I’m pretty convinced that homemade hummus is always one of the most popular items you can bring to a potluck party. It’s delicious, goes well with a million and one dipping items and is reasonably healthy. No matter how much I seem to bring, it’s always gone by the end of the night no matter how much or what kind of other food is there. And, perhaps even best of all, it’s REALLY cheap to make large quantities of. For example, I recently made enough for about 20 people and here’s the hummus recipe and how the costs broke down:
1/3 bag dried chickpeas: $1.50
A couple tablespoons of Tahini Paste: $0.50
A few tablespoons of olive oil: $0.25
A few tablespoons of lemon juice: $0.25
Salt + Cumin: Free-ish!
A few cloves fresh garlic: $0.25
Total cost for hummus for 20 is $2.75
Dipping items
If you want to go really frugal, you can make a loaf of homemade bread which costs less than $1.00. Or, I usually do some veggie sticks so that people can have some healthy options. For 20 people, I’d make the following:
3 carrots: $1.50
3 cucumbers: 1.50
Celery: $1.50
The total cost for dipping items is $4.50 and then combined with the $2.75 for the hummus, it’s only $7.25. Plus, I’ve been known to break into the “stash” for a quick lunch even before I go to the party, so the cost would be even less.