Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus

I love to cook and would much prefer to eat something homemade then made from a box. Homemade food tastes better to me and my family and a lot of the time the meals are healthier and less expensive than their store made, processed counterparts. Make It Yourself Monday gives me a chance to experiment with some recipes that I might not have tried before.

I can't believe I have never made hummus from scratch before this past weekend. I buy it all the time, especially when it is B1G1F, and we love it with pita chips or veggies. This weekend, I made two different types: Garlic and sun-dried tomato hummus and basic hummus.

I found the garlic and sun-dried tomato hummus recipe on Cooking Light.com. I modified the recipe slightly after reading some of the reviews and it turned out delicious. The recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes in oil, but the non-oil packed sun-dried tomatoes are cheaper so I bought those and just re-hydrated what I needed in some warm water per the instructions on the bag. I also added some extra virgin olive oil and used 3 large cloves of garlic instead of 2. I LOVE garlic so I didn't mind the extra garlicky flavor. This was very yummy and my 3 year old loved it too. I had some leftover tortillas from a taco dinner last week and I baked them in the oven at 325 degrees until slightly crispy for dipping. We also dipped lots of veggies: yellow & red peppers, celery, carrots, and broccoli.

I found this recipe for basic hummus in Good Housekeeping magazine. It was also very good and it was inhaled as well.

As far as price, I did have to buy the 3 oz bag of tomatoes and that was $3.99, but I figure I can make 2-3 batches with the one bag. I also had to buy the tahini for the basic hummus and a 16 oz jar of organic tahini was $5.25, but the recipe only calls for 2 Tbsp. so that jar will make 16 batches of basic hummus. The 15 oz can of garbanzo beans range in price from .65 - $1.19 a can. The other ingredients such as garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper are usually always in my pantry. A store bought 8 oz container of hummus costs me about $3.99, but I usually only buy it when it is B1G1F. These recipes make almost twice the amount of the 8 oz container and cost less even with the sale price.

Going forward I will definitely make hummus myself instead of buying it. It is so delicious and easy to make. In my humble opinion the store bought just doesn't compare.

If you enjoyed this article, then you might enjoy some previous "Make It Yourself Monday" articles:

- Fries
- Pizza Dough
- Granola

This post is linked to Carnival of Super Foods - Beans and Legumes Edition at Kitchen Stewardship.

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