Tahini Salad Dressing Recipe

Nothing you can buy at the grocery store will ever compare to freshy made, homemade salad dressings. My Tahini Salad Dressing recipe uses simple ingredients for a savory flavor profile that tastes amazing on green salads and more.

If you enjoy making homemade dressings for your family, my easy lemon tahini dressing is sure to please everyone’s taste buds.

This creamy dressing combines several flavorful ingredients for the perfect complement to many savory dishes.

And best of all, it’s gluten free, dairy free and soy free, so more people can fall in love with it.

Ingredients

• ½ cup of apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup of gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup of filtered water
• ½ cup of tahini
• ½ teaspoon of sea salt
• 4 fresh garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Blender
• Storage bottle

By the Numbers: How to Make Tahini Salad Dressing

Follow these simple step by step instructions to make the best tangy tahini salad dressing.

Step 1: Gather Ingredients.

The very first thing you want to do is to gather all of the ingredients that you’ll need to make your delicious dressing, including: ½ cup of apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, ½ cup of warm water, ½ cup of tahini, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, 4 raw garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley and 1 tablespoon of honey.

Tip: Before measuring out your tahini, be sure to give it a good stir to make sure the oils are mixed into the paste.

Step 2: Add Ingredients to Blender and Blend.

Add everything, except for the olive oil, to the blender or food processor.

After everything is added to the blender, secure the lid on tightly, then puree until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Step 4: Blend in Olive Oil.

Once everything else is well blended, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and continue blending until everything is really well combined.

Step 5: Transfer to Jar & Chill.

Once you’re happy with the consistency, you can pour it into a jar and place it in the refrigerator to chill or serve immediately. Enjoy your delicious tahini salad dressing with a green salad, if desired.

Tips for Making the Best Tahini Salad Dressing

Answers to all of your questions about making a delicious salad dressing with tahini and other tasty ingredients.

1. What is tahini?

If you’ve never tried tahini before, it’s basically just ground sesame seeds much like peanut butter is made from ground peanuts. It’s used in a lot of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes and has a very distinct nutty flavor.

You want to choose a quality tahini with only sesame seeds listed in the ingredients. I find that lower quality ones have a more bitter taste, so this is one ingredient where quality definitely matters.

You can also make your own homemade tahini by grinding sesame seeds. That will give you the freshest taste possible.

2. Other ways to use tahini?

If you’d like to try some new recipes with your jar of tahini, these are some of the more traditional dishes you’ll find it used in:

• Instant Pot Hummus is my personal favorite (you can also make this recipe with canned chickpeas).
• Baba Ganoush, which is similar to hummus, but made with eggplant instead of chickpeas.
• Halva, which is a delicious sweet treat made with tahini.

3. Substitutes for tahini?

If you need a substitute for tahini, Sun Butter (ground sunflower seeds) is usually the best choice. Smooth peanut butter, almond butter and other nut butters are the next best options.

4. Best way to make it spicy?

There are a couple of different ways you can add some heat to this recipe. I personally recommend adding a bit of fresh jalapeno to the blender (like in the dressing for my Asian Slaw Recipe), but you can also add ground cayenne pepper to taste and it complements the flavors well.

5. Can garlic powder be substituted?

In my opinion, there is no substitute for fresh garlic. However, if all you have is garlic powder, you can substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per clove of garlic. So you’d need 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of the 4 garlic cloves called for in this recipe.

6. Substitutes for apple cider vinegar?

If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can substitute more fresh lemon juice or even white wine vinegar to give it that tangy flavor that balances so well with tahini.

7. How to make it vegan?

While this easy dressing recipe is already dairy free, you can make it totally vegan by swapping maple syrup or another liquid sweetener for honey.

8. Best way to make it thinner or thicker?

If the dressing is too thin the first time you make it, next time reduce the amount of water you add initially until after you see how the consistency is. If it’s too thick, simply add a bit more water or even lemon juice.

9. Ways to use tahini dressing?

Here are some of my favorite ways to use this flavorful dressing:

• Toss with a simple salad and sliced green onions.
• Drizzle the delicious sauce over Buddha Bowls.
• Use as a tasty dipping sauce for spring rolls.
• Use it as the main sauce for chicken lettuce wraps.

10. How to store dressing?

Store your homemade dressing in the refrigerator in an airtight container and use within a week.

11. Other dressing recipes?

If you like this Tahini Dressing, you’ll absolutely love my Homemade Ranch Dressing. It’s full of fresh herbs and is always a hit!

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