Tahini Recipe (Super Easy & Creamy) (2024)

FAQs

Why isn t my tahini smooth? ›

We add a few tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil to help the tahini turn into an extra smooth, drippy paste. You can eliminate some of the oil if you would like, but the tahini won't be as smooth or pourable. We've found that 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil does the trick to reach a similar consistency as store-bought.

Tahini is simply sesame-seed butter, made by grinding hulled sesame seeds into a paste. Much of its makeup is carbohydrates, and when a small amount of juice (or any water-containing liquid) is added to tahini, a portion of each carbohydrate molecule is drawn to the water.

If your tahini is dry, or if you prefer a thinner sauce, add more water, as needed, to reach your desired consistency. Then, taste and adjust your seasonings. If you prefer a brighter sauce, add more lemon. If it is too bitter, stir in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey.

The velvety smooth texture is achieved by using raw, HULLED white sesame seeds. You can also buy them unhulled, which means the thin outer shell is left on, but you will end up with a grittier end result.

Tahini "seizes up" when a small amount of water-based liquid is added but the emulsion has not yet inverted. It's not really a problem. As more liquid is incorporated, the emulsion will invert and things will become smooth again.

The acid in the lemon juice causes a very runny tahini sauce to thicken up and become stiff and solid.

What happens after owning tahini for longer than its shelf life? The texture of the tahini and the natural oils might start to harden, so the tahini might get thick and stiff making it more difficult to stir or mix. As long as it hasn't been exposed to moisture or excessive heat, the tahini should still be safe to eat.

Once you get your jar of tahini home, you want to open it up and give it a stir to make sure it's incorporated. (If the oil has fully separated, such as in the photo above, Food editor Joe Yonan uses an immersion blender to reincorporate it, after which he says it stays emulsified.)

The taste will be sour, kind of metallic, and just plain weird. Utilizing a trusty sniff test is another way of finding out if it's time for your tahini to take a one-way trip to the bin. But something that's important to remember is that ground sesame seeds do naturally have a slightly earthy, bitter aftertaste.

#1: Baron's Organic Tahini

Naturally mild sweetness and not too bitter. Texture: 5 – About as creamy and smooth as it gets. Overall thoughts: 4.25 – We love how easy it is to stir and how creamy it is, and the flavor was pretty delicious.

What do you do with the oil on top of tahini? ›

Because tahini contains no extra ingredients or emulsifiers, it can—and usually will—separate into oil (on the top) and solids (at the bottom), just like an all-natural peanut butter. A quick stir or shake should be enough to return it to a cohesive pourable or spoonable state.

As I said earlier, tahini has a mildly bitter flavour, so if your hummus is bitter, you've most likely added too much tahini. Also make sure that the tahini you do have is hulled, as opposed to unhulled. Hulled tahini just means that the bitter husks on the outside of the sesame seed have been removed before blending.

Warning: Don't eat too much tahini! A couple of tablespoons a day is all you need. Anything more than that can increase your cholesterol levels. Here are 7 ways tahini – a food you already know and love – can keep you on track to your healthier lifestyle this year.

Making your own tahini at home is not only easy, it's cost effective and super delicious! This recipe requires just 2 ingredients, 20 minutes, and a food processor to prepare!

Tahini that hides in the fridge for too long (or stored in fridges that feel more like freezers) can turn chunky and hard. So hard you'll feel like you need a cement mixer to get things moving again. That's why, if you are storing your tahini in the fridge, make sure the temperature of your fridge is not too cold.

Your tahini has expired if it has an unpleasant taste and smell. Additionally, if you see obvious signs of spoilage like a change in color and visible mold growth, it's time to toss the jar of tahini.

Because tahini is made from ground sesame seeds, the sesame oil in it tends to separate. Even when you stir the oil back into the tahini, it might be too thick for your purposes. Fortunately, it's easy to thin the tahini using ingredients you already have on hand.