Hummus

Michael Eisenwasser

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A classic hummus made with rinsed canned chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic-infused olive oil instead of raw garlic.

Prep 10 min

Cook 1 min

Serves 8

Gluten-freeDairy-freeVegan

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) chickpeas, drained and very well rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups / 240 g drained)
• 1/3 cup (80 g) tahini, well stirred
• 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
• 3 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil, plus more to finish
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed
• Smoked or sweet paprika, to finish (optional)

Instructions

Rinse

1. Tip the can of chickpeas into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water for 30 to 45 seconds, tossing with your fingers. Do not save the liquid from the can.
2. Shake off excess water and let the chickpeas drain while you set up the food processor.

Whip the tahini

1. Add the tahini and lemon juice to a food processor. Blend for 45 to 60 seconds, scraping down the sides once or twice, until the mixture turns pale, thick, and fluffy. This is what makes the hummus smooth.

Blend

1. Add the chickpeas, garlic-infused oil, salt, and cumin. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides, until smooth.
2. With the motor running, stream in ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the hummus is light and spreadable.
3. Taste and adjust: more salt, more lemon, or another splash of oil.

Serve

1. Spread into a shallow bowl, make a well in the center with the back of a spoon, and drizzle with a little extra garlic-infused oil. Dust with paprika if using.

Tips & Substitutions

• Keep the serving to 1/8 of the batch. That's about 1/4 cup of finished hummus, made from roughly 30 g of chickpeas. Monash lists canned chickpeas (drained; rinsing recommended) as low-FODMAP at 1/4 cup / 42 g, so one-eighth of this recipe stays under the limit. If you keep going back for more, the chickpea load adds up fast.
• Pair with low-FODMAP dippers. Sliced cucumber rounds, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, and endive leaves are all fine at snack-size portions. For chips, spelt sourdough pita toasted with a little oil and salt works well; plain corn tortilla chips also work.
• Most store-bought hummus has raw garlic. Sabra, Cedar's, Tribe, and other supermarket brands all use fresh garlic, which is very high in fructans. Garlic-infused oil is what makes the homemade version work; fructans don't dissolve into oil, so the flavor transfers but the high-FODMAP sugars stay behind in the solids.
• Flavor variations. For roasted red pepper hummus, blend in 1/4 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers (check the label for garlic). For cilantro-lime, swap half the lemon for lime juice and add 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro. For a smoky version, add 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika to the blender.
• Thin with ice water, not the can liquid. The liquid from the can (aquafaba) has the FODMAPs that moved out of the chickpeas during canning, which is why you discard it and rinse. Ice water or cold filtered water keeps the hummus light and cold-blended.
• Warm the chickpeas for extra creamy. For a smoother texture, simmer the rinsed chickpeas in fresh water for 10 minutes before blending. It's an extra step, but it softens the skins.

Why This Works

Rinsing the chickpeas. FODMAPs from chickpeas leach into the canning liquid over time. Draining and rinsing under cold water for 30 to 45 seconds clears most of that off, which is what brings canned chickpeas into the low-FODMAP range at 1/4 cup / 42 g. Dried chickpeas, even soaked and cooked, test higher than the rinsed canned version.

The one-eighth-of-the-batch cap. One can split across 8 portions puts each serving under the Monash 1/4 cup canned limit. If you eat more than one serving, it may not stay low-FODMAP. Portion onto individual plates if you're sharing with someone who'll double-dip.

Tahini at 1 tablespoon. Monash lists tahini as low-FODMAP at 1 tablespoon (20 g) per serve. The 1/3 cup in this batch divides to just under a tablespoon per portion.

Garlic-infused oil instead of raw garlic. Fructans are water-soluble, not oil-soluble, so the flavor compounds in garlic transfer into oil but the high-FODMAP sugars stay behind in the solids. That's why infused oil tastes like garlic without acting like garlic.

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days at 40°F (4°C) or below. The top will darken slightly; stir in a little fresh oil before serving. Hummus doesn't freeze well because the tahini separates on thaw, so make what you'll eat within the week.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.