Tahini Dressing

Crucial to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines, tahini—a paste made from sesame seeds—is similar to peanut butter but earthier. At its best, tahini is silky, nutty and totally delicious. It stars in baba ganoush our best hummus, and this multipurpose tahini dressing.

My favorite everyday use of tahini is in a tahini salad dressing. Punchy with lemon and garlic and creamy from the sesame paste, it’s good on everything from crunchy green salads to falafel sandwiches. It’s versatile and tasty, truly one of the best homemade salad dressing recipes.

Various brands of tahini taste pretty different. Some are extra toasty, others mild, and some have a hint of bitterness. Try sampling a few until you find your favorite! Store tahini in a cool, dark place to prevent oxidation, and if you don’t plan to use all it within a few weeks, pop it into the fridge.

Ingredients for Tahini Dressing

• Tahini: Nutty and smooth, tahini is an essential ingredient for dishes from many countries that border the Mediterranean. I often find it in the “world cuisines” aisle at the grocery store, although sometimes it’s kept near the peanut butter. If you can’t find it, make your own!
• Lemon juice: If you can, squeeze it fresh. If you have a citrus reamer or press, use that, but if not, check out our favorite hack to juice a lemon.
• Garlic: The combo of tahini, garlic and lemon is a classic base for many recipes, including dips like this roasted red pepper hummus. Use medium-size garlic cloves, or adjust the number accordingly.
• Cumin: Cumin, a type of spice from the carrot and celery family, amplifies the earthiness of the tahini salad dressing. If you want to get fancy, lightly toast the cumin in a dry pan before adding it to the blender.
• Salt: There are many types of salt, all of which have different uses. I like using sea salt in my salad dressings, but regular table salt works fine.
• Cayenne pepper: For a hint of spice, use clean, hot-tasting cayenne pepper, or change it up with your favorite type of chili powder. You could also add a dash or two of homemade hot sauce. How hot is cayenne pepper? Check out our guide to peppers for a full rundown.
• Black pepper: Just a few grinds of black pepper are needed to add zing to this dressing. If you’re considering substituting green or pink peppercorns, go for it.

Directions

Step 1: Combine all ingredients

Place the water, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper in a blender.

Step 2: Blend the dressing

Cover and process until thoroughly blended.

Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a blender, you could make this dressing in a food processor or with an immersion blender, but know that the texture might not be as smooth. Once blended, taste the dressing for seasoning, and adjust the spices, lemon juice and garlic levels as needed.

Taste Recipes

Recipe Variations

• Add maple syrup: To sweeten the dressing, add maple syrup to taste. It balances the lemon, garlic and savory tahini paste.
• Add roasted carrot: Blending some roasted carrot into the dressing will also sweeten it, and the carrot flavor complements the cumin, lemon and garlic.
• Add more spices: Plenty of spices could be added to a tahini dressing recipe to make it richer and more complex. Try paprika or smoked paprika, coriander, dried thyme and sumac.
• Try fresh herbs: If you have a window box of herbs or some bunches from the store, try adding them to the dressing. Thyme is a good flavor complement to tahini dressing; use fresh or dried thyme. Parsley is a natural fit in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, and dill or cilantro would work well, too.
• Squeeze in some orange: Lemon juice is important for tartness, but you could add some orange or blood orange juice for additional depth. Zesting lemons (and oranges) before squeezing them and adding the zest to the blender would be a great move, too.

How to Store Tahini Dressing

Keep tahini dressing in a screw-top glass jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator. Use it within a week.

Tahini Dressing Tips

Taste Recipes

What if my tahini dressing is too thick?

If your tahini dressing is too thick, add more water (a little at a time) to loosen it up. Tahini can sometimes seize up, but keep blending or whisking until the dressing is smooth and reaches the desired consistency.

How can you use tahini dressing?

Tahini dressing is good for entrees, sandwiches, sides and salads, especially in Greek recipes and North African and Middle Eastern dishes. Drizzle it over roasted or grilled meat, fish or vegetables (carrots, cauliflower and eggplant are perfect pairings), put it on pretty much anything that includes chickpeas or white beans, or mix it into mayo and use it as a sandwich spread. You could also dab a little on a homemade gyro alongside the tzatziki.

What else can you do with tahini?

Tahini is good in both savory and sweet dishes. It is used in halva, a decadent sesame dessert. One of the most fantastic restaurant desserts I’ve had in years was tahini ice cream with dates. You can also add tahini to brownies or cookies, dollop it into smoothies, or use it as a topping on yogurt honey fruit cups, along with crushed pistachios, rose petals and some honey.