Copycat California Pizza Kitchen Tuscan Hummus Recipe

This Tuscan hummus from California Pizza Kitchen was one of those things I ordered once and immediately started thinking about on the drive home. White beans instead of chickpeas, a heap of garlic, soy sauce doing something quietly clever in the background — it’s a little unexpected and really good.

I’ve been making my own version since 2014 and this is the one that stuck.

If you’ve never made hummus from scratch, this is a solid place to start. The method is genuinely easy — beans in a food processor, build the flavor layer by layer, taste and adjust.

You’ll have it ready in about 15 minutes and it gets better as it sits.

Why This Dip Is So Reliable

• Cannellini beans instead of chickpeas — they blend to a smoother, creamier texture and have a milder flavor that lets the garlic and tahini come through clearly
• Soy sauce is the surprise ingredient — it adds a quiet umami depth that rounds out the acidity from the lemon juice without tasting Asian at all
• Heavy on the garlic — 8 cloves sounds like a lot, and it is; that’s the point and it’s what makes this taste like CPK’s version rather than a plain white bean dip
• Olive oil blended in, not just drizzled — incorporating it into the mixture makes the texture silky rather than oily on top
• Cumin and cayenne together — the cumin adds warmth and the cayenne adds a gentle heat that you notice at the back of your throat, not on your lips
• It improves overnight — this is genuinely better the next day; the garlic mellows slightly and everything melds together

What to Know Before You Start

A few things worth knowing before you pull out the food processor:

Cannellini beans, not chickpeas. This is a Tuscan-style hummus, so it uses white cannellini beans.

You can find them canned at most grocery stores — look for white kidney beans or Great Northern beans if your store doesn’t label them as cannellini specifically. They’re interchangeable here.

Tahini matters. Tahini is sesame paste, and the quality varies a lot between brands.

Some brands are bitter, some are smooth and mild. I’ve used several different tahini brands over the years and the better quality ones make a noticeable difference.

It’s a bit of an investment but a jar lasts a long time — you’ll use it again.

Jarred minced garlic works fine. I use the kind that comes in a jar and have never felt like I was missing anything.

Fresh is slightly brighter but this is a blended dip — the difference is minimal. Use what you have.

The food processor is non-negotiable. A blender can work in a pinch, but you’ll need to stop and scrape the sides more often and the texture won’t be quite as smooth.

A food processor gives you more control. I’ve had a Hamilton Beach food processor for years and it handles this recipe without any trouble.

Taste before you refrigerate, not after. Chilling dulls salt and spice slightly, so what tastes just right at room temperature will taste slightly flat cold.

Season a touch more assertively than you think you need to.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need and why each ingredient is in here:

For the Hummus

• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained — the base of everything; rinse them well to remove the starchy canning liquid
• 8 cloves garlic, minced — the flavor backbone; don’t reduce it unless you have a strong aversion to garlic
• 1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste) — adds richness and the distinctive nutty undercurrent; use a quality brand
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice — cuts through the richness and brightens everything; bottled works but fresh is noticeably better here
• 1/4 cup olive oil — blended in to create smooth, emulsified texture
• 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce — the unexpected ingredient; adds depth and a slight savory note without any discernible soy flavor
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt — season to taste, this is the starting point
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin — earthy and warm; a classic hummus flavor
• Pinch of ground coriander — subtle citrusy note that plays well with lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper — mild heat; reduce to 1/4 tsp if you’re heat-sensitive

For Serving

• 6 pita breads — baked until warm and lightly crispy, cut into wedges
• Fresh basil, chopped — for the garnish; this is what makes it Tuscan
• Fresh tomatoes, diced — adds color and freshness on top
• Extra minced garlic — optional on top for garnish if you want it more pronounced

How to Make It

The process is straightforward — the key is adding ingredients in stages so the processor can fully incorporate each one.

Step 1: Process the beans and garlic

Add both cans of rinsed cannellini beans and the minced garlic to your food processor. Pulse several times, then run it for about 30 seconds until the beans are coarsely ground and the garlic is fully incorporated.

Stop and scrape the sides down. The mixture should look crumbly and pale — not smooth yet, that’s fine.

Step 2: Add the tahini

Add the tahini and run the processor for another 30–45 seconds. The mixture will start to come together and look more paste-like.

Scrape the sides again. At this point it will be thick and a little rough — that’s where you want it before adding the liquids.

Step 3: Add liquids slowly

With the processor running, slowly pour in the lemon juice, then the olive oil, then the soy sauce. Running it while you add them helps emulsify everything — the texture goes from chunky to noticeably smoother and more cohesive as the liquids incorporate.

Stop to scrape the sides at least once during this step.

Step 4: Season

Add the salt, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. Run the processor for another 30 seconds, then stop and taste.

This is the moment to adjust — does it need more lemon? More salt?

More heat? The cayenne builds a little, so don’t overdo it, but make sure you can taste all the flavors before you refrigerate it.

Step 5: Refrigerate

Transfer to a bowl or airtight container and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Two to four hours is better.

Overnight is best — the garlic mellows from sharp and aggressive to something rounder, and all the flavors blend together in a way that just doesn’t happen at room temperature.

Step 6: Prep the pitas

When you’re ready to serve, preheat your oven to 250°F. Lay the pitas on a baking sheet and bake for 8–10 minutes until warm.

If you want them lightly crispy — which I prefer — leave them in a few minutes longer or use the broiler on low for the last two minutes. Cut each pita into 8 wedges.

Serve the hummus in a bowl with the pita wedges alongside, garnished with fresh basil, diced tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil if you like.

Helpful Tips

Use cold beans straight from the can

Room temperature or slightly cold beans process better than warm ones. If your beans have been sitting in a warm pantry, that’s fine, but don’t heat them before processing — the texture gets gluey.

Scrape the sides more than you think you need to

Food processors leave pockets of unblended ingredients around the edges and under the blade. Stopping to scrape two or three times during the process makes a real difference in the final texture.

Don’t skip this.

Start with less cayenne if you’re unsure

Half a teaspoon builds mild heat — enough to notice, not enough to be uncomfortable for most people. But heat is personal.

Start with 1/4 teaspoon, taste, add more if you want it. You can always add more; you can’t take it back out.

The soy sauce amount is not a typo

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce in a white bean hummus sounds wrong, but it’s not. You won’t taste soy sauce — you’ll taste something richer and more rounded than you’d get without it.

It’s doing the same job as a tiny bit of anchovy paste would in a Caesar dressing: invisible but missed if you left it out.

Drizzle olive oil on top before serving

A thin drizzle of good olive oil over the top right before serving makes it look finished and adds a pleasant richness at the surface. A sprinkle of smoked paprika or a few whole cannellini beans as garnish also work well if you’re serving it to guests.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. The surface may dry slightly — just stir it before serving or add a tiny drizzle of olive oil and stir it in.

Make-ahead: This is one of the best make-ahead appetizers because it genuinely improves with time. Make it the night before and refrigerate overnight.

The next day it will be noticeably better than the day you made it.

Freezer: Hummus freezes reasonably well for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and stir well before serving.

The texture may be slightly grainier after freezing — give it an extra stir or a brief run in the food processor to bring it back together.

Pitas: Baked pita wedges are best fresh. If you have leftovers, store them in an open bag at room temperature and reheat in the oven at 300°F for 5 minutes to crisp them back up.

Variations

Roasted garlic version

If the raw garlic is too aggressive for you, roast a whole head of garlic (slice the top off, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, roast at 400°F for 40 minutes) and use the squeezed-out cloves instead of raw. The flavor is sweeter, mellower, and less sharp.

You’d use the full head — roughly 8–10 cloves — same as the original.

Extra lemon

Some people prefer their hummus noticeably bright and acidic. Add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice and taste.

You can also add a little lemon zest for a more floral lemon flavor without adding more liquid.

Smoky version

Swap the regular cumin for smoked cumin (or add 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika on top of the regular cumin amount). Garnish with additional smoked paprika and it takes the dip in a more Spanish direction while keeping the same basic flavor profile.

Serve with vegetables instead of pita

This works well as a vegetable dip too — cucumbers, bell pepper strips, celery, and carrots are all good options. The flavor is robust enough to stand up to raw vegetables without getting lost.

Equipment Worth Having

You don’t need anything special, but two items make this recipe easier:

• A food processor with at least an 8-cup capacity — this recipe fills a smaller processor close to the brim, which makes it hard to add liquids without splashing. An 8-cup or larger bowl gives you room to work.
• Good tahini — it’s one of the primary flavors in this dip and the quality matters more than most people expect. Look for brands where sesame seeds are the only ingredient.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use chickpeas instead of cannellini beans?

You can, and it’ll taste good — but it won’t taste like CPK’s Tuscan hummus anymore. Chickpeas have a more pronounced earthy flavor and a slightly grainier texture than cannellini beans.

The white beans are what makes this dip lighter and smoother. If chickpeas are what you have, go for it, but don’t expect the same result.

Why does my hummus taste flat even though I followed the recipe?

Usually it’s one of three things: not enough salt, not enough lemon, or it was tasted cold. Chilling dulls flavors — always taste the hummus at room temperature before refrigerating and season accordingly.

If it still tastes flat after that, add more lemon juice a teaspoon at a time until it brightens up.

Can I make this without tahini?

Technically yes, but the result will be noticeably different. Tahini is what gives hummus its characteristic nutty richness.

Without it you’ll have a seasoned white bean dip — still good, but it won’t taste like hummus. Some people substitute sunflower seed butter or cashew butter, which gives you a similar fat content and creaminess, though the flavor is different.

How do I know when it’s blended enough?

Run a spoon through it — if you see chunks of bean or fibrous bits, keep going. The texture should be smooth and slightly glossy when it’s done.

Some texture is fine if you prefer a rustic dip, but the smoother you get it, the more it resembles the restaurant version.

What can I do if my hummus is too thick?

Add water, one tablespoon at a time, with the processor running. Ice water is particularly good for this — it keeps the temperature down and produces a very smooth, light result.

Add a little olive oil as well if the texture seems dry rather than just thick.

Can I serve this warm?

It’s typically served cold or at room temperature, but warm hummus is actually a thing in Middle Eastern cooking. Transfer it to a small skillet over low heat and stir until just warmed through, then serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil.

It changes the character of the dish — less structured, more scoopable — and some people strongly prefer it that way.

Related Recipes

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• Easy Bruschetta Recipe — fresh tomatoes and basil on toasted bread, a simple appetizer that never misses
• Spinach and Artichoke Dip — the crowd-pleaser that belongs at every get-together