Instant Pot Hummus
I can’t turn down a beautiful tub of hummus. Though, before this Instant Pot hummus recipe, I had never made my own hummus.
I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I wanted to make sure I would get a tasty, creamy, and addictive hummus out of my new recipe. All I can say is that I did not disappoint myself. 😉
Wait, what is hummus?
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of enjoying the best dip on the planet, you’re in for a real treat with Instant Pot Hummus.
Hummus is a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean specialty dip or spread that is an excellent appetizer or side with chicken, gyros, steak, you name it.
Hummus is basically ground up chickpeas and tahini, which is ground sesame paste. Add in a bit of garlic, olive oil, and a few extras and you have yourself some hummus.
This Instant Pot hummus takes hummus to another level! Its rich, creamy, and light. I have visions of sunbathing off the coast of Santorini when I’m having this Instant Pot hummus, and I hope you do too.
What Makes Hummus So Good?
A wonderful hummus should be creamy, yet thick. It should be a balanced flavor of savory, tangy, spiced, and sweet. You’ll smell a lot of olive oil, some garlic, and a note of lemon when you indulge.
Instant Pot hummus is so good because it’s a satisfying rich dish that can be enjoyed at all hours of the day – with breakfast with some eggs, at lunch in a salad, as a snack with some celery or pretzels, with dinner accompanying some Greek chicken, or as a midnight snack with some pita chips.
How Do You Make Hummus?
Turns out, hummus is actually really easy to make. I don’t know why I didn’t make my Instant Pot hummus sooner! From what I learned, you should make this hummus with quality ingredients – the best lemons, the best tahini, the best olive oil, etc.
The first step to Instant Pot hummus is totally optional – soak your chickpeas overnight in a container if using dried chickpeas.
To do this, you add some salt to about a half a pound (8 oz) of dry chickpeas, pour in water, give a little stir, and store in your fridge overnight.
The next day, or eight to sixteen hours later, you will rinse your chickpeas whether they’re soaked or not. This will give you a chance to get rid of any debris or hard/weird stuff left hanging around. Then, you drain.
Next comes the fun part. The Instant Pot hummus part of our recipe. You’ll pressure cook your hummus by adding the chickpeas, bay leaves, LOTS of garlic, and your onion. Add in your salt and pour in water.
Next, close the lid and start to pressure cook. Note below that the time it takes to pressure cook your chickpeas depends on if they’re soaked or no-soak chickpeas, so ALWAYS check.
Instant Pot Garlic Hummus
Now, while chickpeas are pressure cooking, you’re going to submerge your garlic cloves in some lemon juice in your blender. I do this so the garlic isn’t super in your face later on.
Once your chickpeas are done cooking, you’re going to throw away the bay leaves and onions then set aside as you blend your garlic/lemon juice mixture.
Next blend your chickpeas and cumin with the lemon garlic juice to your desired consistency. Turn your blender off and mix in your tahini, some olive oil, and a dash of paprika.
Serve with olive oil and paprika as a topping. Enjoy with some pita, crudité, tortilla chips, chicken, rice, pretzels – whatever you desire!
What Model Pressure Cooker Should I Use?
For Instant Pot garlic hummus, I used my Instant Pot Duo pressure cooker, but you can use any Instant Pot or pressure cooker you’d like. Take a look at some reviews of pressure cookers and guides. For more recipes, check them out too!
Instant Pot Hummus: The Creamiest Guilt-Free Treat
Ingredients
- 1 cup of dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans (no soak or soak)
- 4 cups of water (32 fl oz)
- 1 head of garlic (crushed)
- 1 white onion, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp of ground cumin
- 5 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 cup (8 fl oz) of tahini
- ¼ cup of lemon juice from approximately 2 lemons
- ¼ cup of olive oil (fine quality)
- ¼ tsp of smoked paprika
- 1-2 sprigs of fresh parsley
Instructions
- Optional if you need to soak your garbanzo/chickpeas:
- Place the ½ Ib of dried chickpeas and 1 tbsp of fine/table salt in a container. Add 4 cups (32 oz) of water, stir. Soak overnight (8-16 hours)
- Rinse chickpeas as well as taking out any hard bits or stones along with anything funky. Drain.
- Add your soaked chickpeas to the inner pot of your Instant Pot along with the 2 bay leaves, 1 head of garlic, and the two halves of your white onion. If using no-soak chickpeas add in 1&½ tsp of table salt. For soaked chickpeas, add in 1 tsp of fine salt.
- Add in 4 cups (32 oz) of cold water and mix.
- Close your Instant Pot lid, make sure your pressure valve is set to sealing, then pressure cook.
- NO SOAK CHICKPEAS: Set pressure on high for 60 minutes then when the timer goes off, add 20 minutes on natural release.
- SOAKED CHICKPEAS: High pressure 15 minutes, then when the timer goes off, add 20 minutes on natural release.
- When the natural release time is up, safely release the remaining pressure by turning the valve to venting. Then, open your lid.
- At the same time as the natural release, soak your 5 garlic cloves in your lemon juice in a blender. You will let them soak for about 20 minutes to a half-hour before blending.
- Throw out your onion and bay leaves. Do a taste test of the chickpeas to ensure they’re cooked. Set aside.
- Blend your garlic and lemon juice that had been soaking.
- Making sure your chickpeas are still hot, add your drained chickpeas (reserve chickpeas liquid), 1 tsp of ground cumin, and chickpea liquid to your garlic and lemon juice mixture. Blend slowly, gradually increasing speed until smooth. Add in more chickpea liquid for desired consistency.
- Next, mix in 1 cup of tahini and a dash of paprika to your chickpea mixture. Add in a small amount (1 to 2 tbsp) of olive oil for more smoothness. Season with salt to taste.
- Garnish with paprika, olive oil, and fresh parsley. Enjoy!
