As someone who prides themselves on trying to make a lot of things homemade, it was hard to rationalize why I had never tried to make my own hummus. I love to make homemade beans and I put hummus on my sandwiches– it seemed like a no brainer. Well, a few weeks back I decided that it was time to finally have my hand at making hummus, and I was amazed by the results. It had better texture and a much deeper flavour than I was used to. This shouldn’t have been a surprise as when I ate a family friend’s homemade hummus I found it amazing. 

The one downside to making homemade hummus is that removing the skin from the chickpeas can take quite a while. I did this with my partner Mia while we listened to a podcast, but it can take 15-20 minutes. However, this is truly the only part of the process that is strenuous, the rest is as easy as throwing everything in a food processor. I am completely in love with onions, so naturally, this is a roasted onion hummus. The roasted onions bring a sweet, smoky flavour to the dip that is absolutely divine.

One quick note here is that we use an instant pot to cook the chickpeas. As such, there is no soaking required. However, how you cook the chickpeas will have no effect on the final flavour so feel free to do them on the stove. Doing them on the stove top will require soaking overnight and a bit more time to cook the chickpeas. Follow any stovetop cooking instructions while still using the same spice mix and the results should be identical. I hope you enjoy this hummus as much as I do! 

Active time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

Chickpeas

• ½ cup dry chickpeas
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Roasted onions:

• 2 onions 
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper 

Tahini mixture

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 3/4 tsp salt 
• 1/4 cup water 

Directions

1. Rinse your chickpeas and make sure there isn’t any debris in them. Add them to the instant pot with the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and 4 cups of water. Cook on high pressure for 38 minutes and let natural pressure release for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. Let them cool completely before attempting to remove the skins. 
2. Preheat your oven to 425 F. Cut your onions in half and slice them into semi circles. On a lined baking sheet, toss the onions with the olive oil, smoked paprika and a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Roast for 20-24 minutes, until some parts of the onions have begun to char. 
3. While the onions cook, begin to skin your chickpeas. Gently pinch them and the skins should come right off. This may take a bit of time but be patient as the result is well worth the effort. 
4. In a bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and water. Whisk until smooth. 
5. Combine the roasted onion, skinned chickpeas and the tahini mixture in a food processor and process until smooth, a few minutes. Serve with anything and everything until gone (which shouldn’t take too long), enjoy!