Homemade Tahini Sauce
Tahini sauce is a Mediterranean cooking staple that is ready in a few minutes! You make this sauce by mixing tahini, lemon, garlic, salt, and cold water until it’s smooth and creamy. Then you can use it as a vegetable dip, dressing, and drizzling sauce for bowls, gyros, and shawarma. It is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
Prep Time
5 Minutes
Total Time
5 Minutes
Servings
4 Sides
What Makes This Recipe Different
Quick Answers
What is the difference between tahini paste and tahini sauce?
Tahini paste is made from grinding sesame seeds into a smooth paste. You make tahini sauce by mixing tahini paste with additional ingredients. Typically, these are lemon juice, garlic, water, and salt. You can use Greek yogurt in place of water for an ultra-creamy texture. If you are vegan, I recommend using a soy and plain (non-flavored) yogurt.
What does tahini sauce taste like?
Tahini sauce tastes very similar to tahini paste. However, the overall flavor is softer and never bitter. The lemon balances out the heaviness and brightens the sauce up.
What do I put tahini sauce on?
Tahini sauce is great on roasted or fresh veggies, bowls, salads, wraps, and falafel. I have seen it as a sauce served with shawarma and gyros. It has the same kind of flexibility as Greek tzatziki or Turkish ezme. Making it a Mediterranean go-to flavor!
Tahini Sauce is a Perfect Sauce!
Tahini paste has a strong flavor, and for some, it is too strong. But when you add additional ingredients and turn the paste into a sauce, the flavor mellows and becomes a perfect balance of earthiness and brightness.
I love using tahini sauce as a simple vegetable dip. Interestingly, fresh broccoli is my favorite veggie to dip into tahini sauce, even though broccoli isn’t usually my favorite vegetable! The combination of tahini, garlic, lemon, and broccoli works perfectly together!
With Love, Ruth Grindeland
Key Ingredient Notes
Tahini Paste
First, always start with high-quality tahini paste. You can find tahini on Amazon or in most large grocery stores. (Hint: look in the kosher section.)
Fresh Lemon Juice
For this recipe, you will need 1-2 fresh lemons squeezed into juice. Always use fresh lemons, as the bottled lemon juice has preservatives that give it a different flavor.
Cold Water
When adding lemon juice and water to the tahini, it will seize and become grainy. This is normal. However, using cold water, you can incorporate all the ingredients by stirring them together. Because the temperature is necessary, I felt it was important to call it out here.
See the recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One: Combine Ingredients
Your first step is to stir the tahini paste ensuring the oil and paste are recombined. Then, in a small bowl or jar, whisk together the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Note that the sauce will thicken and look like it has seized. This is normal. Keep stirring, and it will come together.
Step Two: Whisk Cold Water
Add in the cold water, one tablespoon at a time. Add between two and four tablespoons of cold water. The amount you add depends on your needs. (Thicker for dip, thinner for drizzeling.)
Taste and adjust. Add more lemon, salt, or water until it’s perfectly balanced for you.
Pitfalls and Solutions
My tahini sauce is thick and grainy
When making tahini sauce, the tahini will seize and can become thick and grainy. First, keep whisking; this almost always solves the problem. If the tahini is still thick and grainy, add more cold water in 1-tablespoon increments and stir vigorously. It will come back together!
The tahini sauce tastes bitter
Tahini naturally has a bitter flavor. To balance this, add more lemon and/or salt until the flavor softens.
Variations
- Make garlic tahini sauce by adding 2-3 more cloves of garlic.
- Harissa tahini is easy to make by adding harissa paste (I love Moroccan harissa paste).
- Make creamy tahini sauce by substituting Greek yogurt in place of water. If using vegan yogurt, look for unflavored soy yogurt.
How to Store This Recipe
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Note that the sauce will thicken as it chills. You can stir in cold water if you would like to thin it out a touch.
Perfect Pairings
Cultural Notes
Tahini has ancient roots and has been referenced in cuneiform tablets over 4,000 years ago. You can fist frind it as an ingredient in 13th-century Arabic cookbooks. (Tahini history source.)
How Did It Go?
I hope you loved this homemade tahini sauce as much as I do! Before you go, please leave me a rating and let me know your thoughts on this recipe. Your feedback is valuable to other readers and me.
Homemade Tahini Sauce
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- 1 small whisk or fork
Ingredients
- ¼ cup tahini paste
- 1-2 medium lemons, juiced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2-4 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- Stir the Tahini Paste: Start by stirring the tahini paste to recombine the oil and solids (this is the same thing you do with all-natural peanut butter).
- Mix Ingredients: In a small bowl or jar, add the tahini paste, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Whisk the ingredients together. Note that the sauce will thicken and may seize. This is normal. Keep stirring, and it will come together.
- Whisk Cold Water: Whisk in cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until you get the consistency you want. Taste and adjust. Add more lemon, salt, or water until it’s perfectly balanced for you.
