Easy Tahini (Better than Store-Bought)

This homemade tahini recipe is so easy to make, and it makes a tahini that tastes much better than anything you can buy at the store. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes!

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Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. It is a staple in many cuisines, especially in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It’s vegan, gluten-free, tastes nutty, and is incredibly simple to make.

Store-bought jars of tahini can be expensive. Homemade tahini is not only cheaper, but it also tastes amazing. Use tahini to make hummus, salad dressings, sauces, and more!

Key Ingredients

• Sesame seeds: I use hulled seeds (pictured below on the left) and toast them in a dry skillet to bring out their natural nuttiness.
• Oil: I add a few tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil to help the tahini turn into a creamy smooth paste. Try avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or vegetable oil. Sesame oil (not toasted sesame oil) also works.
• Salt: Optional, but I always use it. It just makes the tahini taste better.

You can also make tahini with sprouted and black sesame seeds. Unhulled sesame seeds, pictured below on the right, are much darker and still have their hull or outer shell intact. Tahini made from unhulled sesame seeds tastes more bitter and isn’t as smooth as when made from hulled seeds.

How to Make Tahini

Tahini is incredibly simple to make. If you’ve ever made nut butter like almond or peanut butter, the process is very similar. Grind sesame seeds in a food processor with some oil until smooth.

Toasted sesame seeds make our tahini taste even better! Toast them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often and watching them closely until they turn golden.

Toss your toasted seeds into the food processor. Process until they form a crumbly paste. A powerful food processor helps, but most standard ones will work, too. (I’ve included tips for using a blender below the recipe.)

Add a few tablespoons of mild-tasting oil. This helps the tahini become smooth, creamy, and drippy. You can use less oil, but the tahini won’t be as easy to pour. I find 3 to 4 tablespoons perfect for a texture like store-bought tahini.

Process a bit more, scraping down the bowl as needed. Your tahini is now ready to use!

Storing Homemade Tahini

Keep tahini in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for a month. After some time in the fridge, it might separate like natural peanut butter. To fix this, stir it well before using it.

Ways to Use Tahini

Arguably, the most well-known way to use tahini is when making hummus. Even though we are hummus lovers, we use tahini in our kitchen in many other ways. Here’s a list of suggestions for how to use tahini other than in hummus.

• Make baba ganoush, an amazing roasted eggplant dip that may beat out hummus for our favorite dip.
• Make tahini salad dressing.
• I love this tahini kale salad with white beans and walnuts.
• Turn it into a creamy sauce like this dreamy tahini sauce, which is delicious when drizzled over vegetables and meats. I love it over honey-roasted carrots and roasted asparagus drizzled over these chicken lettuce wraps.
• Serve tahini next to falafel — try our easy falafel recipe.
• Use it in dessert. Seriously. Drizzle over ice cream or use it instead of peanut butter or butter in your favorite cookies.

Once you have tahini in your fridge (it lasts over a month), we bet you will find yourself adding it to a variety of dishes without direction from us!