Basic + Awesome Tahini Sauce

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Just a basic + awesome, easy tahini sauce! With just a couple ingredients, you have an all-purpose sauce for drizzling on anything.

Tahini sauce in small glass jar with spoon and lemons on the side.

If you like hummus and creamy, healthy sauce recipes, you have stumbled upon the right recipe! At my house, we are all sauce people because sauce can magically tie any combination of ingredients together in texture and flavor.

Lately, this easy tahini sauce has been my go-to for wraps, salads, bowl recipes, roasted veggies (like these air fryer parsnips)... you name it. Once you learn how to make this all-purpose sauce, you can level up whatever dish your heart desires!

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Ingredients
Substitutions & Variations
Instructions for Basic Tahini Sauce
Tahini Sauce FAQs
How to Use Tahini Sauce
Pairing
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Probably the best thing about this sauce (besides the wonderful flavor) is that it's made with a handful of simple, pantry/fridge staple ingredients. I typically keep tahini stocked up because we make homemade hummus almost weekly. If you don't usually keep tahini on hand, hummus and sauces are two very good reasons to start!

You'll need:

Tahini
Garlic
Lemon
Water
Salt

Substitutions & Variations

Because this recipe is made from just a few essential ingredients, I don't recommend any substitutions. However, you can vary the flavors and consistency by adding spices or adjusting the ingredient ratio. Here are some of my recommendations:

Maple syrup - Tahini + maple = DELICIOUS. Drizzle in about one tablespoon of pure maple syrup and whisk it in with the other ingredients.
Spicy - Whisk in some harissa paste, red chili paste, or ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper to bring some heat.
Cumin + coriander - Add in some additional flavorings to mix it up a bit. I love the combination of cumin and coriander.
Adjust the consistency - use less water for a thicker consistency, or more water for a thinner consistency. You might want it slightly thinner for use as a salad dressing, but thicker to smother on a sandwich or burger. Totally up to you!

Instructions for Basic Tahini Sauce

Tahini, lemon juice, and garlic in small clear glass bowl with mini whisk.

Step 1: First, you'll combine tahini, minced fresh garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Use a fork or mini whisk to combine.

Whisking tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and water together in a small clear glass bowl.

Step 2: Add some cool or room temperature water (not warm), and whisk it together. It will look chunky and awkward at first, but just keep whisking.

Tahini sauce being whisked together in clear glass bowl.

Step 3: Almost there... keep whisking! It should take about 30 seconds total.

Tahini sauce completely whisked until smooth.

Step 4: THERE it is. Once the tahini sauce becomes smooth, taste and add salt to your liking, and more lemon if desired.

At this point it usually takes all my will power not to just keep eating this stuff by the spoonful!

Tahini sauce dripping off of spoon into small glass jar.

Tahini Sauce FAQs

Does tahini sauce have dairy or nuts?

Nope! Basic tahini sauce sauce is free from dairy and nuts. It does contain seeds (tahini is made of ground up sesame seeds).

Does tahini sauce need to be refrigerated?

Yes; since we make tahini sauce with a bit of fresh garlic and lemon juice, it does need to be refrigerated.

How do I store homemade tahini sauce?

I recommend storing the leftover tahini sauce in an airtight glass jar or container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

How to Use Tahini Sauce

Because this sauce is a basic, no-frills sauce (that's also delicious), it can go with almost anything! Here are some ideas:

Spread onto wraps and pita sandwiches
Spoon over hummus before serving (have you tried my lemon dill hummus??)
Drizzle over chickpea shawarma
Serve as a salad dressing
Roasted veggies - either drizzle on top or dip
Use as a special sauce on burgers, like these smoky turkey burgers
Pour onto grilled proteins as a sauce
Use as a sauce for grain bowls

Pairing

Tahini sauce is amazing drizzled into other salads, as well as a dip for roasted veggies! Below are a few of my favorite pairings with tahini sauce.

Did you make this tahini sauce? Don't forget to leave a star rating 🌟 and comment below, and tag me on Instagram and Pinterest so I can see what you made!

📖 Recipe

Tahini sauce in small glass jar with spoon and lemons on the side, on gray and white surface

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An easy and delicious all-purpose tahini sauce. Drizzle over roasted veggies, your favorite grilled protein, burgers, wraps, shawarma, grain bowls... whatever your heart desires!

Author: Tera
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 2 minutes
Yield: ~1 cup
Category: Sauce
Method: Stir
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

Units Scale

½ cup tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (plus more to taste)
¼ teaspoon fine salt (plus more to taste)
½ cup water

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Instructions

Combine tahini, garlic, lemon, and salt. Add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and salt to a bowl. Use a small whisk or fork to whisk the ingredients a few times.
Add water. Add the water to the tahini mixture and begin whisking everything together.
Whisk! It will look a little lumpy at first, but keep whisking until it becomes smooth.
Taste and adjust. Taste, and add more salt or lemon if desired.

Notes

Storage. Store leftover tahini sauce in an airtight glass jar or container in the fridge.
Serving. Tahini sauce is so versatile! I love it as a sauce for grain bowls and salads, drizzled onto roasted veggies, as a sauce for falafel sandwiches, even drizzled onto hummus.