This Is the Best Store-Bought Hummus on the Market — and It’s Good for the Planet

Chefs Nick Wiseman and Ronen Tenne became friends while working together at Alto, an Italian restaurant in New York City. Whenever Tenne was in charge of family meals, he’d make a batch of hummus. His simple but delicious recipe — chickpeas, high-quality tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice — would go on to disrupt the $4 billion hummus industry.

In 2018, Wiseman and Tenne made that hummus the centerpiece of Little Sesame, a fast-casual restaurant in Washington, D.C. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they pivoted to packaging and selling the hummus; it was such a hit that within a year, Little Sesame was available at 14 Whole Foods Market locations. Today, you can pick up a tub at nearly 2,500 stores nationwide, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Wegmans, Foxtrot, Erewhon, and more. Once you do, it’s easy to understand its appeal. 

Little Sesame hummus is smooth and velvety, with a nutty, rich sesame flavor and bright, zingy lemon notes — F&W editors unanimously agreed that it’s the best store-bought hummus we’ve ever tasted. Wiseman and Tenne went to great lengths to create it. When they were first getting started, every packaging company that they approached told them they would have to include preservatives to have a product with any shelf life. 

“Copackers couldn’t do the real juiced lemons,” says Tenne. “But we found that by adding enough acidity, balancing it with oil, and being specific with the way it’s layered, we could make a product that didn’t require preservatives.” Instead of changing the recipe, the company built its own manufacturing facility, where they spin the hummus in small batches, employing high-pressure processing, which doesn’t denature the lemon’s acidity. “It’s the same way cold-pressed juice is made,” says Wiseman. 

Little Sesame’s innovation extends to the fields where the company’s chickpeas grow. From the beginning, Wiseman and Tenne have worked with Montana-based regenerative farmer Casey Bailey, who grows chickpeas and other nitrogen-fixing crops to rebuild soil health between wheat harvests; what started as a 50-pound order of chickpeas is now up to 50,000 pounds per month.

In April 2024, Little Sesame was awarded $2 million by the Department of Agriculture to grow its operations and fund 10 more organic chickpea farmers. When it comes to farming on the Great Plains, Little Sesame is making a big impact. “Food is a powerful tool,” says Wiseman. “We can change the food system.”