It is the smoothest and creamiest hummus that you can imagine. Ditch the olive oil for aquafaba. You will not regret it. Once, you taste this oil-free hummus, you will make it over and over again.
What’s for breakfast in our house? – you ask. Well, hummus always and forever. The best thing that can happen to chickpeas. I mean, I do love a good chickpea mushroom curry or falafel balls, but I just can’t get bored with hummus.
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Ingredients
We used extra virgin olive oil when we started making homemade hummus. It was delicious. I can’t say it wasn’t. However, there is this one ingredient called aquafaba that makes hummus unbelievably fluffy and creamy. So here is what you need to make perfect oil-free hummus in 5 minutes with 5 ingredients.
- Canned chickpeas – Also known as garbanzo beans.
- Aquafaba – It is actually water from canned chickpeas or the reduced cooking liquid of dry chickpeas. It is to replace extra-virgin olive oil. Aquafaba makes hummus fluffy and extra smooth, but water works fine as well.
- Tahini – It is also known as toasted sesame paste.
- Fresh garlic – You will get a much better result if you use raw garlic instead of garlic powder.
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Sea salt
🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
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Instructions
Preparing the ingredients
You can time it, but you will need 3 minutes tops to prepare all the ingredients. I mean mostly just measure.
- Drain canned chickpeas, but save the liquid (aka aquafaba).
- Cook chickpeas in boiling water with a pinch of baking soda. When ready, take the cooked chickpeas out and reduce the cooking liquid until you get a slow-flowing thick consistency.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Squeeze one lemon.
- Measure tahini.
Making hummus in Vitamix
- Add all ingredients to your blender. Liquid ingredients first.
- Blend it for 2 minutes until you get smooth and fluffy homemade hummus. Done! 5 minutes tops, am I right?
Expert tips for Vitamix
- Turn on the Vitamix and slowly increase the speed to the maximum.
- Use the tamper to push down the ingredients, if anything stuck to the sides.
- Add liquid (aquafaba and lemon juice) first, then the dry ingredients.
- When ready, use a silicone spatula to gently scrape all the yummy hummus out of the container.
- We have a high-speed blender (Vitamix with a 64-oz wet container), in which 3 cups of chickpea (approx. 500 g) is the minimum you need to make oil-free hummus.
Expert tips if you don’t have Vitamix
- Peel chickpeas – Take a bowl and fill it with water. Drop the drained chickpeas in it. Use your hands to rub the chickpeas together. You can see the peels are floating to the top. Take a fine mesh sieve and grab the peels.
- Mince the garlic – I just drop the garlic as a clove in the blender, but you can mince it before with a garlic press*.
- Blend separately – Blend the chickpeas with the aquafaba as smoothly as possible before adding the other ingredients.
Variations
- Hummus without tahini – Yes, it is possible if you use sunflower seeds as one of the best tahini substitutes. Here is our creamy, nutty sunflower seed hummus.
- Flavored hummus – You can add any flavor you want. There are endless possibilities. We love it with smoked sweet paprika powder, curry powder, or cumin. You only need 2-3 teaspoons to get it flavored properly. Try harissa hummus (from our falafel platter) or roasted red pepper hummus (from our Mediterranean grazing board) as well. All lovely choices.
- Hummus with tapenade – Provence meets the Middle East. We first saw this combination in store-bought hummus. Since then, we like to add some olive tapenade as a topping. They are perfect together.
- Hummus with pesto – Another fusion, now Italian. Pesto goes hummus, such a powerful flavor boost. Try it with our spinach pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto.
Serving ideas
You would be surprised how many ways you can enjoy hummus. Grab your favorite veggies (carrots, celery, red bell pepper, etc.), crackers, tortilla chips, or pita bread and use it as a dip. Or make sandwiches and wraps and use it as a spread. We collected 16 quick ideas to eat with hummus and 25 delicious recipes with hummus, including salads, pasta, soup, and more like our hummus pizza and hummus quesadilla.
Equipment
We have tested literally every kitchen appliance there is to make this oil-free hummus recipe, including a hand blender (aka immersion blender), a food processor, a regular blender. They all make great hummus, and we enjoyed them even so, but it was a compromise on creaminess for sure.
However, when we made hummus with a high-powered blender, like Vitamix* for the first time, we were like Janice from Friends: “Oh My God!” It was the most amazing silky, smooth, fluffy homemade hummus ever. It is better than store-bought.
Storing tips
You can easily store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week without any problem.
We recommend freezing oil-free hummus in smaller batches so that it can be easily thawed per your request.
FAQs
You can use aquafaba, which is the reduced cooking liquid of dry chickpeas, but also the liquid in the can of chickpeas. Alternatively, you can use simply water if you want to make hummus without any oil.
There are 3 reasons why you ended up with a grainy, and not with a creamy hummus: 1) if you used a food processor, you did not blend it long enough, 2) the appliance you used is not high-powered enough, 3) you did not peel the cooked chickpeas.
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Creamy Oil-free Hummus
Ingredients
- 3 cup Chickpeas (canned)
- 2 cup Aquafaba (water from the canned chickpea) or water
- ¼ cup Tahini -> list of tahini substitutes
- 4 Tbsp Lemon juice (freshly squeezed) it is actually 1 lemon
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Measure the canned chickpeas, the tahini, and the aquafaba. Peel the garlic cloves. Squeeze one lemon.
- Add liquid (aquafaba and lemon juice) first, then the dry ingredients.
- Turn on the Vitamix and slowly increase the speed to the maximum.
- When ready, use a silicone spatula to scrape all the yummy hummus out of the container gently.
- Sprinkle with chives, parsley, or sweet paprika powder.
Notes
Top tips to make hummus in Vitamix
- Turn on the Vitamix and slowly increase the speed to the maximum.
- Use the tamper to push down the ingredients if anything is stuck to the sides.
- Add liquid (aquafaba and lemon juice) first, then the dry ingredients.
- When ready, use a silicone spatula to scrape all the yummy hummus out of the container gently.
- We have a Vitamix A2300 with a 64-oz wet container, in which three cups of chickpea (500 g) is the minimum you need to make fluffy hummus.
Top tips if you don’t have a Vitamix
- Peel chickpeas – Take a bowl and fill it with water. Drop the drained chickpeas in it. Use your hands to rub the chickpeas together. You can see the peel floating to the top. Take a fine mesh sieve and grab the peels from the top.
- Mince the garlic – I drop it as a clove in the blender or mince it with a garlic press* beforehand.
- Blend separately – First, try to blend the chickpeas with the aquafaba as smoothly as possible before adding any other ingredients.
Video
Nutrition
UPDATED: This post was originally published in October 2019, but it was updated with more tips and details in Feb 2023.
bin
curious – what do you think tahini actually is?
you could say olive oil free but tahini is basically oil.
My Pure Plants
As I understand tahini is toasted sesame seeds blended into a paste. If someone doesn’t have tahini, they can add toasted sesame seeds to the chickpeas and blend them together.
denise
Tahini is just ground sesame seeds, they’re full of oil, but a whole food. Olive oil is pressed out of the olives and not a whole food, just oil, just fat no fiber. I have to say I try and eat wfpb, but haven’t hummus since. I find the tahini taste too strong, and the texture just off. I tried this again thinking having a Vitamix would make a difference, and yes, smooth as can be, but far from how I like it! I added horseradish to some, more lemon and salt, and it’s ok
sheenam @ thetwincookingproject
Can not believe that its oil free. This looks perfect!!!
My Pure Plants
Thank you.
Alexis
My family and I love hummus, so much that we eat it almost every day. We will definitely be adding this one to our list of hummus recipes. Thanks for sharing.
My Pure Plants
You’re welcome. We always have a batch in our fridge as well.
Cindy Gordon
So delicious, who knew that you didn’t need the oil in hummus! So creative, so easy and so delicious!
My Pure Plants
Thank you. There is definitely no compromise in taste or texture.
Cécile
Hi, I was so excited as I never used aquafaba in hummus, but my batch is very runny, too liquid ! I respected exactly the proportions…
It is very smooth and I never achieved.this before, but the texture is still not ideal ! And I used all the chickpeas I had on hand !
Any fix idea ?
My Pure Plants
You can add a bit more tahini, as tahini has this weird texture that when it is whipped or blended, it thickens. Or you can turn it into a flavored hummus by adding black beans or white beans or avocado or sweet potato to it. That will help with the texture and will give an extra zing to it.
Have you used the aquafaba from canned or cooked chickpeas?
Mahy
I am surprised to see a hummus recipe that requires only five minutes. Definitely giving it a try because I would be really happy to save some kitchen time on hummus. Excited!
My Pure Plants
We love cutting down kitchen time. With two kids running around, sometimes all you have is 5 minutes.
Tisha
Hummus is one of my favorite snacks! I will definitely have to try to oil free version!
My Pure Plants
Mine too. My go-to spread for toast for sure.
Amy | The Cook Report
This hummus looks really tasty and I love the fact that it’s made without oil!
My Pure Plants
We don’t mind oil, but if we don’t need to use it…
ishwor bogati
Oh my god. Looks yummy. Definitely going to try. Thanks for your information.
My Pure Plants
Thanks. Hope you like it.