Homemade Hummus Makes Hosting A Breeze — And You'll Impress Your Guests

While you can certainly buy hummus from the store, even the best hummus brands often don't live up to the homemade stuff. This is especially true when you're entertaining and want to serve something special. On the other hand, a bowl of freshly pureed hummus dip can seriously impress your guests, making them feel cared for and right at home. Luckily, homemade hummus comes together relatively quickly and easily, making hosting — with that extra touch — a breeze. To make hummus from scratch, all you need is a blender or food processor, along with a handful of ingredients, including a can of chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

Many people are deterred from making hummus, even though you can blend it up easily in about 5 minutes. Anyone can suffer from rookie mistakes — namely, leaving out the tahini is a big no-no, since it gives hummus its subtle nutty, complex sesame notes and creaminess. Skimping on the tahini or olive oil? That's when you get a grainy situation, turning a dip that should be smooth and silky into a dry, chunky chickpea mess. Even when some home cooks master the creamy texture, they forget to add enough salt, citrus, or spices that can really up the brightness of the dish. Once you have a good, simple creamy hummus recipe and a handle on the preparation, it's easy to make a dip that your guests will ask for again and again.

To make homemade hummus perfect for any occasion, from an impromptu girl dinner with friends to an impressive dinner party appetizer, it's best to start with the chickpeas. While some recipes have you boil canned chickpeas in water and baking soda to avoid peeling them, others omit this extra preparation step. As long as you have a powerful blender to incorporate all ingredients until smooth, a little extra fiber from the peels should be okay. More importantly is making sure you have the right balance of liquid ingredients to avoid chunky or dry textures. When in doubt, add a tablespoon or two of ice-cold water to thin out your hummus until perfectly creamy and smooth.

Some chefs only top hummus with olive oil as a garnish (instead of blending it in) to avoid bitter homemade hummus. Either way, you can amplify and balance the taste with aromatics and spices. While cumin and fresh garlic can deliver big flavor, you can also play around with other spices like za'atar, sumac, or paprika in the hummus or as a topping to give the dip an extra kick. Prefer some spicy heat? Blend in a small amount of chili flakes or cayenne. Or add other veggies to the mix to make hummus variations like those featuring carrots or beets. With some relatively simple ingredients and a few pulses of the blender, you'll wonder why you haven't been making hummus for all your gatherings.