What can I make with tahini?
Tahini is the kind of ingredient that quietly rescues dinner. Recipes using tahini are below, along with storage and substitution notes.
11 recipes with tahini
Classic Hummus
Silky chickpea dip with tahini and lemon.
Middle Eastern10m6
Creamy Hummus
Smooth chickpea dip with tahini, lemon, and garlic.
Middle Eastern20m6
Vegan Buddha Bowl
Quinoa bowl with roasted veg, chickpeas, and tahini.
American35m2Falafel Wrap
Crispy chickpea fritters in a pita with tahini sauce.
Middle Eastern35m3Baba Ganoush
Smoky roasted eggplant dip with tahini and lemon.
Middle Eastern35m4Buddha Bowl
Grain bowl loaded with roasted veg, protein, and tahini drizzle.
American35m4
Shawarma
Spice-marinated chicken shaved off a vertical spit into flatbread.
Middle Eastern50m6Falafel Pita
Crisp chickpea fritters in pita with tahini sauce and salad.
Middle Eastern60m4
Roasted Eggplant With Tahini, Pine Nuts, and Lentils
For the Lentils: Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°F to prepare for roasting eggplant.
United States4
Falafel Pita Sandwich with Tahini Sauce
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Syrian4
Baba Ghanoush
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
Syrian4
How to cook with tahini
- 1Start with aromatics - onion, garlic, or ginger softened in fat - then add the tahini.
- 2Season early and taste as you go rather than salting only at the end.
- 3Give it enough heat and enough space; a crowded pan steams instead of browning.
- 4Finish with acid and fresh herbs, the two things that make a simple dish taste deliberate.
What goes well with tahini
Tahini is at its best with onion, garlic, lemon, chili, herbs and stock. Any two or three of those, plus tahini, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing tahini
Dry tahini keeps for months in a sealed container away from light and heat. Once cooked, cool it quickly, refrigerate within two hours, and use within 3-4 days; cooked grains and legumes freeze extremely well in single-portion bags.
Substituting tahini
If you are out of tahini, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Tahini recipes: common questions
- What can I make with tahini and not much else?
- Plenty. With tahini plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest tahini recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute tahini?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover tahini?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover tahini without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.