Ina Garten's Spicy Secret Ingredient For Homemade Hummus

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Ina Garten has a knack for putting an elegant twist on traditional comfort foods, whether it's by adding a few extra steps to a recipe or with additional ingredients. Hummus may be one of the most versatile recipes in the world, with countless flavorrful additions and swaps for garbanzo beans or even tahini. But Garten's spicy secret ingredient serves to enhance the classic recipe.

In a recipe for creamy hummus she shares on the Barefoot Contessa website, Garten adds a dash or two of Tabasco sauce to the blender. Named for the Mexican state and namesake of its key ingredient, Tabasco sauce is an American brand of hot sauce out of Louisiana. While the brand offers many different flavors, the original Tabasco sauce is the best according to our ranking. Its simple blend of vinegar, salt, and peppers is fermented into a spicy and zingy condiment that cuts through the richness of everything from scrambled eggs to red beans and rice.

The savory earthy and nutty richness of the olive oil, garbanzo beans and hummus receive a tangy contrast from lemon juice. But the dash of Tabasco sauce intensifies that tang while also complementing the smokiness of the paprika seasoning with a spicy finish. Tabasco sauce is a spicy upgrade to conventional hummus and many other types as well. For example, it'd pair well with an especially rich meat topped hummus and balance the sweetness of sweet potato hummus.

Not only does Garten add Tabasco to improve a traditional hummus recipe, but she also uses a few technical tricks to make it extra creamy. While it may be time consuming, the key to ultra creamy hummus is hulling the garbanzo beans. The thin layer of skin that surrounds the bean is responsible for gritty hummus no matter how long you blend it in a food processor.

To remove the skin, she adds a couple of cans of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans to a pot of water with baking powder, brings the mixture to a boil and simmers for 25 minutes. This will help the garbanzos start to rid their skin which will float to the top of the water for you to skim off. After skimming the initial skin remnants, drain the hot water and add cold water, shaking the garbanzos to rid them of more skin. You'll need to repeat this process at least five times to get all the skin off the garbanzos. You'll be left with the soft, tender pulp that'll easily disintegrate into a melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

Another simple trick Garten employs is to blend the tahini in the food processor before assembling and blending the hummus itself. Tahini, like this bottle from Mighty Sesame Co., is incredibly thick and dense with its own grittiness that will sabotage your efforts to hull the garbanzos.