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This creamy, lemony, garlicky tahini dressing makes a beautiful vegan sauce for grain bowls, salads, sandwiches, and more.
Why we love this recipe
I first put together this recipe as a sauce for my favorite pita sandwiches with homemade falafel. But it’s so good and so versatile that there’s no reason to hoard it for special occasions. Keep a batch in the fridge, and you’ll be able to tie together fresh veggies and leftovers of many kinds into a whole new meal.
Tahini dressing is:
- A little bit earthy, a little bit tangy, and a little bit zippy
- Creamy and satisfying, without any dairy or oil
- Vegan and gluten-free
- Perfect for drizzling over salads, grain bowls, and sandwiches
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Tahini is sesame seed paste. Its beautiful creaminess forms the base of this dressing. It’s fairly widely available in supermarkets, or you can grab it online here.
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice is essential. Its gentle, well-rounded acidity brightens the sauce and makes it shine.
- Ground cumin makes this simple sauce taste beautifully complex.
- You’ll smash the garlic and salt together into a paste — the video shows you how. The quantities in the recipe make the sauce very flavorful but not overwhelming. You can adjust them according to your preference. If you’re very sensitive to salt, you may want to reduce the amount.
How to make it
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a fabulous batch of tahini dressing. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Place the tahini, lemon juice, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Smash the garlic and salt into a paste with the side of your chef’s knife. You can see this in action in the video.
- Whisk in the garlic paste. The mixture will become very thick. Then you’ll add water little by little.
- Whisk in the water until your dressing has the consistency you prefer. The amount of water called for in the recipe works well with the brands of tahini I use, but some are thicker than others, so do what works for you.
Expert tips and FAQs
Sure thing. Tahini dressing will keep well in an airtight container in a nice cold fridge for a week or more. It becomes quite thick when cold, so you can bring it to room temperature before using or whisk in a bit of additional water if you like.
More favorite vegan dressing recipes
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Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120 grams) tahini
- 5 tablespoons (75 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 large garlic clove
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, see note 1 below
- ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water
Instructions
- Place the tahini paste into a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the lemon juice and cumin.
- Using a chef's knife, mince the garlic. Sprinkle the salt overtop, and use the side of the knife to scrape and smash the garlic and salt mixture into a paste. Add the paste to the bowl.
- Stir well. Mixture will seize up a bit and become very thick.
- Add the water a tablespoon at a time (you may need even more than indicated, depending on the thickness of the tahini paste), and stir well until sauce is homogenous and is the consistency you'd like.
Notes
- Tahini is sesame seed paste. Its beautiful creaminess forms the base of this dressing. It's fairly widely available in supermarkets, or you can grab it online here.
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice is essential. Its gentle, well-rounded acidity brightens the sauce and makes it shine.
- Ground cumin makes this simple sauce taste beautifully complex.
- You'll smash the garlic and salt together into a paste — the video shows you how. The quantities in the recipe make the sauce very flavorful but not overwhelming. You can adjust them according to your preference. If you're very sensitive to salt, you may want to reduce the amount.
- Dressing will keep well in an airtight container in a nice cold fridge for a week or more. It becomes quite thick when cold, so you can bring it to room temperature before using or whisk in a bit of additional water if you like.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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