The BEST Creamy Tahini Sauce Recipe | Ambitious Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Why is my tahini sauce not smooth? ›

The key to smooth and runny tahini is to give it time, so keep blending. Transfer to a container and enjoy!

When a small amount of lemon juice (or water) is added to the tahini or peanut butter, the hydrophilic dry particles are drawn to the water. As a result, it clumps up. As water is added, more clumps develop, causing the tahini to thicken overall.

If your tahini is dry, or if you prefer a thinner sauce, add more water, as needed, to reach your desired consistency. Then, taste and adjust your seasonings. If you prefer a brighter sauce, add more lemon. If it is too bitter, stir in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey.

What is tahini sauce? Tahini sauce is a Middle Eastern condiment that is served with many dishes from the region. It's made with only 3 main ingredients: tahini paste, which is crushed sesame seeds, lemon juice, and garlic. Tahini is made by grinding toasted, hulled sesame seeds to create a creamy, smooth spread.

Avoid using a food processor.

While food processors are a great tool for blending, they're not as powerful as blenders, so they can't deliver the creaminess (without double or triple the oil) that makes for the best tahini.

Why the opposite? Tahini is simply sesame-seed butter, made by grinding hulled sesame seeds into a paste. Much of its makeup is carbohydrates, and when a small amount of juice (or any water-containing liquid) is added to tahini, a portion of each carbohydrate molecule is drawn to the water.

When the tahini seizes up or tightens, keep adding the water, bit by bit (about 1/2 cup total), until the sauce is smooth, creamy, and thick. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and cumin, if necessary.

The tahini may thicken up/clump when it's combined with lemon juice or the first bit of water. Don't worry, this is normal and will be fixed with more water. Gradually add the water, continuing to whisk until the dressing is smooth and creamy.

Tahini has a long shelf life (2+ years) and can be stored like other nut and seed butters, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Always stir before using to incorporate any solids that have accumulated on the bottom.

Trader Joe's Organic Tahini provides the perfect balance in this recipe, and allows it to transcend seasons-drizzle it atop roasted broccoli salad in the winter, or on grilled chicken & spinach salad during the warm summer months.

Why is tahini so expensive? ›

Tahini crafted from premium sesame seeds often involves meticulous sourcing and production methods. Whether it's hand-selecting seeds or using traditional stone milling techniques, these processes can be more labor-intensive and time-consuming, driving up costs.

Tahini paste is just ground sesame seeds. Period. In comparison, tahini sauce is made by thinning the paste to a consistency similar to a thick cream, typically by adding other ingredients. My family's recipe adds lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil to our tahini sauce.

References to tahini can be found as far back as the 13th century where there is a reference to it as a sesame paste. Tahini is found in Israeli, Middle Eastern, African, Chinese, Japanese, Iranian, Turkish and Korean cuisines. Tahini was used as a source of oil at one point.

All you need to to is take it all out of the original jar and put it into a mini food processor. Process it until it is all smooth – make sure to hold on to the processor to keep it steady as there are some big lumps of sesame that it is trying to get through!

Tahini seizes when mixed with liquids such as must-have fresh lemon juice. In cooking, seizing means the smooth liquid (tahini, or melted chocolate) gets stiff and clumpy. Knowing that tahini seizes, and how to fix it, is the key to how to make a great sauce! Fix the seized mixture with the addition of ice cold water.

That's mainly because sesame paste on it's own is a paste and as you whisk in the water and lime juice it will thicken up and change it's character from an oily seed paste into a smoother lighter paste. Here you need to add some water to thin out this paste.

Once you get your jar of tahini home, you want to open it up and give it a stir to make sure it's incorporated. (If the oil has fully separated, such as in the photo above, Food editor Joe Yonan uses an immersion blender to reincorporate it, after which he says it stays emulsified.)