Tahini Dressing – Seven Ways to Fantastic Flavour

Our easy to make tahini dressing is a kitchen staple. Make up a batch at the weekend and keep it in the fridge to use all week long.

Here are 7 delicious variations on the theme. Most of them are vegan and keto friendly. Just use non-dairy yogurt to adapt the rest.  

Tahini Dressing – a Kitchen Staple

We love our original super simple tahini dressing. It is dreamy, creamy and delicious. What’s more, it goes with almost anything. 

This dressing is perfect for busy people, since you can make a big batch in advance at the weekend. Just pop it in the fridge so that it’s ready for evening meals and packed lunches.

I love to mix a large bowl of basic sauce. I can then take out a little at a time, adding different ingredients for each meal. This means that I avoid repetition and never get bored.

Tahini is great for vegans and those who don’t like dairy. This is because it’s a great source of calcium. It also contains plenty of minerals and vitamin B1. It’s even keto-friendly too!

It’s always better to get your nutrients from food rather than expensive supplements. So if you feel in need of a boost or want to look after your bones, try adding a little tahini to your diet. 

How to Use It

• The basic thick version is ideal for dipping crudités, pickles and mezze dishes. 
• The basic thin sauce is the perfect accompaniment to all sorts of salads. We love it with ‘slaw, but it’s also good on hearty bean or roasted vegetable salads, as well as with a classic green salad.
• Drizzle over barbecued meat or vegetable skewers. For this, we like the lemon, yogurt, Indian and garlic variations.
• I’ve been known to use tahini as a pasta sauce, and it is perfect to dress leftover cold chicken. 

Lemon Tahini Dressing With Herbs

My first variation is a lemon and herb dressing that goes well with both meat and vegetables. Take the basic dressing and then add lemon juice and your choice of herbs. This suits Middle Eastern dishes well. 

Yogurt Tahini Sauce

Yogurt tahini dressing is both lighter and creamier than the basic dressing. Use it with light herby salads. Mix equal amounts of thin tahini sauce and yogurt.

Japanese Miso Tahini Dressing 

Tahini may not sound like a Far Eastern food but sesame seed pastes have a long history in East Asian cooking.

Just add miso, nori flakes and tamari in order to make a full-flavoured dressing with a Japanese twist. It packs a real umami punch! If you need a keto tahini dressing, this one is ideal.  

Try it with rice or any Japanese dish. We love it with crispy Katsu chicken.  

Make this Gluten-Free 

Some miso is made with soy (and rice), others are made with soy and various gluten containing grains so read the label.

Tamari is usually gluten free, whereas most soy sauces (especially the cheaper ones also contain wheat), so stick to tamari and read the label, if you need to take account of food sensitivities. It tastes richer, too. 

Indian Curry Tahini Sauce

This brightly coloured dressing packs a punch, though you can make it as strong or as mild as you like. Serve as a sauce for paneer with rice.

Alternatively, use it as a dip with Indian starters such as bhajis, pakkoras and samosas.

Italian Tahini Sauce

I have added Mediterranean flavours here with  sundried tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and basil. Excellent on a bitter green salad, as a dip for breads, or in a pasta salad.

You can even dribble a little onto a simple pizza. Again, this is a keto-friendly tahini dressing that works well with all sorts of dishes. 

Garlic Tahini Sauce

This sauce is ideal if you like an extra hit of garlic. Perfect for a summer BBQ on charcoal-grilled meat, vegetable skewers or jacket potatoes. Again, it’s keto friendly.

Maple Tahini Dressing 

A sweeter version of this tasty sauce. It’s great on a salad made of bitter leaves such as chicory or watercress.

However, you could also try this on sweet dishes if you leave out the garlic in the original dressing. Try it on sliced bananas on toast or even bananas and ice cream!

Other Ideas for Tahini Dressing

The ideas above are just a starting point. There are endless possibilities, so get creative!  Start with the plain sauce, either thick or thin, and add to it. And please comment to let us know what you made and how you used it.

Here are some more of my  ideas.

• Ginger tahini dressing – Simply grate in some fresh ginger. You can also add a little honey for a sweeter dressing. Serve it with Asian starters or even sweet pastries such as baklava (leave out the salt and garlic from the base recipe if serving with sweet foods).
• Dijon mustard tahini dressing – Add mustard to make a great salad dressing.
  
• Pomegranate tahini dressing – Whisk in pomegranate molasses and top with pomegranate seeds in order to create the perfect dressing for Indian and Persian style dishes.
• Honey and mustard tahini dressing – Stir in honey and mustard.

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7 Variations of Creamy Tahini Dressing {Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo, Keto}

Prep Time

5 mins

Total Time

5 mins

 

Our easy to make tahini dressing is a kitchen staple. Make up a batch at the weekend and keep it in the fridge to use all week long. Here are 7 delicious variations on the theme. Most of them are vegan and keto friendly. Just use non-dairy yoghurt to adapt the rest.  

Course: Dips and dressings

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: Tahini Dressing

Servings: 4 each variation makes about a 1/3 cup

Calories: 79 kcal

Author: Helen Best-Shaw

Ingredients

Lemon and herb tahini dressing

• 2 tbsp thick tahini dressing
• zest and juice of 1/4 lemon

Yogurt tahini sauce

• 2 tbs thin tahini dressing
• 2 tbs greek yogurt

Japanese Miso Tahini Dressing

• 4 tbs thick tahini dressing
• 1 tsp sweet white miso paste
• 2 tsp tamari
• 1 tsp nori flakes (Or other dried seaweed. Chop finely)

Indian Tahini Dressing/Tahini Curry Sauce

• 4 tbs thin tahini dressing
• 1 tsp curry powder (Or curry paste)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chili sauce (Adjust to taste)

Italian Tahini Dressing

• 4 tbs thin tahini dressing
• 1 tsp sundried tomato paste
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 stalk fresh basil (Finely Chopped)

Garlic Tahini Dressing

• 4 tbs thin tahini dressing
• 1 clove garlic (Crushed. Add more or less to taste)

Maple Tahini Dressing

• 4 tbs thin tahini dressing
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Lemon Tahini Dressing (with herbs)

1. Add juice, zest and finely chopped herbs to thick tahini dressing, and stir together.
   

Yogurt Tahini Dressing

1. Stir the yogurt and tahini dressing together until smooth. Adjust quantities to give the consistency you want.
   

Japanese Miso Tahini Dressing

1. Mix thick tahini dressing, sweet white miso, tamari, and finely chopped nori, or other seaweed. If you want a stronger flavour, use a different style of miso. To ensure a gluten free dressing, use tamari rather than regular soy sauce.
   

Indian Tahini Dressing

1. Mix thin tahini dressing, curry powder or paste, turmeric and chili sauce. Adjust the amounts to taste. If the sauce it too spicy, add some Greek yogurt.
   

2. For a more mellow sauce, dry fry the curry powder and turmeric. Then allow the spices to cool before combining with the tahini.

Italian Tahini Dressing

1. Mix thin tahini dressing, sundried tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and finely chopped fresh basil.
   

Garlic Tahini Dressing

1. Add crushed garlic to thin tahini dressing. Start with one clove per 60ml of dressing, and adjust to your preference.
   

2. For a more mellow garlic flavour, slowly fry the garlic in a little oil. Then allow it to cool before mixing into the tahini.
   

Maple Tahini Dressing

1. Stir maple syrup into thin tahini dressing.
   

Recipe Notes

Nutritional Information

• This recipe is 1 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion

Nutrition Facts

7 Variations of Creamy Tahini Dressing {Vegan, Gluten Free, Paleo, Keto}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 79 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Fat 7g11%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 4mg0%

Potassium 47mg1%

Carbohydrates 2g1%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 5IU0%

Vitamin C 0.4mg0%

Calcium 14mg1%

Iron 0.5mg3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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