A few days ago, my husband and I made a batch of fresh tahini sauce. For those of you who aren’t familiar with tahini, it’s a dense paste made from crushed sesame seeds. Tahini sauce is a mixture of tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and oil. The sauce is used as a condiment to accompany Sephardic Jewish dishes like hummus, falafel, and babaganoush. It can also be served alongside a kosher meat meal; it’s a pareve alternative to cream sauce.
Middle Eastern stores sell pre-mixed tahini sauce, but my husband swears by making it from scratch. I do notice a big difference between store-bought tahini sauce and homemade– the flavor of homemade is fresher, creamier, and more delicate. He walked me through the process, step by step, just like his mother used to make it when he was a child in Ramat Gan, Israel.
While I would love to give you the definitive tahini sauce recipe, making it properly is a bit of an art form. It’s best learned in the kitchen beside somebody who’s been making it their whole life. I have included the basic process and ingredient measurements here, but bear in mind that each batch of tahini sauce is different. Ingredients must be added slowly, and the cook should keep a close eye on consistency and flavor throughout the process.
Once prepared, this recipe can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. This sauce is gluten free, vegan, healthy and tasty. Enjoy!
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Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup tahini sesame seed paste (made from light colored seeds)
- 3/4 cup water, or more for consistency
- 3 cloves raw garlic (or 5 cloves roasted garlic)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
- 1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
- 2 tsp fresh parsley, minced (optional)
- Grind tahini paste, water, lemon juice and garlic together in a food processor or blender till sauce is creamy and ivory-colored. Pause blending and use a long-handled spoon to break up the thick part of the sauce once every 30 seconds; this will keep it from clogging your processor or blender blades. After a few minutes of blending, sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. If mixture is too thick, slowly add more water until it reaches the preferred consistency. If using tahini to top hummus or a meat dish, keep it thick and creamy. As a condiment for pita or falafel, a more liquid sauce is usually preferred. Taste often during the blending process; add more lemon juice or salt, if desired.
- When you're happy with the sauce's flavor and consistency, pour it into a bowl. Stir in parsley (optional) till well combined, or garnish sauce with fresh parsley on top. Enjoy!
Thank’s Tori… That hit the spot… Just made some to use with Lamb Shish Ka Bob.. Delish …<3
thats great. .. I added olive oil and water. .. Taste very nice. . Thanks a lot
Hi Tori,
The website is amazing. Me and my girlfriend are having a great time looking at recipes.
I’m a big Tahini fan and with my experience it’s very important to use COLD water rather than warm or hot water.
Have you tried that?
Just made the sauce to use on your falafel recipe and it was amazing! I definitely had to use more water to thin down the sauce which made it to have the perfect consistency. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi,
In your recipe for Tahini you are saying to use Tahini Paste.
I was looking on your site for Tahini Paste and i could not find it.
Can you tell me please if you have it on your site or where can i get a Tahini paste made of light color sesame seeds?
Thanks
Vered
I also would like to know how to make the paste.
Hi vered,
Tahini Paste is really easy to make at home!
All you need is sesame seeds, olive oil and a food processor.
First you need to roast the sesame, but only very lightly. Place the sesame seeds on a dry pan and roast them, stirring constantly. You want them to warm up and start changing their color to just a little darker. Do not allow the sesame to brown!
Then you put the sesame into a food processor, add olive oil (approx. ½ cup of oil per ½ lb. of sesame seeds), and blend until you get a smooth paste. You can add more oil if the mixture is too thick for your blender.
In my experience, you can safely store the paste refrigerated in an airtight container for a couple of months.
I am glad to know you could use tahini for passover. I plan to give tahini halva dessert to friends for passover.
Please let me know if this recipe works.
Thank you
Kay
Hi Kay– it works for Sephardic Passover, but not for Ashkenazi, so it depends on the family background and traditions of your friends. For more information on the difference between the two, read this: link to theshiksa.com
Hi Tori…as always, I love reading your recipes! I’ve made tahini sauce and love the taste of it. It can get thicker after it’s refrigerated, I usually add a little bit of water to thin it out some. The other day, I thought I’d try adding yogurt to it instead of water, yum, it was delicious. Give it a try if you haven’t tried that. I’m going to try your chickpea patties as I’m sure it’s gonna be delicious! Thanks for your wonderful postings!