For Ultra Creamy Hummus, Break Out The Ice Cubes

Creamy, flavorful hummus is a great source of nutrients and a good addition to any diet. It is an extremely versatile food that can be enjoyed on its own or used in other recipes. Whether you're dipping crunchy vegetables in it as a snack, or using it to replace the mayonnaise on a sandwich, there are plenty of ways to get more hummus in your diet. Since it can be so easy to blow through a tub of store-bought hummus, it's often more economical to make hummus at home.

Making hummus in your kitchen is a simple, budget-friendly way to make as much as you need, or as little — but who are we kidding, you're going to make a lot of it. Usually, the process is foolproof, but sometimes there are literal lumps on the road to an ultra-creamy hummus. If you've found that your homemade hummus is lumpy or grainy, you might consider adding an ice cube or two to the food processor.

Adding ice cubes to your hummus may seem counterintuitive, but it works to improve the texture of your hummus greatly. Two elements you need for food that's meant to be fluffy and creamy are air and moisture. Ice cubes do both jobs by whipping air into the mixture while adding a touch more moisture to ensure ultra-creamy hummus. Simply drop one or two ice cubes into the food processor, and let it run until you see your chickpeas transform into smooth, silky hummus.

It should be noted — only use this trick if your food processor or blender can handle ice. Super creamy hummus isn't worth breaking your food processor; use ice water instead and your results will be similar. Because you're adding water, you may need to adjust the seasonings, like adding a pinch more salt or pepper to get your preferred flavors. You can use this trick for other dips and sauces besides hummus. Try it with anything that needs to be blended until smooth, like pestos, bean dips, or yogurt dips.

To make super creamy hummus at home, you'll need a blender or a food processor. Aside from popping one or two ice cubes in the appliance, time is your friend when it comes to achieving the texture you're after. Let it blend for four or five minutes until it's lusciously smooth. You can use any kind of chickpeas you want; even though some recipes call for dried and cooked chickpeas, you can use the canned ones if that's what you have on hand. Before whipping the canned chickpeas up into hummus, heat them gently, to help them absorb the flavors of the other ingredients and blend more smoothly.

If you find that your hummus is still grainy, next time, make sure you've removed all of the translucent skins from the chickpeas. Not removing the skins is a fairly common hummus mistake. After cooking them in water and baking soda, you can roll them between two clean kitchen towels and the skins should come away, leaving the chickpeas freshly scrubbed and skin-free. This trick works for both dried and canned chickpeas. With these tricks up your sleeve you're set to make the creamiest hummus yet.