Instant Pot Hummus is easy, fast, and impossibly silky ~ let me show you how I cook my chickpeas (no soaking or peeling required) in my Instant Pot pressure cooker for a healthy lower sodium hummus that has the best texture EVER!
Can you see the smooth silky texture of that hummus? It’s my preferred texture, although I know there will be some argument out there. My husband, for instance, likes his hummus a little grainy, so go figure. I love mine as smooth and satiny as I can possibly get it, just the way they serve it at my favorite hummus bar. Sadly I’ve never been able to accomplish that amazing texture at home, until now. There are 2 parts to the secret, and the first part is all about how you cook the beans.
The best way to cook chickpeas for hummus is in a pressure cooker like the Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is the perfect tool for cooking dried beans quickly and thoroughly. For other cooking methods you usually start by soaking dried beans overnight to soften them. Then you need to drain them, add more water, and start the cooking process on the stove. With the Instant Pot you can cut the whole procedure in half, it’s such a powerful cooking tool that it can completely cook the beans in 40 minutes ~ they go from hard as a rock to soft and tender in record time.
Here’s how I cook chickpeas in my Instant Pot (the no-soak method) ~
- I rinse the dried chickpeas and place them straight into the Instant Pot.
- I add water to cover the beans by 1 inch.
- I lock the lid and set the vent to the sealing position.
- I press Pressure Cook and set the cook time to 40 minutes.
- The machine will come up to pressure, and then start cooking. When it beeps after the 40 minutes of cooking, I do nothing for 10 minutes while the pressure comes down naturally, then I release the pressure valve and let the rest of the pressure come down.
- I open the lid and drain the beans. The beans will be very soft.
- They’re ready to use.
What’s so special about cooking beans in the Instant Pot?
- There’s something so satisfying about going from raw dried beans to soft creamy chickpeas in such a short time with the Instant Pot.
- It’s much, much faster than cooking dried beans on the stove top, and it’s completely hands free, no babysitting invovled.
- There is no need for pre-soaking them first, which is a huge time saver. It means you can cook beans on a whim!
- The resulting cooked beans are healthier and lower in sodium than canned beans. They’re also cheaper.
- The convenience factor means you will probably cook with dried beans more often, which means more beans in your diet, a win win.
- The Instant Pot has a large capacity so you can cook extra beans and freeze them for later.
- Note: if you want your beans a little firmer, say for salads, etc., you might experiment with a slightly shorter cooking time.
Tip: Measure out the cooked beans in 2 cup increments and put them in storage containers or zip lock freezer bags. Freeze them for quick healthy hummus recipes (or for soups and stews.)
The other secret to epic silky hummus? The Vitamix
Now I know that’s 2 specialty machines I’m talking about in this post, but both are solid features in my kitchen and I use them over and over again, daily, really. If you’re a devotee of ultra silky hummus, the Vitamix is hands down the best way to grind your chickpeas. The motor is so powerful that it turns those cooked beans into a satiny dip in seconds.
Can you make great hummus without the Viatamix? Of course!
Just puree your soft beans in a food processor, Bullet, or other blender. You might even prefer a slightly coarser texture, like my husband. But if you’re craving that ultra silky mouthfeel, the Vitamix can’t be beat.
For the final touch on my super silky hummus I love to garnish with toasted pine nuts, they’re little flavor bombs! When you’ve got perfectly toasted pine nuts you don’t need anything else on your hummus except for a drizzle of great olive oil.
I’m a huge fan of the Instant Pot, and the Vitamix, and I know I’m not alone. So many kitchen tools and gadgets come and go, but every once in a while there are real innovations that makes cooking better and easier, and the Instant Pot and Vitamix are definitely great examples of that. I tend to use the Vitamix throughout the year, and the IP more in the cooler months. Right about now I start to get really excited about all the cozy meals I’ll be making in mine this fall and winter.
Instant Pot Hummus
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Vitamix (optional)
Ingredients
Instant Pot beans
- 1 pound (456 grams, or about 2 heaping cups) dried chickpeas
- 6 cups water
hummus
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
- juice of 1 lemon, you may want less, add half at first and add more to taste
- extra virgin olive oil or cold water for thinning
- salt to taste
toasted pine nuts
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the Instant Pot. Add the water, it should cover the beans by 1 inch. Close and lock the lid, and set the vent to the sealed position.
- Push Pressure Cook and set the time to 40. The machine will automatically start to come up to pressure.
- When the machine beeps after the cooking time, do nothing for 10 minutes, then release the pressure valve and let the pressure come down.
- Unlock the lid and drain the beans. Note: you will have more beans than you need for this recipe. Refrigerate or freeze the extra for another batch or another recipe.
- To toast the pine nuts put them in a small frying pan with the olive oil and sitr over medium heat until they turn a nutty golden brown. The darker they get the more flavor they will have, just don’t let them burn. Set aside.
- To make the hummus, put 2 cups of the cooked beans into a Vitamix blender or other food processor along with the garlic cloves.
- Pulse the machine to break down the beans. Add the tahini, and lemon juice and run the machine until it becomes a smooth paste. Drizzle in some olive oil or cold water to thin it out if necessary. Let the machine run until the hummus is super smooth.
- Turn the hummus out into a bowl and season with salt to taste, and add more lemon if you like.
- To serve, drizzle the hummus with more oil, and garnish with the pine nuts. Serve with pita bread or pita chips.
Made this hummus today and it is so much more tasty than any store-bought hummus. I will continue making hummus instead of buying it now that I know how easy it is to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe!! I used the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker for the Chickpeas. ๐
super creamy! and very easy to make. I followed the recipe but used the aquafaba to thin it out. really good!
Hi Sue! So my problem is that finding tahini is near impossible and I can’t figure out why. I used to be able to find it all the time but now it has gone into hiding. I got an instant pot a year ago and have surprised myself with how much I like it. I use it constantly and am looking forward to finding tahini and trying your recipe. Thanks!
Hey Liza! I hear you about the IP addiction, me too. My obsession is easy risotto, I’m completely obsessed with it. As far as tahini, I’m totally surprised you can’t find it, so strange. I actually have a recipe for diy tahini, it’s just sesame paste, that you can do at home with a food processor or, better yet, the Vitamix. But if I were you I’d just order it from Amazon.
Well…. I finally found it. Turns out they store it on the lowest shelf (floor level) of the special diet peanut butter section. I made my first hummus a few weeks ago and it was fabulous. Thanks Sue!
They put it in the strangest spots ๐
Liza, Google โhomemade tahiniโ ! Lots of options and you control the ingredients!
Thanks Amy! Will try it
We eat hummus regularly at our house! I prefer to make it from scratch and have used a stove top pressure cooker for years until I discovered the Instant Pot almost two years ago. While I don’t have a Vitamix, my food processor does the trick. I’d like to share one tip. I use the garbanzo bean cooking liquid to thin out the hummus while blending in the food processor. I think it adds a creamier texture than water and you don’t need to add too much other fat. Thanks for your great recipe! Very similar to mine. I also add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper for a little extra zip.
Thanks Debra, love that dash of cayenne ๐ I like to add Sumac or smoked paprika sometimes, too.
Sue, do you know if you can freeze hummus?
Yes, I believe it freezes really well, although we never have leftovers around to test the theory ๐ Actually I freeze the chickpeas themselves more often.
I make a batch of hummus every week and use my Instant Pot religiously for prepping the beans. But not once have I ever thought to use my Vitamix! And it even sits next to my food processor on the counter! Thank you so much for sharing. No more tedious bean peeling! (My overuse of exclamation points should give you an inkling of how truly excited I am!!)
oh my gosh Kristina, I had the same revelation, I tried the peeling thing too, I tried everything, but the Vitamix is the key. Enjoy ๐
Thank you so much for the easy tutorial! I have not mastered the Instant Pot yet but maybe this year ๐ We adore hummus, especially topped with pine nuts and an extra drizzle of olive oil. Very nice!