I use this Lemony Garlic Tahini Sauce for everything! Use this quick and easy sauce as a dressing for salads, as a sauce for vegetables and meat, as a spread for sandwiches and pitas, or serve as a dip.
watch the video
Related: We love making our own tahini from scratch.
How to make tahini sauce – dairy free and vegan
Ever since we posted our recipe for making homemade tahini, we’ve been experimenting with other ways to use tahini. Tahini is a staple in hummus preparation, but there are many other uses. This super easy, non-dairy tahini sauce is one of them. I always have a jar in my fridge!
More: Here’s a similar sauce made with tahini! Try our Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing, perfect for salads and cereal bowls.
The ingredients you need
There are many variations when making tahini sauce, but this lemon garlic version is the recipe I keep coming back to.
I use the following to prepare:
- Tahini paste, which you can make yourself (here’s our easy recipe) or buy it at the store.
- Fresh garlic is a must for me when preparing the sauce. Since I add it raw, I like to grate it with a micro-slicer or process it into a paste with my knife (I shared a photo below).
- Fresh lemon is another must for me and I like to add lots of it.
- Olive oil makes the sauce smooth and luxurious.
- Cumin, cayenne pepper, fresh parsley and salt add flavor to the sauce.
- Warm water is the secret ingredient to the smoothest, creamiest tahini sauce ever.
Prepare tahini sauce
This sauce is much more than the sum of its parts. Tahini, lemon, and water combine to create the creamiest, most delicious sauce ever. It’s almost addictive. The sauce is really easy to prepare. Let me show you how:
Step 1: Stir tahiniMix the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. It starts out creamy and then can set – see photo below. Don’t worry if it looks lumpy, that will be fixed when we add the water.
Step 2: Stir in warm water. As soon as you start stirring in lukewarm water, you get a dreamy, creamy sauce. You can add as much or as little water as you like – it all depends on what you intend to use it for. Don’t add that much for spreads. If you plan to use the sauce as a dressing or to drizzle, add a little more.
Step 3: Add extra flavor with spices and fresh parsley. I love a little smokiness from the ground cumin, some spice from the cayenne pepper, and a fresh touch of color and flavor from the parsley.
Tahini sauce will keep in the fridge for about five days, but we’d be shocked if you didn’t find a way to enjoy it before then!
More ways to use tahini
Fantastic tahini sauce
Use this vegan tahini sauce as a dressing for salads, as a sauce for vegetables and meat, as a spread for sandwiches or as a dip for almost anything. It is very easy to make and much more than the sum of its parts. Simply delicious!
Makes about half a cup
Watch as we prepare the recipe
you will need
1/3 cup (80ml) tahini, well stirred, try our easy tahini recipe
Chop 1 clove of garlic very finely into a paste or use a microslicer, see note
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
A pinch of fine sea salt
2 to 6 tablespoons of lukewarm water
Pinch of cumin, optional
A pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, optional
directions
1Whisk together the tahini, garlic paste, lemon juice, olive oil and the salt in a bowl – the mixture will thicken, don’t worry about that.
2Add the water one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition until the desired consistency is reached. When preparing a spread, pay attention to the consistency of peanut butter. When preparing a sauce, add enough water to reach the consistency of runny yogurt.
3Optionally, stir in cumin, cayenne pepper, and parsley. Taste and season with additional salt or lemon juice. Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Adam and Joanne’s tips
- How to Prepare Garlic Paste: Since we’re adding the garlic raw, it’s best to add it as a paste. To do this, peel and finely chop the garlic clove. Sprinkle the garlic with a pinch of coarse salt, then scrape the garlic across the garlic with the flat side of a knife, scraping the surface of the cutting board. Pile the garlic again and repeat the process a few more times until you get a smooth paste.
- Nutritional Information: The nutritional information below is an estimate. We used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, take a picture and tag it with the hashtag #inspiredtaste – we love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutritional value per serving
serving size
1 tablespoon
/
calories
78
/
protein
2g
/
carbohydrate
3g
/
fiber
1g
/
total sugar
0g
/
total fat
7g
/
Saturated Fatty Acids
1g
/
cholesterol
0mg
Recipe updated originally posted December 2015. Since posting in 2015 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer and added a short recipe video. – Adam and Joanne