Surely I’m not the only person out there who has a hard time paying good money for store-bought hummus, knowing that around our house it will not last long. Right?
Though we occasionally buy hummus when it’s on sale, for a long time now, we have made our own with our Vita-mix. It is super-easy, much cheaper, and you can make it taste just the way you want it to taste.
Nutritionally speaking, it’s a wonderful little snack (that is, unless you eat too much of it — which is kind of easy to do!). The chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are not only high in fiber (6 grams per 1/2 cup serving to be exact), but also have a decent amount of protein (6 grams per 1/2 cup) and also give you a little calcium and iron.
The other nice thing about making a big batch of this stuff, is that once it’s made, it’s made. There is not much prep for a nice healthy snack! I love stuff like that, especially when the Little Stinker is having a meltdown when I’m ready for a snack (which happens quite often these days).
Here’s the recipe I use, but feel free to play around with it and make it to suit your tastes!
What you’ll need:
2 15-oz cans of chickpeas
1 clove of garlic OR 1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 Tbsp raw sesame seeds OR 4 Tbsp sesame tahini
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
Directions:
Drain one can of chickpeas and pour into Vita-mix or other food processor. Then empty an undrained can of chickpeas into food processor. Add all remaining ingredients and run food processor until smooth (takes about 1 min with Vita-mix).
Store in container with lid in refrigerator.
Nutrition Facts: (Serving size: 1/4 cup) Calories: 99, Fat: 3 g, Fiber: 3 g, Protein: 4 g
The key to keeping this homemade hummus healthy is portion control. It’s so good that you have to pre-portion it out before you start eating. As you can see from the picture below, I started eating it while I was taking pictures!
Pair it with some homemade pita chips or carrots! Enjoy!