Easy Tahini Sauce Recipe (gluten free)

This luxuriously creamy and flavorful vegan tahini sauce is perfect drizzled on everything. Ready in only a few minutes, it makes everything taste better from salads and falafel bowls to vegan shawarma, veggie burgers, and grilled vegetables.

Rich and silky smooth, this delicious vegan tahini sauce is a wonderful dairy-free alternative to creamy sauces plus it's oil-free, gluten-free, and vegan! If you like tahini as much as we do, try my new, flavorful spicy green tahini sauce or this addictive sweet and spicy tahini sauce recipe. It's the most popular sauce on my blog!

I like to add a twist to my sauces and in this case, I think the nutty sesame flavor and pungent garlic benefit from a kiss of sweetness so I added a date - just one, to balance the flavor. Okay, I added one other twist too. Keep reading . . .

Tahini Sauce Ingredients

So simple, delicious and healthy to make from scratch, you'll never buy store-bought tahini sauce again. Basic tahini sauce is made from only 4 ingredients, here's what you'll need:

• Tahini Paste - simply sesame seeds ground into paste. Because tahini paste is the star ingredient, choose one that is runny and tastes good (not too bitter). Here are some popular, easy to find brands: Soom, Whole Foods 365 Brand, and Trader Joe's.
• Shopping Tip: find tahini in the peanut butter, health food or International aisle at the grocery store. Sold in jars or plastic tub. Or if you prefer order tahini paste online.
• Lemon Juice - freshly squeezed is best!
• Garlic - mince, press, grate/microplane fresh garlic (more details below).
• Salt - coarse ground, elevates flavors

Ingredient Variations

Tahini sauce is super versatile - of course it makes the perfect falafel sauce! We also love it served with pita bread and hummus for an afternoon snack. It makes a healthy and quick salad dressing for cabbage, kale, spinach, and romaine based salads, and the kids love it for dipping raw veggies. I always have a jar in the fridge but sometimes I add a twist:

• Sweeten it up - Sugar free (plant based option): add one medjool date which smooths out the flavors and takes the edge off the pungent garlic. Don't overdo it! Soften the date in warm water for a few minutes. Then pop it into the blender or food processor with everything else. If you don't have any dates on hand, use a teaspoon (or more) of maple syrup. So good!
• Add some heat - add one or two tablespoons of pickled jalapeno juice for a subtle hit of heat and tang.

How to Make Tahini Sauce

Ready to get started? Let's make homemade tahini sauce . . .

1. Prepare the garlic: Grate, mince or press the garlic. (See below for garlic chopping tips).
2. Whisk the ingredients: tahini paste, garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and salt together.
3. Add the cold water: just a few tablespoons at a time. The tahini will seize up as you add the liquid, but keep whisking and it will all smooth out into a luscious pourable tahini sauce.
4. Taste and adjust: for a more lemony tahini, add more lemon; taste flat, add salt; for a thinner consistency, add more water a teaspoonful or two at a time.
5. Storing: pour into a jar and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Why Chop, Mince, Press or Grate Garlic?

Here's the 4 main ways to chop garlic:

• Chop - small chunky pieces of garlic if you like some texture in your food.
• Mince - finely chopped particles of garlic used when you want the flavor but not so much texture eg. for raw dishes like pizza sauce, salad dressings, dips or sauces.
• Garlic Press - modern gadget popular for crushing garlic cloves.
• Microplane/Grating - finely grated particles of garlic (very potent)!

4 Ways to Cut Garlic

A head of garlic is made of many individual cloves varying in size. Here are a few tips for peeling and chopping the garlic:

1. Pull the clove apart removing the number of cloves you'll need.
2. Place garlic clove on cutting board.
3. Place large (knife) on the clove.
4. Using a flat hand, hit the knife to crush the garlic (or use a wooden spoon, pan, etc instead of the knife).
5. Peel the loose outer papery skins and the hard membrane. Cut the small hard root end off.
6. To Chop Garlic: Pile the peeled garlic cloves together, hold with one hand and chop with the other hand using a sharp kitchen knife.
7. To Mince Garlic: Once the garlic is chopped, place one hand on top of the knife blade (keep fingers straight out) and grab the handle with the other hand. Continue to chop the garlic using a fan motion over and back across the pile until the garlic is finely minced.
8. To Press Garlic: peel the garlic, place one clove in the garlic press and squeeze the handles together. Cut the pressed garlic off with a knife.
9. To microplane/grate Garlic: peel the garlic. Carefully rub one clove at a time across the microplane or smallest opening of a grater.

FAQ - Homemade Tahini Sauce

Storing Tahini Paste and Tahini Sauce

Tahini paste typically is sold in large tubs. It's made of sesame seeds that are ground into a paste and like natural peanut butter, the solids and liquids separate. When you open a fresh tub, give it a stir until it comes back together.

Once the jar of tahini paste is open, store it in the fridge.

Store the tahini sauce in a jar in the fridge for a week to ten days. Which is perfect for a meal prep!

More Vegan Sauces

If you love this gluten-free tahini sauce, here's a few more vegan sauces to try:

• Vegan Southwest Dressing (tangy, creamy, epic flavor)
• Sweet and Spicy Tahini Sauce (impossible to resist)
• Vegan Tzatziki Sauce (3 ways)
• Cilantro Tahini Sauce (with jalapeños!)
• Vegan Tartar Sauce (super thick and creamy)

Did you make this Tahini Sauce recipe?
I'd love to see it! Please leave a review below and tag me on IG @ceeceecooks and Facebook with any photos!
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