every brand has indeed dominated the hummus recipe.

We ranked each hummus brand according to taste, texture, scoopability, and a balanced flavor ratio of beans to tahini. Surprisingly enough, our least favorite store-bought hummus comes from the popular brand, Ithaca. We stuck to the classic or original hummus flavor to even the playing field. Unfortunately, there was nothing classic about Ithaca's Classic Hummus. Instead of a balance of savory flavors from earthy garbanzo beans and nutty tahini, all we could taste was acidity. This hummus packed an overwhelming punch of both lemon and vinegar, which is great if Ithaca marketed this tub as a flavored variety. Most classic hummus recipes contain a squeeze of lemon juice to cut through the richness of the beans and tahini, but the lemon brings a subtle acidity as opposed to a primary flavor. We can't fault Ithaca on the texture front, as the consistency of all hummus varieties is silky smooth and utterly spreadable. But, even a perfect consistency couldn't make up for a lip-puckering flavor profile.

While we didn't find Ithaca Classic Hummus inedible, a clever yet scathing Reddit review did. A Reddit thread entitled "Ithaca Hummus, more like 'ick, the hummus'" wrote that despite being a vinegar lover, "Ithaca Hummus has an overbearing vinegar flavor. Hummus should have a bit of sourness from lemon juice...the flavor of this stuff is predominantly vinegar." Another disappointed customer wrote, "When I bought their regular hummus I thought I bought the lemon flavor [by] accident," while another went so far as to say it was "way too sour, I thought it had gone bad and was going to toss it out."

The Reddit author also complained about other ingredients, stating, "hummus should be made with quality olive oil, not sunflower oil," which is the only type of oil on Ithaca hummus' ingredients list. Indeed, a high-quality olive oil might have been the earthy layer the hummus needed to balance the double dose of acidity from the lemon and vinegar. 

There are, of course, ways to upgrade store-bought hummus that will help balance the acidity. For example, sweet will balance sour, so you could blend the hummus with cooked sweet potato or butternut squash. This will bring a sweet complement with some earthiness from the root veggies while still maintaining a creamy consistency. Another way to counter the tangy vinegar would be to up the savory umami flavors of your hummus by adding a dash of tamari, miso, or even a hearty sprinkling of parmesan.