Best Store Bought Hummus Brands: Tasted and Reviewed

Hummus lovers, this one’s for you! The creamy, nutty delight is a fan favorite whether served with pita chips, slathered on a gyro, or piled high on a grain bowl. One visit to the deli section of your local grocery store though, and you’ll be sure to see that there’s a ton of different hummuses out there!

We shopped, dipped, and spread 14 of the most readily available options in a range of flavors and varieties, nailing down our favorite hummus in each of 8 different categories. Stay tuned for everything you need to know about getting a dose of chickpea goodness into your day!

Table of Contents

What is Hummus?

Made from a base of chickpeas that are blended until smooth, hummus--sometimes ‘hommus’--gets its characteristic flavor from one other key ingredient: tahini. Tahini is a type of paste made from raw sesame seeds. From there, other flavor enhancers such as lemon juice, salt, and garlic are usually added. Black pepper, roasted vegetables, red peppers, and olives are other common additives while other, more off-the-wall versions may feature pumpkin, avocado, and even sweets like chocolate or cinnamon!

Store Bought Hummus Brands We Tested

Our sample batch of products includes these 14 brands and varieties:

365 Whole Foods Market Original Hummus
Boar's Head Everything Bagel Hummus
Boar's Head Kalamata Olive Tapenade Hummus
Cava Spicy Hummus
Cedar's Dark Chocolate Hommus
Esti Caramelized Onion Hummus
Hope Sea Salt & Olive Oil Hummus
Humm! Roasted Red Pepper Topped Hummus
Ithaca Lemon Garlic Hummus
Joseph's Original Hommus
Sabra Classic Hummus
Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Hummus
Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Hummus
Tribe Classic Hummus

How We Tested

Our aim for this taste test and review was to select a Best Hummus Brand in each of the following categories:

Best Classic
Best Organic
Best Flavored
Best Spicy
Best Sweet
Best Topped
Best Specialty

We first tasted each hummus variety on its own, looking for those base ingredients--chickpeas and tahini--and any featured flavorings. We then tried each hummus with common dippers like crackers, celery, and carrots so as to evaluate its versatility.

After all evaluations were complete, we graded each hummus variety according to the following 4 criteria:

Taste & Texture: looking at flavor notes and overall consistency of each product.
Value: price per ounce.
Ingredients: considering the quantity and quality of ingredients in each product as well as nutrition content.
Production: taking into account factors of manufacture, distribution, availability, sustainability, and packaging.

Best Classic

Tribe Classic Hummus

Overall Rank: 4.8 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 5.0 / 5.0

If you want classic hummus taste, Tribe Classic Hummus has it! This option features the perfect flavor balance of nutty chickpea to tangy tahini. Its fluffy consistency was a hands down favorite among our tasting panel, with a much creamier texture as compared to other classic options like Whole Foods Hummus. We love how easy it is to dip, spread, and stir.

Value: 4.8 / 5.0

Tribe Hummus lands moderately in the value category, with this 8-ounce tub costing us $3.50. Keep in mind, however, that we sourced our sample from Dollar General, which tends to be a bit cheaper than grocery and supermarket chains.

Ingredients: 4.6 / 5.0

This hummus is made from just cooked chickpeas, tahini, canola oil, citric acid, and seasonings like sea salt and dried garlic.

It is free from sugars, saturated fats, and artificial preservatives and also boasts overall low fat and calorie contents with 3 grams of fat and 60 calories per serving.

Production: 4.8 / 5.0

The folks at Tribe really know their stuff, as they should, seeing as they were one of the first mainstream hummus brands to hit the market back in the 1990’s! Unfortunately, their distribution seems to have dwindled in recent years and we don’t find their products available in as many of our neighborhood supermarkets as it used to be.

Why We Picked It:

Tribe has been one of our favorite hummus brands for many years, and their tried and true Classic Hummus is perfectly delicious on its own or used as a spread or a recipe ingredient. We find this hummus to have more of a creamy texture than other brands and love that it is a relatively healthy, limited-ingredient option.

What We Didn’t Like:

Our only complaint: Tribe is not as easy to find as it used to be! We’re not sure why it seems to be disappearing from the shelves of some of our area grocery stores but we hope it makes a comeback.

Where to Buy: Dollar General, Giant, Albertsons, Shaw’s, Safeway, and more

Best Organic

Hope Sea Salt & Olive Oil Hummus

Overall Rank: 5.0 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 4.3 / 5.0

Though we really enjoyed the pure, authentic flavor of Hope Sea Salt & Olive Oil Hummus, we were admittedly put off by the texture. The packaging indicates it is intentionally “lightly blended”, but to us, the experience comes across as if the hummus never came together in the first place.

Value: 4.5 / 5.0

This option works out to be the most expensive per ounce, with the 8-ounce tub costing us $5.30. While we do feel that the quality of this hummus and its ingredients is a great value for the price, our tasting panel felt that the flavor wasn't quite special enough for a high ticket item.

Ingredients: 5.0 / 5.0

All of the ingredients are USDA certified organic and non-GMO project verified. Also, we love that this brand opts to use olive oil as a main emulsifier, as it boasts the highest proportion of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats as compared to other plant based oils.

Production: 5.0 / 5.0

Hope Hummus makes “certified plastic neutral products”, meaning that for as much plastic waste as is generated by their production, they retrieve an equal or greater amount of plastic waste from the environment.

On the downside, this brand is not as readily available as others, with Whole Foods/Amazon being the only main carrier aside from smaller independent grocers.

Why We Picked It:

This hummus option reads as super authentic and traditional, with a nicely balanced, light flavor and wholesome ingredients list. This product is organic, GMO-free, and certified plastic neutral!

What We Didn’t Like:

Sadly, the somewhat split, loose texture doesn’t hold a candle to the fluffy dream texture of Tribe. Also, while the quality of this product is high, so is the price tag, and it’s not as easy to track down as some of the other brands.

Where to Buy: Amazon, Whole Foods, Cheese Lover’s Shop, and many independent grocers

Best Flavored

Boar's Head Everything Bagel Hummus

Overall Rank: 4.5 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 4.7 / 5.0

This flavored hummus from Boar’s Head is yet another member of the creamy-dreamy club, but the thing that really caught our attention here is its TASTE. Our tasting panel loved the poppy and sesame seeds that are speckled throughout. In our experience, “everything bagel” flavored anything is always a crowd pleaser and this hummus is one of the best iterations we’ve seen.

Value: 4.3 / 5.0

The price point on this one is neither expensive nor at a premium--just a solid middle-of-the-road choice. Our 10-ounce tub cost $4.50, or $0.45 per ounce.

Ingredients: 4.4 / 5.0

On the downside, each serving of this hummus packs over 200 mg of sodium as compared to other flavored options like Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Hummus and Humm! Roasted Red Pepper Topped Hummus which rang in much lower, at just 125 mg and 110 mg respectively.

Production: 4.6 / 5.0

Boar’s Head is a well-known purveyor of fine delicatessen-style items, so it only makes sense that their line of hummuses follows suit. We know we can trust most any item from this brand to be tasty and good quality.

Why We Picked It:

We love that this flavored hummus is just one more way to enjoy that “everything bagel” flavor--without the bagel! It’s packed with flavorful seeds and is reasonably priced to boot. The ingredients list is respectable and Boar’s Head is a brand with a solid reputation for high quality products.

What We Didn’t Like:

This hummus has the highest level of sodium per serving of all we tested.

Where to Buy: Target, Stop & Shop, Kroger, ShopRite, Albertsons, Safeway, and more

Best Spicy

Cava Spicy Hummus

Overall Rank: 4.6 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 4.5 / 5.0

Cava Spicy Hummus features a flavorful trifecta of nutty chickpeas, sweet tomato paste, and spicy chili pepper rounded out nicely by onion, garlic, and a generous amount of black pepper. It’s not quite as scalding as other spicy options we tested such as Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion, but we liked its uniformly moderate heat level and think it will appeal to a wide range of spice lovers.

Value: 4.3 / 5.0

This option is on the high end of the price scale, as the 8-ounce container cost us $5.00. Though the price point is higher than many of the other hummuses we tested, we do feel that the quality of ingredients and production is in line with the value.

Ingredients: 4.7 / 5.0

The use of organic chickpeas in this hummus is nice to see, as we actually didn’t find as many organic hummuses or ingredients as we thought we would. We also like that this option features the lowest calorie content, at just 50 per serving and is free from saturated fats.

Production: 4.7 / 5.0

Cava actually got its start as a restaurant chain serving high quality yet affordable Mediterranean meals, a concept they carry forth into their packaged goods as well. In their words, Cava hummuses are ”handcrafted daily with inspired ingredients and no artificial preservatives”--who could argue with that!

Why We Picked It:

In addition to the piquant yet approachable heat level on the flavor, we found the combo of sunflower + olive oil results in a super smooth and velvety texture. We also like the use of high quality ingredients like organic chickpeas and thoughtfully sourced olive oil, and the low calorie and fat content. We even tried a swipe of this stuff on our favorite Vegan BLT and are loving it!

What We Didn’t Like:

Cava Hummus is more expensive than most of the other options we evaluated. Also, if your idea of the best spicy hummus means the hottest spicy hummus, keep looking!

Where to Buy: Whole Foods, Giant, Safeway, Acme, and more

Best Sweet

Cedar's Dark Chocolate Hommus

Overall Rank: 4.5 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 4.3 / 5.0

Sweet as opposed to savory flavors are a relatively new development in the hummus market, and we think this Dark Chocolate Hommus option from Cedar’s is poised to give Nutella a run for its money! The color may look intimidatingly rich but rest assured, all of the cocoa flavor is actually nicely balanced by a dash of real vanilla extract, making for a well-rounded chocolate hummus.

We tasted our sample with cinnamon dusted graham crackers, but can also see its mousse-like consistency pairing nicely with juicy strawberries or even spread on a loaf cake.

Value: 4.5 / 5.0

All in all, this is an economical way to get your chocolate fix! The 8-ounce tub ran up our tab by just $4 bucks, which strikes right at the midpoint of our pricing evaluations.

Ingredients: 4.6 / 5.0

As you might have guessed with a sweet treat such as this, the nutrient content is less ideal than other options. In addition to being high in sugars, with 7g per serving, this hummus is also the lowest in protein with just 1 per serving.

Production: 4.7 / 5.0

Cedar’s is a family owned and operated company that in addition to cranking out tons of tasty sounding flavors such as balsamic caramelized onion, smoky chipotle, and roasted eggplant hummuses, also maintains its very own nonprofit initiative!

Why We Picked It:

We weren’t sure how we would feel about the dessert hummus concept, but this Dark Chocolate version from Cedar’s won us over. It has a sweet, chocolatey taste that offers the perfect counterpoint to those nutty chickpeas. The price point is nothing to sneeze at and we feel good patronizing a philanthropic company that manages to continually surprise us with their flavor combinations.

What We Didn’t Like:

Aside from the higher sugar content, our only other note is that this sweet treat is undoubtedly not as versatile as the more savory, more plain options.

Where to Buy: Whole Foods, Walmart, FreshDirect, Kroger, Safeway, and more

Best Topped

Trader Joe's Crunchy Chili Onion Hummus

Overall Rank: 4.6 / 5.0

Taste & Texture: 4.5 / 5.0

Trader Joe’s is taking the chili crunch craze to another level by topping their original hummus recipe with a generous puddle of the hot stuff! The spicy red pepper flavor is complemented by smoky cumin, and we absolutely adore the textural addition of the crunchy, toasted onion bits.

As for the hummus itself, the consistency is a bit thick and sticky, and we struggled to dip and swirl our snacks as easily as we did in the creamier options like Tribe.

Value: 5.0 / 5.0

This option came in as one of the most affordable, with each 10-ounce tub costing just $4.00. For such a special item, we think this is a solid deal!

Ingredients: 4.5 / 5.0

This ingredients list is on the longer side, but we feel good about the fact that most of the components are flavorings like dried onions and crushed red chili peppers. This hummus does contain guar gum, which may be a contributing factor to its textural issues.

This hummus is sugar-free, but unfortunately one of the highest calorie options with 80 per serving.

Production: 4.5 / 5.0

We appreciate that they opted to manufacture this one as two separate components, where the spicy topping is concentrated in the middle of the dip--thereby allowing you to adjust the amount of heat you want in each bite.

As is the case with Trader Joe’s products of course, this stuff is only available at one of their trading posts so you’ll need to have one in your area in order to get your hands on some!

Why We Picked It:

The spicy, smoky flavor of this hummus combined with the crispy texture brought on by those crunchy onion bits is a seriously winning combo. This option is at a good price point--especially when you consider how unique it is--and we love that the separate topping allows you to tailor the spice level to your tastes.

What We Didn’t Like:

The texture is a bit gummy--not the best for dipping veggie sticks or fragile chips. Also, this hummus is on the higher end of calorie content and not as readily available as other brands like Cedar’s and Sabra.

Where to Buy: Trader Joe’s

Best Specialty