Simple Savory Sesame-Free Hummus
This post may contain affiliate links from which I will earn a commission. Learn more in our disclosure.
Get ready for one of our favorite recipes of all time–homemade sesame-free hummus. This homemade hummus is not just your ordinary hummus, mind you. It’s savory hummus, with a flavor-punch of spices that will make keep you coming back for more. And more.
I am always on the hunt for quick, easy, frugal, healthy (and tasty) meals and snack ideas.
Well, this recipe for Savory Sesame-free Hummus really fits the bill.
This recipe is our version based on one that we found in a Cooking Light magazine years ago. And I mean years.
My path to health started (though now I know that it was not in a good direction) back in my teenage days when my grandfather passed away from a sudden heart attack while driving. He had already had heart surgery (a triple bypass) in previous years and his mother had died from atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
I thought that low fat and especially low animal protein must be the way to go and so I did. Hardcore. Armed with a subscription to Cooking Light magazine I was off and running to the healthy kitchen races.
Not to say that Cooking Light is all bad, mind you, but my mindset combined with their focus, especially at that time, was a recipe (pun intended) for disaster in terms of my health.
This recipe is a winner, however. I recently brought it to a Christmas party for our small group at church and it was a hit with all — health foodies and non health foodies alike. So — now I am sharing it with you!
Enter your email & I'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll get healthy living updates too.
Why Sesame-free Hummus?
Our family loves hummus. Whenever we get to visit Whole Foods and there is a hummus sample, ours is the family that can’t keep away from it. Yours too?
Now you have no reason to spend $5.99 for some small environment spoiling plastic container of hummus that you need to ration for your family.
Anyhow, my oldest has multiple life-threatening food allergies. At first, we knew that he was allergic to dairy, egg, and peanuts, but later in life, we found that he had allergies to most nuts and sesame.
Since we have such an uncontrollable love for hummus, not only was I not paying those super-exorbitant prices for store-bought hummus, but I wanted a way for my son to be able to share in our hummus love.
So sesame-free hummus it just had to be.
You can make this recipe either with tahini or olive oil. I call this a Sesame-Free Hummus since that is the original recipe. But if you can eat sesame, you can use tahini. So for those allergic to sesame seeds, or if you just don’t have tahini in your pantry, you have a sesame-free option!
You can save money by employing this recipe in your kitchen. And even if you are not buying organic beans and aren’t de-gassing beans yet, you are making a great step in the right direction.
We are all on the path towards whole foods together and getting there at different times and at different speeds. It’s all good.
Helpful Tips
- Make extra batches! Hummus may be frozen for a future quick and easy meal. The smooth texture can be restored by adding and stirring in some extra olive oil before serving. We always at least double this recipe and eat it over several days, especially when there is a potluck or other gathering where we will be sharing a dish to pass. One cup of dried beans equals approximately 3 cups of cooked, so you can judge how many cups of beans to start with.
- Keep extra soaked and cooked beans stored in your freezer so that you can whip this up at a moment’s notice without needing to depend upon canned beans.
Recipe Notes
- For those on the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, this can be an E food. Just reduce the oil to 1 teaspoon and add in extra water or liquid from the garbanzos to desired consistency.
- It is preferable for the garbanzo beans to be organic and cooked with organic ajwain (you can read my post on it here) to remove gassiness from the beans.
- For tips on peeling garlic, see The Easiest Way to Peel Garlic.
- You may substitute tahini for the olive oil. My eldest has a life-threatening allergy to sesame seeds, so we don’t use tahini in our hummus. Personally I like the lighter flavor of sesame-free hummus.
- If you would prefer to buy your lemon juice, here is a great brand of organic lemon juice.
- Aleppo pepper is a wonderful alternative to the crushed red pepper, but it’s hard to find. Any red pepper will work.
Savory Sesame-Free Hummus
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (soaked, cooked, and drained)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 10 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh squeezed, if possible)
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a heavy duty blender (aka Vitamix) and/ or food processor.
- Blend until of desired consistency. A typical food processor will need approximately 4 minutes to get it really smooth.
- Serve with chips, vegetables, Focaccia Flax Bread, or use as a spread.
Notes
- For those on the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, this can be an E food. Just reduce the oil to 1 teaspoon and add in extra water or liquid from the garbanzos to desired consistency.
- It is preferable for the garbanzo beans to be organic and cooked with organic ajwain (you can read my post on it here) to remove gassiness from the beans.
- For tips on peeling garlic, see The Easiest Way to Peel Garlic.
- You may substitute tahini for the olive oil. My eldest has a life-threatening allergy to sesame seeds, so we don’t use tahini in our hummus. Personally I like the lighter flavor of sesame-free hummus.
- If you would prefer to buy your lemon juice, here is a great brand of organic lemon juice.
- Aleppo pepper is a wonderful alternative to the crushed red pepper, but it’s hard to find. Any red pepper will work.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
ENJOY!
More Time Saving Kitchen Posts
Looking for other time-saving tips for the kitchen? Check out my posts on
– Baking in Bulk
– 8 Time Saving Kitchen Tips
– Reducing Pressure with a Pressure Cooker
More Delicious Bean Recipes
And for more great bean dishes, try:
– Fast and Yummy Bean Dip (everyone always wants the recipe for this one)
– Indian Lentils (ready in as little as 9 minutes!)
– Silky Smooth Bean Fudge (it’s great!)
– Savory Pumpkin Hummus – the perfect nutritious dip or spread
Have you ever made your own hummus?
Tahini is what gives hummus its creamy texture and if you need to substitute, you could try peanut butter. It works well and tastes similar. Cheaper brands of tahini will taste bitter and you might need some honey to off-set the taste. I add both tahini and olive oil in my own. I also use the cooking water rather than add water, but that’s just me. Hummus is one of my favorite dishes!
Hi Melissa. I know – I love the creaminess of tahini, but the olive oil does nicely as a substitute. And my son is deathly allergic to peanuts as well :-(/
As a side note on the water, you will be not be degassing the beans as much if you use the cooking water, but if that doesn’t bother you then great! Hope you enjoy this!
Awesome recipe, I made this with your flax bread recipe and my family and I are hooked!!!
So glad to hear you like it as much as we do! We were invited to an appetizer dinner for Valentines -might just have to take both :-).
I love Hummus. Thanks, Adrienne. Another great post.
You’re welcome! Hope you like it!
Yes, I do follow a “typical” hummus recipe. Mine calls for tinned beans which makes it very fast to make. I will be interested to pursue your suggestions for de-gassing the beans, however. Unlike your recipe, I do not add the cumin,corriander or red pepper although the combination sounds delicious. Garbanzo beans
apparently… “contain a lectin that can cause a decrease in insulin production” in the A blood type according to Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo in Eat Right For Your Blood Type. When I was diagnosed with a yeast overgrowth several years ago, my diet was adjusted, i.e., no sugar, yeast, fermented foods etc., and then the doctor recommended I follow the diet for my blood type. When I follow the diet carefully, I feel 100% better, all physical ailments that plagued me for years clear up and the bonus is that I lose weight. I have felt pretty much alone for many years while working with this so I am delighted that I have found a community of people in cyberspace that understand and are exploring new options. Thanks for your sharings, Adrienne and please keep them coming.
Hi Martie! Thanks for sharing. I am familiar w/ this diet. I haven’t really tried it, but I am interested. I wonder if you’ve seen my post on adrenal fatigue. I am going to be sharing more, but I have found that there is a big connection between candida and heavy metals. So I am now working on the metals. I assume that I am going to be on a special diet the rest of my life, but I am doing a lot better.
Look forward to seeing you around more. I hope this blog really grows into a community where we can help each other. Thanks for the encouragement.
I am going to make this in the morning…my husband is not exactly fond of hummus…and I am, so hopefully, this recipe will do the trick! Thanks so much! 🙂 Cheeryshirley
Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Oh, Adrienne! I made this today and we cannot stay out of it!!! Both of us! Thank you so much for this incredible recipe! Before, my hubby thoroughly disliked hummus and…now? He wants this “wonderful hummus” to be on the regular weekly menu! He dished up bowls for each of us at lunch time…just in case we wanted to “dip” anything in addition to our regular lunch! Hahahaha! Thank you! 🙂 Cheeryshirley
Thanks, Shirley – you’ve made my evening! We’re having a bit of a rough nite here with our youngest, so thanks for blessing me this way! :-).
Following the blood-type diet for an A blood-type, I do my best to avoid garbanzo beans. I make my hummus with pinto beans instead and often add a bit of fresh mint as well – very refreshing.
How interesting. Do you follow a typical hummus recipe? So I assume that garbanzos are bad for Type A according to the blood type diets?
Homemade hummus is one of our favorite snacks. My youngest son actually eats it by the spoonful. thanks for sharing your sesame free option with the HnS Hop.
Thanks, Alea! Ours too! My husband just asked for it again today! Take care!
Humus is one of my favorite snacks. Thanks for sharing at Allergy-free Wednesday!
I can’t wait to try this! I love hummus, but not buying those ridiculously priced little plastic cups, and I have yet to figure out where I can get tahini locally. This sounds perfect!
Hi Karen – I agree with you on the “ridiculously priced little plastic cups.” Expensive and wasteful and often filled w/ preservatives and unsoaked beans. Hope you like it!
I like that this doesn’t have tahini, as we avoid sesame also. Thanks for linking up to H2W; come back next week to see if you were featured!
I would love for you to add this recipe to my Famous Linkz Party!! I have one every Wednesday.
Thanks,
Heather
http://www.made-famous-by.com
Oh my…My 3 year old will love me for this one. She’s a hummus junkie!
Yea! So nice to meet a fellow hummus fanatic. We can’t get enough of it!
I love this! Thank you! I’ve been looking for a recipe that doesn’t require tahini. Thank you, thank you!
You’re so welcome! Hope you like it!
I’ve never tried to make my own hummus before, but with this recipe I really think I can do it!
Hi there! If you get the chance, please let me know how you like it!
yum! I normally use tahini when I make hummus, but I like your sesame free option because sometimes I do make things for folks with allergies.
So hope you enjoy it! And that they do too!
Hi Adrienne. What a great recipe that is always a favorite. It’s great to have a tahini free version since I don’t always have it in the house.
I’ll be hosting Whole Food Wednesdays again. I hope you’ll swing by and even share if you like. Have a great rest of your week.
I so hope you enjoy it – we LOVE it here. Take care!
Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!
Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!
Share your great fermented food recipes at my Probiotic Food Linky – open through Februray 6, 2012.
(Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore)
I do make my own hummus but use canned beans. I am going to try cooking my own beans for hummus and see how it goes. I am working on making my already healthy diet even more healthy but it does take time. I have to do it in baby steps!
Hi Tami. We all need to do it a bit at a time. It’s all too overwhelming otherwise. I think you’ll find that cooking the beans at home will make them so much more digestible. Just make more and save time that way :-).
I recently discovered adding a can of cannelinni beans will make your hummus very creamy.
LOL seriously, I think you’re becoming like one of my favorite food bloggers. I love hummus, thanks for the great recipe. 🙂
You are so kind. I’ve had a rough day here — the encouragement came at a great time :-).