What is the main ingredient in the Middle Eastern spread hummus?

The main ingredient in the Middle Eastern spread hummus is chickpeas.

Traditional hummus is made by cooking and puréeing chickpeas, then blending them with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Olive oil, parsley, paprika, or whole chickpeas are often added as garnishes. Tahini is essential to the classic flavor, but chickpeas provide the dish’s bulk and defining identity.

Hummus is especially associated with Levantine and Egyptian cuisines and is commonly served as part of a meze or with pita bread. The Arabic word hummus itself means “chickpeas,” while the fuller name hummus bi tahini means chickpeas with tahini.

Recipes resembling modern hummus appear in medieval Middle Eastern cookbooks. A 13th-century Syrian recipe included chickpeas, lemon, sesame, and olive oil, although it omitted garlic. Hummus is sometimes confused with ful medames, a fava-bean dish, or baba ghanoush, which is based on eggplant.