Canning Garbanzo Beans for Hummus

Some people find that hummus has a very off flavor and most of the time it's from the tahini or some recipes use so much lemon juice it overwhelms the other ingredients. I am just happy that I can put up the garbanzos (chick peas) in order to have them at the ready to make the perfect hummus any time of the year.

You will start traditional hummus with a 15 or 16 oz can of garbanzos. I will start mine with a pint of pre-seasoned, garlic added, no preservatives,  home canned beans. These jars of beans are the perfect amount and so easy to make just for this purpose.


Garbanzo beans for Hummus

3 lbs of dried beans
2 heads of garlic
3 t. lemon pepper or other desired seasoning
3 t. salt (optional)

You can soak the beans overnight or put dried beans in a large saucepan. Add water to cover beans by 2 inches. Bring beans to a boil, boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 1 hour. Drain.
Cover beans with fresh cold water by two inches in a large dutch oven.
(Because the beans have plumped up you may need a bigger pan.)
Bring beans to a low boil for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. (Hard boil tends to split beans.)

Pack beans using a slotted spoon into 8 hot pint jars filling about 3/4 of the way. Add 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 t. of lemon pepper or your personal seasonings, and 1/4 t. of  salt to each jar (optional). Ladle hot cooking liquid or freshly boiled water over beans removing air bubbles and add enough to fill to 1 inch headspace. Clean rims, add lids and rings.

Processing: Make sure your canning water has come to a simmer and place the jars in the pressure canner.  Lock the lid and turn up the heat bring the canner to a boil. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close the vent by adding the weighted gauge or pressure regulator (for dial gauge canner). Process pints for 75 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure (11 lbs for dial gauge canner) and quarts at 90 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and let pressure return to zero naturally. Wait two minutes longer and open vent. Remove canner lid. Wait 10 minutes then remove jars and place on dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Basic Hummus recipe

1 pint chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, drained 
1 medium garlic clove, peeled and smashed (already in the jar)
Juice of 1 medium lemon
1/4 cup roasted tahini**
1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
Salt (you may have already added to the jar so taste the hummus before adding more)

Place beans, garlic, half of the lemon juice, tahini, water, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt in a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and process until smooth. If the hummus is too thick, pulse in more water, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Taste, adding more salt and lemon juice as needed. To serve, place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a dash of paprika(optional).

Other flavors that could be added either in the jars or when canning:
Sundried tomatoes: 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (coarsely chopped not packed in oil)Rosemary: 1/4 t. of dried rosemary
Roasted Garlic:  You could add roasted garlic instead
Roasted Red Peppers: Add 1/2 pepper per jar or add to hummus in processor.


*Tahini is a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds.