Ever wondered how to make hummus without a blender? Well friends, you are in the right place! I show you how to whip up this tasty chickpea with no blender, food processor or even electricity required!
Hummus is one of the greatest camping foods.
It’s jam-packed full of protein, carbs and healthy fats.
It doesn’t require exact refrigeration.
Eating can be as easy as opening a bag of tortillas or slicing a cucumber.
Oh, and it tastes AWESOME!!!
Happily, tubs of ready-made hummus can be found in most stores these days.
However, if you like to control what goes into your hummus.
Or you need to whip up a batch whilst camping off grid, then this recipe is for you :)
Hummus Ingredients
To whip up your own hummus all you’ll need is:
- Can cooked chickpeas
- Light Tahini (this is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. You can buy light or dark tahini. I prefer light in hummus, but dark would work too – it just tastes stronger)
- Garlic (a fresh clove or the equivalent garlic powder)
- Olive Oil
- Lemon juice (from a fresh lemon or bottled lemon juice in a push)
- Smoked paprika (optional, but delicious!)
As you can see all these ingredients are easy to carry around in your camp kitchen, and are very shelf stable.
So this is the perfect recipe to make when fresh food stocks are dangerously low!
How to Make Hummus without a Blender
So, if you’re off grid, and don’t have access to a blender or food processor, the magic ingredient in your blender free hummus is…
Yep, a potato masher is your friend when you want to whip up a creamy fresh bowl of hummus!
OK, so it does take a little bit of elbow grease, but it’s such a fun way to get the whole family involved in making dinner.
I like to make it in a saucepan rather than a bowl. This way you can get the masher right down into the corners.
Avoid using a pan with a non-stick coating though, as you could end up damaging the pan and eating that non-stick coating.
Not tasty.
Can you Mash Chickpeas with a Fork?
Yes, absolutely!
If you don’t have a potato masher, then a fork will also get the job done.
However, it will require a lot more effort mashing a whole can of beans with just a fork!
Can you Make Hummus with a Hand Blender?
Again, yes. A stick or hand blender is great for making hummus.
I would add the liquid first as you want to make sure the bottom of the bowl is wet.
This will help the hand blender to get all of the chickpeas smooth and creamy.
And you may need to scrape the blades and bowl down a few times, to ensure it doesn’t get ‘gummed up’ with chickpeas.
What is Tahini?
Tahini is an oily paste made from ground up sesame seeds. It’s a little bit like smooth peanut butter in texture, but more runny.
It is originally from the Middle East, but has become very common in whole food and plant-based community as it is so nutritious and flavourful.
Where in a Grocery Store is tahini?
Here in the UK, tahini can now be found in all major supermarkets.
You will most likely find it in the ethnic food section, along with the Moroccan or Cypress foods.
What Else do you Use Tahini For?
I love tahini and can actually eat it straight from the jar! #GuiltySecret
And my go-to salad dressing is this delicious Tahini Sauce. I pour it liberally over salads and grains. It’s so creamy and umami, and I can’t get enough of it!
And Baba Ganoush is another gorgeous Middle Easten dip that requires tahini to make it rich and creamy.
It is also used in a lot of dairy free and vegan desserts instead of dairy. Things like brownies and even ice cream.
And another of my guilty secrets is having tahini spread on toast with homemade strawberry jam. Yum!
Love Healthy Camping Food?
Me too! Check out the quick little video below of me knocking up a batch of this easy no blender hummus in my campervan, Myrtle!
WATCH THIS NO BLENDER HUMMUS RECIPE VIDEO HERE!
If you love easy one pot camping food ideas, do come and join our lovely little community over on YouTube. I release a new campervan recipe video every single week!

- 400 g chickpeas cooked can drained and chickpeas rinsed
- 1 tbsp light tahini
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika to serve
Tip the chickpeas into a straight sided pan, and mash really, really well with a potato masher until it is pretty smooth.
Add in the tahini, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and mix together well.
Taste and add more of whichever seasoning you feel is lacking. Taste again and repeat as necessary.
Tip out onto a plate, smooth out a little them drizzle a little more oil, a little squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.
Serve with crudites, toast, crackers, baguette or whatever else you fancy.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry says
I’m definitely going to have to give this a try. Always have some hummus in my house!
Jane Sarchet says
Hope you love it Bintu!
Lisa says
Wow! I didn’t realize the chickpeas would mash so well without using a blender or food processor. I need to try this method.
Mike Hultquist says
Yep, totally perfect. My rental didn’t have a blender and we REALLY wanted fresh hummus. Problem solved!
Jane Sarchet says
Perfect!
Jill says
Hummus is a staple in our house. I’ll have to try your recipe!
Pam Greer says
What a great idea, I bet I would love the texture! I am going to try this when I make hummus next (we eat it every week for lunch with veggies for dipping.
Ceri Jones says
I’ll have to try that next time I’m catering without electricity and my trusty blender. A LOT of elbow grease required I think!
lirruping says
Janie,
You are lovely and this recipe is much appreciated. My mum always made hummus with a potato masher after heating the beans to soften them a bit.
I found you on youtube, and followed here, to hedgecombers. I’m sorry to say the ads take up a lot of time when loading. Because of my apparently slow connection (even though I live in a metro area and pay a premium for my internet!!), this is a significant inconvenience. And it’s not only your site, but nearly all print recipe sites these days.
My solution has been to stick to video recipes, even though they tend to be less detailed. (I can usually get the gist and make it work).
I get it that you need to do the ads for revenue. I offer this feedback in case there are any steps you might take to make your site load more quickly.
Again, thank you for what you do!
Jane Sarchet says
Hey, thank you for your kind comment & for following me over from YouTube!
I hear you on the ads front, and it is such a tricky thing to balance. That said, with everything 2020 has thrown at us all, I have been so grateful for that income so thank you for battling through them to get the recipe :)
Jane x
Paige says
Excellent starter recipe! I wanted a hummus that wasn’t as pureed as most commercial hummus – a little coarser and more “rustic”. Your idea of using a sauce pan is spot on with my circle potato masher. I quickly graduated to all kinds of add-ins – smoked olive oil, black olive tapenade, a spare avocado that needed to be eaten TODAY, and even togarashi. Works well with a wide variety of chips, crackers, or pita bread.
Jane Sarchet says
Love this Paige! And I now have a MASSIVE hummus craving :)
Janie x
Amy says
Just wondering how long this will keep for in the fridge?
Jane Sarchet says
Hey Amy, I would be happy to store it for 4 or 5 days in a fridge (although in fairness it would never last that long in my house!)
Hope you love it!
Janie x
yas says
I gave this a shot and let’s just say moving forward ….I’ll stick to the store brands……
Jane Sarchet says
Oh yas, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it!
Was the texture off for you, or was there something else you didn’t enjoy about it?
Jane x
La de dah says
I don’t have a masher so had to use wire whip. A medium sized one. Yes, it took awhile. Also, it helps if you put the chickpeas canned or cooked from dry into a bowl of water and slip the skins off the chickpeas. They resultant skinless chickpeas mash easier and make a much smoother hummus.
Laura says
Tried this evening, I’ll never buy a tub of hummus from the shop again!
Thank you for sharing x
Jane Sarchet says
Haha, good to hear Laura!
Janie x