The Best And Worst Hummus To Buy At The Grocery Store, Ranked

It's incredible how many different varieties of hummus are available in the supermarket these days. For a simple dip traditionally consisting of processed chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, a little salt, and maybe a dash of cumin, some of these store-bought hummus varieties are downright adventurous; you'll find everything from chocolate to dill pickle. Even a seemingly straightforward purchase like classic hummus can become complicated by the sheer number of brands and minor variations available.

As a hummus fan, I wanted to know which of the many flavors staring me down in my local grocery stores' hummus aisles are worth a purchase. When it comes to plain hummus, I wanted to know not only how they compare to my homemade version in terms of flavor, texture, and price, but also which of them is the best. To answer these questions, I tried out nine savory non-standard flavors and three classic hummus offerings from the top brands — a delicious and enlightening experiment with some interesting results.

Fresh Cravings, part of FoodStory Brands, is a family-owned company that specializes in salsas and other dips. If you shop at Walmart, Publix, Kroger, or one of the many other retailers that carry Fresh Cravings, you may have seen some or all of the 12 hummus varieties in the brand's collection. It offers some intriguing flavors that I couldn't wait to try, one of which was dill pickle.

Fresh Cravings is one of the only two brands on this list that uses extra virgin olive oil in its hummus, but that doesn't mean the brand is pricier — the olive oil is the last ingredient in an oil blend that also consists of cheaper neutral oils. My 10-ounce tub of dill pickle hummus was $3.74, making it a low-mid-range option in terms of cost.

I appreciate the idea behind this dill pickle hummus, but it tasted like yellow potato salad to me, and I am not a fan of that particular flavor profile. I found this too vinegary and wish the dill stood out more. Although I didn't enjoy this hummus flavor, the texture was creamy enough, and you'll love this if you like yellow potato salad full of tangy vinegar and dill pickles. I can see this being a good spread on a sandwich, too.

Sabra mostly focuses its efforts on hummus, but it also produces a few well-rated guacamoles. Like Fresh Cravings, Sabra hummus comes in a wide variety of flavors, from classic to barbecue or Buffalo flavored. Along with a few other flavors from this brand, the classic hummus intrigued me. It's very highly rated online, and Sabra proudly states on the lid that it's been the #1 hummus brand in America for over 10 years.

The ingredients list reveals a simple lineup that includes mostly recognizable ingredients aside from potassium sorbate, which is used to inhibit the growth of mold and bacteria. In terms of oil, this hummus includes only the neutrally flavored soybean oil. Without the use of pricier components, I was curious why this 10-ounce container goes for $4.99 at Harris Teeter, a bit pricier than the Fresh Cravings option.

The Sabra Classic Hummus had a nice texture, creamy and thick, but a very strong bitter flavor with a tinge of sourness. That bitter flavor is a common complaint of consumers who don't enjoy Sabra's hummus, and sadly, I'm one of them. That said, this is a wildly popular product that has made a lot of people love hummus, and I like that. As polarizing as its flavor is, it's worth a try to see what side of the line your taste buds stand on.

Sabra, we meet again. I typically love pine nuts and was curious to see how Sabra makes them work in this hummus, which I also picked up for $4.99 at Harris Teeter. The ingredients list for this flavor is slightly longer than that of the classic variety, of course, but there was a surprise in the inclusion of red bell pepper.

Alas, the Sabra pine nut hummus features the same strong, bitter flavor shared by the classic hummus, though the spices and red bell pepper temper it a little. Loving pine nuts, I'd hoped their nuttiness would provide a little salvation, but it's hiding behind everything else going on here. The hummus does share that nice creaminess of the classic variety, though, and the pine nuts add a pleasant, complementary texture when you bite through them. Ultimately, I didn't love this pick, but its intense flavor could be worth a try if you already love Sabra's flavor profile and don't want full-on red pepper hummus for whatever reason.

Simple Truth is a Kroger brand that is also available at Kroger-owned Harris Teeter, where I picked up my 8-ounce container of organic original hummus for $2.99. Simple Truth's business model involves providing affordable organic and non-GMO options, and I'd say the brand succeeded with this particular product. Considering that the unit price for this dip is $0.374 per ounce — the same per-unit cost as the 10-ounce Fresh Cravings hummus varieties — this is a good option for an organic-seeking consumer on a budget.

This classic hummus contains the typical ingredient lineup with no surprises. The oil is canola — no extra-virgin olive oil here — perhaps a fair tradeoff to keep the price low for a budget organic product.

I found this hummus to have a fairly smooth texture on the tongue and a much more pleasant flavor than Sabra's version. It starts off almost sweet (though there's only 1 gram of sugar), but it fades to more predictable notes with no bitterness and just a hint of lemon. This would be a nice base if you wanted to mix in toppings, like your own extra-virgin olive oil or herbs. On its own, it's a perfectly respectable plain hummus.

If you regularly shop at Walmart, you've undoubtedly noticed products bearing the Marketside label, the big-box giant's private brand for baked goods like breads, and produce and other fresh items like salad mixes. The Marketside hummus selection at my store features seven varieties priced at $2.87 for 28 grams (just under 10 ounces). That means this hummus takes the ribbon for lowest price among its 11 companions on this list. But how does it fare in terms of flavor, texture, and ingredients?

Understandably, the ingredients list contains a number of components that provide the "olive tapenade" (a French olive spread) take: green, black, and Kalamata olives, capers, and Kalamata flavor. The main oil in this hummus is sunflower, but there's also extra virgin olive oil — a pleasant surprise for this budget brand, though I can't say the difference was noticeable on my taste buds.

Still, I found the Marketside Olive Tapenade Hummus to have a good flavor — no bitterness — and a fairly creamy consistency before its toppings are mixed in. Once mixed, the olives and capers take the spotlight, so if you don't like the umami-rich, tangy sourness of these ingredients, you won't like this. I do enjoy them, and though this hummus didn't knock my socks off, I found it to be a pretty tasty offering.

Private Selection is a Kroger brand aimed at providing gourmet-leaning upscale flavors and products. The brand provides everything from pasta to chips to a small selection of hummus varieties, and one of these piqued my interest at first sight for its appetizing toppings. The "traditional" hummus, which goes for $3.49 for a 10-ounce container, is adorned with whole chickpeas, toasted sesame seeds, and an unspecified array of spices — not a classic hummus, in other words. On a less appetizing note, the container also contains a thin layer of oil (canola in this case) at the bottom that begs to be mixed in before serving.

This hummus is bursting with flavor and has a pleasant enough texture once mixed, but compared to some of the higher-ranked products on this list, I wouldn't describe it as incredible. Perhaps if its existing flavor profile included olive oil, the gap to amazing would be bridged. Without that, it's still a tasty selection, the kind of dip that could please palates, whether it's embellishing a crunchy air fryer baby carrot or spread on a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.

Compared to the two other classic hummus varieties I sampled for this ranking, this one, produced by Fresh Cravings, was the winner both in terms of flavor and value for money. All were fairly equal in terms of texture. For $3.74, you get 10 ounces of a pretty flavorful plain hummus that would serve equally well as a dip, spread, or blank surface on which to try your own toppings or oils.

My primary question was if the extra-virgin olive oil would stand out in this plain hummus since there were no toppings to rob it of its power. For me, the answer was no; I didn't notice the olive oil's presence. That said, this was an enjoyable classic hummus. It has its own personality — beany and a hint of garlicky — without the strong, sourish note that hangs over the Sabra hummus. And if you don't mind it not being organic, its flavor was more distinctive than Simple Truth's. In all, this is a dependable hummus that would be a good introduction to the dip for the uninitiated — if homemade isn't on hand, that is.

Boar's Head is most famous for deli meats, but the company also produces condiments, cheeses, and hummus among other spreads and dips. I paid $4.99 for my 10-ounce everything bagel hummus, which contains both sunflower and olive oil in addition to the "everything" seasoning, organic sugar, sesame oil, garlic, standard hummus components, and guar gum (a thickener).

The texture of this hummus was thick and creamy, and the flavor also delivered. At first taste, I was surprised to perceive mostly sweetness, but that faded and gave way to a light burst of sesame seed. Overall, I enjoyed this just fine but would have preferred a stronger flavor of everything bagel. For this price, the second most expensive on the list, I'd buy one of the other Boar's Head flavored hummus varieties over this one, but I would gladly eat it if it was offered to me; it's a solid middle rating.

Ithaca is a company that focuses on hummus and salsa, and out of the brand's 12 flavors of hummus, lemon dill is one of the most popular, according to the company website. I noticed right off that the brand keeps the number of components in its products comparatively low and simple. With no thickeners like guar gum or preservatives like potassium benzoate, the labels of the hummus varieties read like a recipe ingredients list, minus the ratios. This wasn't a huge concern of mine, but if it is for you, the brand is worth your attention despite the cost: I got my 10-ounce lemon dill hummus at Harris Teeter for $5.99, making it the priciest hummus I reviewed.

That said, the texture is nice — generally creamy with a slight graininess from the dill — and the flavor is amazing. The dip is very lemon and dill-heavy, as you might expect from the name, so if you're on the fence about these flavors or don't enjoy them, you won't be able to overlook them in this variety. There's a je ne sais quoi quality to this hummus; I can't pinpoint precisely what makes it so good. Would it be the cold-pressed lemon juice or the expeller-pressed high-oleic sunflower oil? Whatever it is, it works. 

This hummus excels both as a dip with vegetables or spread on a sandwich or omelet. It would also be amazing as a dollop of herby goodness on top of a salmon avocado poke bowl. The price is the only thing that kept it out of my top three. It's delicious, but it's not the only delicious store-bought hummus out there.

Remembering the nice consistency and taste of the Boar's Head Everything Bagel Hummus, I was eager to see how the brand's sweet chili garlic variety panned out, especially in terms of a more intense, satisfying flavor. The ingredients featured a few newbies in my hummus-sampling adventure: the inevitable chili pepper, aged red peppers, maltodextrin (more on that later), and oleoresin paprika. The latter appears to be the source of the hummus's intriguing color, a cheery orange-red that promises the coming of yum.

Happily, the hummus delivered on that promise. In addition to the expected creamy texture, I found its swicy (sweet and spicy) notes refreshing and new. The spice level itself is a medium-low to my taste buds, a pleasant kick that doesn't overwhelm accompanying foods. Very spice-sensitive palates may find this too hot, and spice-lovers may wish it had more fire, but if you're in the middle and want something beyond plain hummus, this would be a great one to try.

This product's flavor puts it in the top three, but the inclusion of maltodextrin doesn't allow it to go higher for me. Maltodextrin is a food additive derived from starch, and it's often used to thicken or sweeten processed foods. Some people are advised to limit it for health reasons, while others have no need to do so. If you're in the latter camp, this hummus just might be your number one. As for me, I'll be limiting this one, but its piquant flavors have inspired me to try making my own sweet chili garlic hummus, maybe even swapping out the chickpeas for Southwest-leaning black beans.

To my delight, the sweet-and-spicy blend that I enjoyed so much in the Boar's Head Sweet Chili Garlic Hummus appeared once again in this honey jalapeño product by Fresh Cravings, this time minus any not-for-me additives. The price for 10 ounces was also a tad friendlier than the Boar's Head – $3.74 versus $4.99. There's also extra-virgin olive oil, if only a little; this hummus checks a lot of boxes.

This variety is topped with diced jalapeños encircling the periphery of the container. I purposely scooped up a good quantity of them for my first bite, making it a bit spicier than the Boar's Head Sweet Chili Garlic. For my second taste, I scooped up some of the unadorned hummus and found it still flavorful with just a tingle of heat. With the jalapeños properly mixed, the sweet-to-spicy ratio was divine. This customizable hummus was great with carrots and cucumbers, and it would be incredible spread on a breakfast burrito.

Fresh Cravings appears for a final time on this list, taking first place with its roasted red pepper hummus. The price is right ($3.74 for 10 ounces), the texture is smooth, and the flavor is on point, with a distinctiveness that isn't so niche that it couldn't work in a variety of culinary applications.

First off, the oil: Like the other Fresh Cravings varieties that I reviewed, this roasted red pepper flavor is made with a blend of oils that contains extra virgin olive. Though its flavor isn't readily apparent, I appreciate the inclusion for the potential health benefits. But what really gives this hummus its edge is the flavor. Zesty with a bit of smokiness and a mild kick, it's a testament to the potential of fusion foods. What is typically a Mediterranean classic becomes a Southwestern star with a blend of peppers that includes red bell, guajillo, and Japones chiles. (In fact, going by the order of the ingredients list, there actually appears to be more peppers than tahini in it!)

After my initial taste tests, I used this hummus as a mix-in for scrambled eggs, an uber-thick dressing for a simple salad, a spread on a smoked Gouda grilled cheese (incredible), and even dipped popcorn in it. It added a smoky depth to each dish without trying to make itself the star, and for that, it's my top pick.

This hummus selection was designed to obtain a good variety; I wanted at least one of all the main variations I see at supermarkets so that readers would have an idea whether to stick with the classic or try one of the more adventurous flavors (and in that case, which ones to go for). The brands I chose were the ones I see at my main grocery stores, Walmart Supercenter and Harris Teeter. I taste-tested all of these hummus varieties both on their own and with a carrot dipped into them. I then revisited each one several times as I organized my impressions. The classic hummus varieties, in particular, had to be differentiated, so their repeat taste sessions saw them pitted side by side, with lemon water as a palate cleanser.

My rankings are based on the flavor and texture of the hummus, price, and ingredients used (including the oil, to a degree). A well-rated hummus for this review is one that provides good value for money. It not only tastes great but would also integrate seamlessly with other foods (since we rarely eat hummus alone). The ideal texture was creamy and well-emulsified with no wateriness or graininess.

Traditional homemade hummus is made with extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil, which imparts an iconic flavor. Many store-bought hummus brands omit this and use canola or other cheaper neutral oils instead. Since this is almost universal, brands were not ranked down for not including olive oil, but, if all else was equal, a hummus with olive oil might be ranked over one without it.