He’s a hummus monster.
My four-year-old, that is. He can scarf down half a container of hummus with organic tortilla chips or carrot sticks in a flash, and I don’t have to encourage him.
We all love hummus around here, actually. For years, we’ve been buying it in the two-pack from Costco. The ingredients weren’t perfect, but through the stressful years of being broke, unemployed, in school, and moving a lot, we just called it one of our “compromise” foods – an easy and cheap source of protein that we all enjoyed.
Sure, I knew I could make my own (and that it would be cheaper and healthier), but the times I tried years ago didn’t result in the perfect texture and flavour that we were all used to, so I chose to let it go.
Recently, though, I was inspired to try again. Why? Two words: instant pot.
My instant pot has been slaving away on my countertop lately, whipping up all sorts of concoctions for my family. It’s not technically instant – I mean, there’s time for it to come up to pressure, then the actual cook time, then the pressure release – but yeah, it’s WAY faster for most things. And thus, just so darn convenient for a busy household trying to eat real food from scratch.
Hummus is incredibly cheap when you make it yourself from canned chickpeas, but when you start with the dried ones? Next level frugality, my friends (gold stars all around).
And since cooking dried beans in the instant pot is such a breeze, it makes the whole thing an easy and cheap way to cut a few dollars from my grocery bill.
Which, of course, leaves more room for the important things, like high-quality dark chocolate to stash in the high cupboards, my favourite ten-dollar jars of garlic dill pickles, and fancy aged cheeses when I feel a treat-yo’self moment coming on. (I.e. every night after the kids are asleep – hallelujah and pass the chocolate.)
During the daytime hours, though, this hummus is the real hero. It helps me fill my kids’ hollow legs (yes, plural) for cheap, and it’s quick and easy to make. #winning
Instant Pot Hummus (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
- 5 cups water
- 5-6 cloves fresh garlic
- 3/4 cup tahini
- juice of one lemon
- 2 teaspoons real salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place dried chickpeas and water in the instant pot, and set on manual mode for 40 minutes with NPR (natural pressure release).
- When chickpeas are finished cooking and depressurizing, remove lid from instant pot. Do NOT drain.
- Add cooked chickpeas to a high-powered blender (I have a vitamix) with the rest of the ingredients, and blend on high until smooth.
- Add extra water or EVOO one tablespoon at a time if mixture is too thick to blend.
- Serve with veggies or chips, and enjoy!
Notes
It also freezes fine for up to a couple of months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and stir in a small drizzle of olive oil if it has dried out at all.
Beth
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This is AMAZING!! So easy, so delicious, and I can imagine it with flavor variations. Thank you so much!
Happy to hear that you loved it, Lisa! Thank you for the review! 🙂
If you do soak the beans ahead of time, what would you reduce the cooking time to?
Hi Jen,
I reduced the cooking time to 25 minutes after soaking the beans overnight. They came out perfectly!
Thanks for the information, Krista!
I did not add all the bean water because I thought it would be way too much water but my hummus turned out thick and pasty. Great flavor but I like my hummus pretty “loose” and this was too thick. Next time I’ll follow the recipe and add all the water. Also I used my food processor and next time i’ll use my vitamix which might also help make it smoother.
When soaking the chickpeas overnight, should the directions be modified at all? Less cooking time?
Would you soak the beans before you make hummus this way? Just thinking about cutting down phytic acid.
You can soak them if you want to for the digestive benefits, but it’s not strictly necessary from a cooking-them-until soft-enough perspective. 🙂 Personally, I like to soak my beans overnight, but in a pinch I like knowing that I can get away with not doing it.