Sesame-Free Hummus (No Tahini Recipe)
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This sesame-free hummus is smooth, creamy, and made without tahini. If you need a hummus recipe without sesame—whether for allergies or preference—this version delivers all the flavor of traditional hummus with simple ingredients and no sesame seeds.
Get ready for one of our favorite recipes of all time–homemade sesame-free hummus. This homemade hummus is anything but ordinary. It's savory hummus, perfectly spiced, 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 and this homemade hummus fits the bill.
We've always loved hummus, but the price tag, especially for organic hummus, is something I don't love.
Years ago I saw a recipe in a Cooking Light Magazine that looked interesting to me. I changed it up and now it's a family staple. In fact, it's so good that we make at least 2 batches every time we make it and never lasts long!
Why Sesame-free Hummus?
Sesame is now a more common allergen. Our oldest has multiple life-threatening food allergies, and one of them is sesame.
So you can choose a sesame-free hummus due to having an allergy to sesame, but also hummus is so light when it's sesame-free. I personally prefer hummus without tahini now, but it does need to be made right with extra oil to make up for the loss of fat from the sesame seeds.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This hummus recipe is:
- Easy to make: comes together in just minutes
- Flavorful: the addition of spices is just perfect
- Light: using olive oil instead of tahini makes for a lighter feel and taste
- Frugal: like most homemade hummus recipes, it's so much cheaper than buying store-bought hummus.
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.
How to Serve
This hummus can of course be used in the traditional way as a dip, but you can also use it as:
- a spread on sandwiches, burgers, and wraps.
- as a topping for entrees or sides. Just add more oil and water to make it thinner.
- add to pizza or pasta sauce.
- add to or top soups and stews.
Recipe Notes
- For Easier Digestion: If you’re sensitive to beans, see my tips for how to de-gas beans before cooking.
- Oil Balance: Since this recipe doesn’t use tahini, olive oil helps create a smooth, creamy texture. You can adjust the amount slightly to suit your preference.
- Spice Options: Aleppo pepper is a great alternative to crushed red pepper and adds a slightly milder, more complex flavor.
Other Great Hummus Recipes to Try:
If you enjoy this sesame-free hummus, here are some more fantastic hummus recipes to try:
- Olive Hummus – rich and savory with briny olives
- Pumpkin Hummus – a nourishing and seasonal twist
- Pizza Hummus – a fun, flavorful option that happens to be dairy-free
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
- I highly recommend de-gassing the beans for this and all recipes using beans.
- You can use Aleppo peppers instead of the crushed red pepper, or use a combination of both.
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.
Have you ever made your own hummus?
Any substitutions for the garlic, cumin and red pepper flakes? I have a “nice” (yes…sarcasm.LOL) list of food sensitivities to deal with.
I stumbled across your blog thru a recipe and I am glad I am here! I read your info on the essential oils…THANK YOU! I was about to sink some $$$ into one that is not the best one. I am looking forward to exploring all your great info! We are slowly going organic and getting rid of the chemicals as well.
I’m sorry about your food sensitivities. I would try onion instead of the garlic. You could leave out the red pepper. And do either coriander or caraway for the cumin. I would do the coriander, personally. Hope that helps!
There is an awesome spice called Asafoetida that sort of imitates onions/garlic when cooked (and used sparingly). Also, chives are a different plant and are usually safe even when someone can’t have garlic/onions. I buy chives in bulk myself lol. Ground coriander has a nice earthy flavor as well, could use that in place of cumin. Cayenne or paprika in place of the red pepper flakes. I like nutritional yeast as well, gives stuff sort of a nutty/cheesy flavor and is not the same as yeast. Hope any of that helped!
Just had a huge brain fart on the coriander! I think I just meant to recommend nutritional yeast lol
Sorry what did you mean by that? You had both in there. Thanks!
I have heard about and used asfoetida. It’s very interesting!
This was tasty
Glad you liked it – it’s one of our faves!
I’ve been making a simple hummus recipe for years, but tried this one as we were tired of our recipe. It’s full of flavor and delicious! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it! We love this.
We made this last weekend and it was delicious! However, we found that each of the flavors were a little overbearing (and we usually need to add more spices to our recipes!). It was super garlicy, really salty and had a really strong cumin flavor. We used 2 cans of chickpeas to start, ended up adding 2 more after taste-testing while making it and the flavors were still overpowering. Wondering if we converted the amount of chickpeas incorrectly?? Love all of the flavors (sorry about my garlic breath!) and the texture was perfect, will definitely make again but will play with the spice measurements next time.
Hmmmm…. I don’t know – each can would be about 1 3/4 cups. Have you tried the pizza hummus? I’d love to hear what you think!
Haven’t tried the pizza hummus yet, but made this recipe again and halved the garlic, cumin and red pepper (didn’t have any coriander so had to leave that out). Also decreased the salt to 1/2 tsp–it turned out great! Thanks for a great recipe!!
Yea!!!! I hope you like the pizza one too – did you see there’s an olive hummus here too. It’s hummus mania :). https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/spicy-olive-hummus-recipe/
God this is so good!!!
did you make it?
Hello Adrienne, I thought you may be interested in this hummus also: Spinach Artichoke Hummus from Queen of Quinoa.
Some added nutrition to the hummus.. (plus I always enjoyed Spinach Artichoke dip) going to add my home grown sprouts to it also.
The crackers look good to.
It was neat to see Kim Wilson from Simply Natural Health had a link to your site about your Healthy Hair Rinse. Two sites I visit often is hers and yours so that was cool.
Blessings!
Denise
Unbelievably easy and yummy…….I always make chickpea curry from dry beans, and had allthe ingredients at hand. It is creamy without Tahini and just perfect. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
GREAT!
My family and I are on a hummus kick lately, so I tried this. It was great for something just slightly different than traditional hummus! I used one can of beans and cut the recipe accordingly. Since one can of beans is approximately 1 3/4 to 2 cups of beans, it works perfectly to halve the the savory hummus recipe. Delicious!
Blending the tahini with warm water makes the hummus creamy, like they serve in restaurants.
Definitely good to have a tahini-free hummus recipe for those with allergies. However, for those who don’t, please do consider including the tahini in your hummus because the combination forms a complete protein and tahini has a nice dose of zinc. My autistic son is a very picky eater with a zinc deficiency, but he likes hummus and it is sometimes the only source of protein we can get into his meals; I even use it as a substitute for cheese sauce on pasta now that he is dairy-free. 🙂