Homemade hummus: calories and macros, step by step.
Hummus is a good first recipe to build: six ingredients, no cooking, and one big surprise. The tahini is a small part of the bowl by weight and a large part of its calories.
- 8 servings, weighed at 780 g when finished
- 211 kcal a serving, with 7 g protein, 19 g carbs and 13 g fat
- 6 ingredients, every one a USDA FoodData Central entry in the library
The sample data
These are the amounts used on the screens below, with each figure taken from the library entry for that ingredient. They are sample figures for a pot or tray of this size, not a measurement of anyone's kitchen.
| Ingredient | Amount | kcal | Protein g | Carbs g | Fat g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chickpeas, canned, drained and rinsed | 508 g | 701 | 36 | 116 | 13 |
| Tahini | 120 g | 714 | 20 | 25 | 65 |
| Lemon juice | 60 g | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Garlic | 8 g | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Olive oil | 27 g | 239 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Cumin seed | 3 g | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Whole recipe | 726 g | 1,690 | 58 | 149 | 106 |
| Per serving (8) | 98 g | 211 | 7 | 19 | 13 |
Calorie and macro figures are fitness estimates, not medical or dietary advice. Ingredient values are from USDA FoodData Central, which is in the public domain.
Why this recipe
A tub of hummus from a shop and the batch you blend at home are not the same food: the tahini, oil and lemon are yours to change. Building it once gives you your own numbers for the way your family makes it.
What to weigh
Two cans of chickpeas give about 508 g drained and rinsed. The sample adds roughly 50 g of cold water while blending, so the finished weight is 780 g against 726 g of ingredients. Water adds grams, not calories, which is why the serving is lighter per gram than the sum of its parts.
The full workflow, in four steps.
1. Open Create a recipe and search the library
Open Add food and choose Create a recipe, name it, then choose Add ingredient and search the library. Typing "chickpeas" lists the canned entries, each with its calories per 100 g.
2. Enter the amount you weighed
Pick the entry that matches the can you opened (drained and rinsed here), switch the portion to grams and enter what the scale showed. The amount sheet shows that ingredient's calories and macros before you add it.
3. Add the rest, then set the servings and finished weight
Keep adding ingredients, then enter the 8 servings it makes and the 780 g you weighed at the end. The whole recipe and one serving update as you type.
4. Save it and log a serving
Save the recipe and it becomes one of your own foods. The next screen is the normal Add food form, ready to log one serving or any weight of it.
Tips while you build it
- Tahini is the number to get right: 120 g is 8 tablespoons, and it carries more than a third of the batch's calories.
- Log hummus by weight when you are measuring a snack. A serving is about 98 g, a little under half a cup.
- If you taste the batch as you go, weigh the bowl at the end and use that weight, not the sum of the parts.
Make it your own
- Use the entry for tahini made from raw kernels if that is what is in your jar. It has the same shape of numbers but is not identical.
- Add roasted red pepper or beetroot as another ingredient and the per-serving numbers update when you save.
Each change is a second recipe with its own name, so the first stays as you built it.
Hummus bi tahini questions.
How many calories are in homemade hummus?
It depends on your tahini and oil. The sample batch of eight servings comes to 211 kcal a serving, with 7 g protein, 19 g carbs and 13 g fat. Build yours with your own amounts to get your number.
Should I weigh the chickpeas drained or in the can?
Weigh them the way the library entry describes them. Drained and rinsed chickpeas are about 254 g a can, while the same can with its liquid is about 448 g and has fewer calories per gram.
Can I log half a serving?
Yes. A recipe is logged like any food: pick the serving or switch to grams and enter the amount you ate.
More example recipes.
- Mujadara337 kcal a serving, 6 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Chicken shawarma (oven tray)444 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Chana masala309 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Dal tadka265 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Butter chicken498 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Spaghetti bolognese499 kcal a serving, 6 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Chicken cacciatore639 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Turkey chili326 kcal a serving, 6 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
- Homemade cheeseburgers456 kcal a serving, 4 servings, from USDA FoodData Central ingredients.
Keep going.
- Recipe builderWhat the builder does, and every example recipe in one place.
- Lebanese food caloriesPer 100 g tables for the dishes the food library finds.
- Nutrition and macro trackingBarcodes, label reading, targets that follow your weigh-ins.
- Help: scan, create and recipesThe same steps in the Help Center.
Cook it once. Log it for good.
Build your own lebanese favourite in Nutrition.