Frugal Foodie Recipe: Homemade Hummus (Think Memorial Day potluck party platter!)

I’ve been making this recipe since March 2007, when food.com was recipezaar.com. It’s a family fave for carrots and red pepper dips and great for potluck party platters of veggie and pita chips/pretzels. Back then, I halved the recipe, and my little 3-cup mini-food processor I received as a wedding present was all I needed to make it. Well, in a short time, the demand grew for more homemade hummus.

For Christmas 2010, I received a Hamilton Beach 10-cup Food Processor. Unfortunately, its cheap price tag matches it’s quality and it no longer makes fancy sliced veggies. However, it still does the job of whirring together all the ingredients for hummus nice and fast. Its 10-cup capacity enables me to double the recipe easily, which ensures that I have enough for lunchboxes and after school snacks.

For the last 4 years, cooking dried beans has proven to be a real money-saver, especially when buying in bulk. Like with most cooking, you just need to do a little planning ahead, in this case, soak the beans overnight. In the last couple of years, I have found that 2 cups of dried garbanzo beans will give you what you need for this recipe, with a little left over to throw into salad.

Since getting a pressure cooker set last fall, cooking dried garbanzo beans, takes no time at all. You don’t even need to soak them (though I still do, for a couple of hours). I highly recommend investing in a pressure cooker set!

Enjoy this delicious, healthy protein dip with your favorite crunchy veggie or fruit slices, pretzels, pita chips or tortilla chips!

~Aimee, TFF