Recipe: Easy and Inexpensive Homemade Hummus

by Victoria Hamel on July 10th, 2019 | No Comments »

I don't have time to be uber-frugal and make everything from scratch, and I don't have the funds to go wild on convenience food purchases. So I tend to do the math, multiply the dollars and cents to decide which of our favorite dishes are best made cooking from scratch. Being a busy mom, I have to factor in how much of my available time I can devote from week to week, as well. For some items, it can be a close call.

Hummus however is a "can of corn," that's baseball jargon for a fly ball that is super easy to catch. It is super easy to make, good for you, but tasty enough to please picky children. Hummus is so easy, you don't even have to have a food processor. I mention this because most recipes you will find for hummus will involved a food processor. I however, don't own a food processor and so far buying one has not made it to the top of our household's 'to buy' list. I would recommend that if you have the opportunity to get a food processor either new at a great price or used, go for it. It will certainly make it even easier to make your own hummus.

Once you have the basic hummus recipe down, there are many ways to change things up and create different flavors. Feel free to experiment! One idea is to go check out the prepackaged hummus in your grocery store deli section; there will be many choices there and you can recreate them at home---for much less money!

The Money Crunching:

One 8 ounce package of hummus at my local Ingles is $3.49 to $6.99. If I make my own, one batch is around 16 oz and only costs about $2.52. In other words, less than half the cost to make it myself.

Here is my basic hummus recipe:

Inexpensive Hummus Recipe

Ingredients:

15 oz can of Garbanzo Beans (drained but reserve some of the liquid, about 2-3 tbsp)
1/3 cup of Tahini (Tahini is sesame seed paste. I can find it in my local grocery store and I live in a very small town.) If you don't like Tahini or can't find it, you can use 1-2 tbsp of sesame seeds or skip this ingredient. I don't recommend skipping it, I think Hummus needs Tahini like Mac needs Cheese, but you may feel otherwise.
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp of olive oil
A bit of salt for seasoning

Directions:

Throw that all in the food processor if you have one. If not, you can use the blender. When you are mixing it, you might need to add liquid. Use the reserved liquid from the beans or a little water, or a little more oil if that is your preference. Once it is as smooth as you'd like, put it in a bowl, garnish with paprika or finely chopped parsley, and serve.

If you like to have hummus with crackers, I suggest getting pita bread and making your own crackers. DIY pita chips = easy and cheap!

Quick Pita Chip Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take the pita bread and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over it, then cut it like a pizza. Place pieces on a cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes until they are nice and golden brown and crispy. Let cool and serve with your hummus.

What food do you make from scratch to save money?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Victoria Hamel is a recent transplant to the South. She now resides in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and three children. When she isn't busy running her Tastefully SImple business she is helping her husband run the family store: Golftopia. In her spare time she loves blogging, running, and reading. You can find her blog here.

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Victoria Hamel

Victoria Hamel is a recent transplant to the South. She now resides in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her husband and three children. When she isn't busy running her Tastefully SImple business she is helping her husband run the family store: Golftopia. In her spare time she loves blogging, running and reading.