Tahini
Tahini is a smooth paste made from ground, usually hulled, sesame seeds, central to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking both as a savory sauce base and a sweet ingredient in desserts.
How to buy
Look for a runny, pourable consistency rather than a thick, dry paste that's hard to stir, which signals age or poor quality. It should smell nutty and clean, not bitter or rancid. Hulled tahini is lighter and smoother, and far more common, than unhulled tahini, which is darker and more bitter and mineral-tasting; a little oil separation on top before stirring is normal.
How to store
Refrigerate after opening to slow rancidity, since its high oil content makes it prone to turning bitter over time, and stir well before each use since the oil naturally separates. Unopened jars can be kept in a cool pantry, but refrigeration after opening meaningfully extends freshness.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Nutty, slightly bitter, and earthy with a rich sesame depth. Raw tahini tastes sharper and more bitter than versions mellowed by toasting or cooked into a sauce, which rounds out that bitterness.
- Texture
- Smooth and pourable when fresh and well-stirred, and it thickens when mixed with acid like lemon juice before loosening again with more liquid, a common step in making tahini sauce.
- Aroma
- A rich, nutty, toasted sesame aroma that grows more pronounced the darker the tahini.
How to prepare
- Whisked into sauce — Combined with lemon juice, garlic, and water into a pourable sauce for falafel and shawarma.
- Blended into hummus — Mixed with chickpeas, lemon, and garlic for a smooth dip.
- Swirled into desserts — Mixed into halva, cookies, and baked goods for a nutty depth.
- Thinned for dressing — Loosened with water and acid into a drizzle for salads and roasted vegetables.
Classic dishes
American
- Tahini chocolate chip cookies — A modern cookie where tahini replaces some or all of the butter for a nutty, slightly savory edge.
Mediterranean
- Mediterranean roasted eggplant drizzle — Roasted eggplant finished with a tahini and lemon drizzle.
Greek
- Tahinosoupa — A Lenten Greek soup thickened and enriched with tahini instead of dairy.
- Halvas — A Greek semolina or tahini-based sweet, dense and lightly spiced.
Middle Eastern
- Hummus — A chickpea dip whose creamy body and nutty backbone come from tahini.
- Baba ganoush — A smoky roasted eggplant dip bound together with tahini.
- Falafel tahini sauce — A thin, lemony tahini sauce drizzled over fried chickpea patties.
- Halva — A dense, fudge-like confection built almost entirely from sweetened tahini.
- Fattoush with tahini-lemon dressing — A bread salad sometimes dressed with a tahini and lemon vinaigrette.
- Msabbaha — Warm whole chickpeas served in a pool of tahini sauce with olive oil and lemon.
- Tarator sauce for grilled fish — A tahini-based sauce served alongside grilled or fried fish.
- Shawarma with tahini drizzle — Spit-roasted meat wrapped with vegetables and a generous drizzle of tahini sauce.
- Tahini and date syrup spread — A breakfast spread combining tahini's nuttiness with the sweetness of date syrup.
- Kibbeh with tahini sauce — Fried bulgur and meat croquettes served with a cool tahini dipping sauce.
- Halva ice cream — A modern dessert folding tahini halva through a churned ice cream base.