Dreamy Homemade Tahini Sauce
Tahini is a sesame paste used as a seasoning in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. It’s made from raw ground sesame seeds and can be eaten on its own or used in sauces, dips, and dressings.
Tahini sauce is one of the most versatile sauces to have in your kitchen. It can be used as a dip, dressing, sandwich spread, pizza base, or marinade for meats.
It has a strong nutty flavor that works well with seafood, chicken, and vegetables.
What is Tahini?
Tahini is the Arabic word for sesame seed paste. It is a thick, dark-brown paste from the ground and toasted sesame seeds. It is used in Middle Eastern cuisine.
It has a nutty, buttery flavor that goes great with fruits and vegetables. Tahini is also known as tahina, sujuk, or sesame butter.
Tahini can be used as an ingredient in salad dressings, dips, hummus, and other recipes.
Because of its high omega-6 fatty acid content, tahini should be consumed in moderation.
One thing to note: Not all tahinis are created equal!
Some brands add sugar or other unnecessary ingredients to the mix. Avoid these if possible. If you do come across one with added things, just don’t use it!
How to Make Homemade Tahini Sauce:
We start with very finely chopped garlic. To do this, we cut a garlic clove into small pieces, sprinkled it with a pinch of coarse salt, and then used the flat side of our knife to drag it over the garlic, scraping it across the surface of the cutting board.
Do this a couple of times until it looks like a paste. Now we have the garlic. The sauce is smooth from here.
Add tahini (we have a homemade tahini recipe, but you can also use store-bought).
Then add fresh lemon juice. Squeezing it over your hand helps catch any seeds. Add some olive oil and a pinch of salt and whisk.
In goes some warm water. Here’s where the magic happens. At first, it ceases up a bit. Don’t worry. That means we need to add a little more water.
Now it’s looking more like peanut butter. This would be a good time to stop if you plan on spreading the sauce onto something like bread. We like it thinner, so it goes with more water.
Once you’ve reached the right consistency, you can add a few more flavors.
We like adding some fresh parsley, cumin, and cayenne pepper, And that’s it.
Your dreamy, creamy tahini sauce is ready for just about anything! Enjoy.
PrintTAHINI SAUCE RECIPE
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
This easy tahini sauce recipe with garlic and fresh lemon juice is delicious and versatile! drizzle on your salads, grilled veggies and more.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) well-stirred tahini, try our tahini recipe
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon
- 1 garlic clove minced very finely into a paste or use a Microplane, see note
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 to 6 tablespoons lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, optional
- Pinch cayenne, optional
- Pinch cumin, optional
Instructions
- Whisk tahini, garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil and the salt in a bowl until combined — the mixture will thicken, don’t worry about this.
- Add the water, a tablespoon at a time and whisking well after each addition until desired consistency. If making a spread, look for the consistency of peanut butter. If making a sauce, add enough water until the consistency of runny yogurt.
- Stir in the optional cumin, cayenne pepper, and parsley. Taste for seasoning and adjust with additional salt or lemon juice.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Sauces
- Cuisine: middle eastern
Nutrition
- Calories: 78
Keywords: How to Make Tahini Sauce