Creamy Tahini Dressing
You're going to love this delicious creamy tahini dressing recipe! It's simple to make, full of nutritious ingredients and goes with everything.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 27, 2024
My friend Erin requested a tahini dressing recipe, and here it is! This tahini dressing is luxuriously creamy yet plant-based (no mayo!). It’s a fun alternative to your standard vinaigrette.
This tahini dressing is versatile and goes with a wide variety of salad ingredients. I listed a bunch of those ingredients below to help you craft your own salad. The tahini dressing will bring it all together.
I shared my go-to tahini sauce recipe a couple of months ago (have you tried it yet?). This salad dressing is similar but designed specifically for drizzling on salads, rather than using as a dipping sauce or on sandwiches.
For this salad dressing, I omitted the garlic and made up for the lost flavor by adding Dijon mustard. I also incorporated some olive oil in this dressing to make it extra luxurious. It’s easy to whisk together at a moment’s notice, and keeps well for about a week. I think you’re going to love it!
Watch How to Make Creamy Tahini Dressing
Tahini Dressing Tips & Notes
Buy good tahini! They vary a lot in flavor and consistency. The best tahini comes from Ethiopia, and my favorite brands of Ethiopian tahini are Soom Foods (affiliate link) and Trader Joe’s organic tahini.
Ice-cold water is key. Fill a glass with water and ice before you make this dressing so your water is very cold. The cold water ensures that the mixture emulsifies instead of getting all gloppy and weird. It also turns an already-creamy mixture into a remarkably creamy dressing! You’d almost think there’s mayonnaise in this dressing, but there’s not.
Balance tahini’s bitterness and tang with a little sweetener and some extra salt. A little bit of maple syrup or honey go a long way in making this salad taste well-balanced, complex, and totally delicious. This dressing also calls for a little more salt than most of my other dressings. Salt helps balance bitterness and brings out tahini’s best.
Tahini Dressing Salad Suggestions
This tahini dressing would be great on a salad with any of the following ingredients:
- Greens: kale, arugula, romaine, spring greens
- Tomatoes
- Bell pepper
- Radish
- Fennel
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Cabbage
- Summer squash
- Red onion or green onion
- Fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, chives, dill, parsley
- Beans: chickpeas, lentils
- Whole grains: quinoa, farro, wheat berries
- Nuts and seeds: almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
- Cheese: goat cheese, feta
Please tell me how you like this dressing in the comments! I’m so eager to hear how your salads turn out!
Looking for more homemade dressings to liven up your salads? Don’t miss my mint dressing, basic vinaigrette with variations, healthy honey mustard dressing, or carrot ginger dressing.
Creamy Tahini Dressing
You’re going to love this delicious creamy tahini dressing recipe! It’s simple to make, full of nutritious ingredients and goes with everything. Recipe yields about ¾ cup.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons ice-cold water, more as needed
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or jar, combine the olive oil, tahini, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt, and several twists of black pepper. Whisk until thoroughly blended.
- Add the cold water, and whisk again. The dressing should become remarkably creamy. Taste, and add more lemon juice (for zing) and pepper, if desired. If your dressing is too thick to drizzle, whisk in more cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Serve!
- This dressing will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 1 week. It may thicken with time; simply thin it with a little more cool water as needed.
Notes
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey.
Change it up: You can stir in a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped fresh herbs (dill, basil, mint, cilantro or parsley) for an herbed tahini dressing. For full-blown green goddess flavor, see the herbs and amounts suggested here.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I added a good dollop of plain yogurt to the dressing and poured it onto a buddha bowl with farro, roasted root veggies, black beans & chopped arugula. I really liked the addition of the yogurt and it stood up well to the hearty grain, veggies & beans. Husband liked too☺️
Try substitute syrup Monk.. or Iadded yogurt, and the drop of liquid brags Amino soy sauce.
I added minced garlic to give it a little kick! This recipe is amazing! Thank you!!
I recently made a sheet pan tofu, sweet potato and cauliflower recipe that was desperately in need of a drizzled sauce and this was perfect! It is so flavorful and I’ve been using the leftovers on everything – steamed broccoli, green beans, baked potatoes, grain bowls, chicken and rice. Such a good condiment to keep on hand!
Sooo good. Just what I was looking for to dress up a kale bowl without the usual sesame oil. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Elissa!
I made the recipe exactly as in the instructions and it was creamy but not too thick. I left it on the counter for about an hour and then found that it had split. Whisking again didn’t help. Any ideas on why it split? Drizzled it on veggies and the flavour was outstanding!
That’s great to hear, Susan!
Did as written except didn’t have lemon so used one lime, one orange, and zest of grapefruit as well as a tablespoon of dill. It’s a flexible dressing for different variations!
My split when I added the salt and pepper. Don’t know why
Utterly divine! My new favourite salad dressing! I nearly ate it all by itself, but it was incredible mixed with a kale and sweet potato salad.
I halfed this recipe incase I wasn’t keen . I felt it was quite a bitter taste to this dressing and had to add another teaspoon of maple syrup but it still wasn’toverwhelmed. I don’t think I would make it again sorry
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this recipe. What brand of tahini did you use? Sometimes the tahini can impact results. I appreciate your feedback, Janice.
Outstanding. Easy and delicious. I added some dried cilantro but that was it., was perfect. Thank you!
I crave this dressing all the time! I’ve made it dozens of times and this review is long overdue. It’s ridiculously easy to make… and I’m a complete butterfingers in the kitchen. The flavor is spectacular every single try — so luscious and creamy.
I love that! Thank you for your review, Shelly.
How many servings does this make?
Hi Jen, see the recipe card right above the ingredients list.
Can you use Tahina instead of Tahini? Do you compensate for their differences in test and texture? Thanks,
This is best as written, Michael!
Yummmmm!!!!
Love this dressing. It’s goes with everything!! Fantastic alternative to mayo and other less healthy dressings. And super easy to make
This was tasty and I enjoyed it, though I found it slightly oily compared to your tahini caesar dressing which I *love*.
I served it over baby kale salad with avocado, sautéed artichoke hearts and red bell peppers.
I’m a huge fan of everything you make. Thank you for sharing!
This was excellent! The cold water does make a difference. It’s a keeper, thank you!
You’re welcome, Karen!
Just learned that tahini is very high in calcium. I love this!! Thank you, for sharing.
How long does it keep in the fridge?
Hi Emily, please see the final step: This dressing will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for about 1 week.
Delicious. I made it as listed and put it on a simple salad (spinach, butter lettuce, carrots, radishes, beans) with quartered falafel balls. Mmm! So easy to make, and I had all the ingredients in the house!
I’m literally obsessed with this dressing, but I’ve made it too much for my husband lol. What would you recommend adding to it to make it a bit spicy?
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m not sure about adding spice to this without trying it. Sorry!
I used spicy mustard instead of dijon for a little heat
this recipe tastes exactly like what I was craving. so delicious and simple, thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Megan! Thank you for your review.
I added freshly grated garlic and it kick it up a notch. Also red pepper flakes or cayenne would heat it up too
Made as written but blended it in a Ninja single-serve smoothie container. YUM! But I did end up adding some fresh ginger and fresh garlic because I had it, I thought it would add some pizzazz and, why not? Extra YUM!
Love your recipes – thank you!
Perfect before I added the water then immediately it became a lump like a snowball inside my whisk. Bummer. It tasted good before the water and consistency would have been fine for a dressing, I should have just left it be. Water used was ice cold as instructed.
I’m sorry to hear that. Did you add more water? See notes, sometimes you need more water to get it to the right consistency.
Why wouldn’t this keep for a month or more in the refrigerator? It goes bad in a week??? I like to have a few kinds of home made dressing in the fridge instead of using bottled dressings.
Is there something you could use in place of the lemon? I have a citrus allergy, so it’s a no go. Maybe apple cider vinegar?
I haven’t tried it, but may work. Let me know how it goes!
Delicious recipe. Ice cold water really makes a difference too. I used Apple vinegar instead of lemon juice & pomegranate sauce instead of honey or maple syrup.
I love the sound of this recipe, but I’m trying to keep the calories down. Is it worth making without the EVOO?
This recipe is best as written. I hope you try it!
Very good! Easy too. Currently in Portugal, and there are not many dressings available, so I am making them. This one is very tasty.
Great to hear, Kyla!
This was a great nutty, tangy.. really forgiving recipe!
I was psyched for a tahini dressing but this tasted more to me like a honey mustard dressing than tahini. I doubled the lemon and added cumin and cayenne and it was much better.
I could literally drink this dressing. It is incredible on so many things….Buddha bowls, salads, dipping sauce. I have been making it a few times per month and can’t quit!
This is a delicious item. I like sweetened items very much. Is this dish suitable for heart patients?
I love lemon tahini dressing but haven’t been able to make one that made me swoon. I added twice the lemon, and then this one did it for me. Soooo good!!!
I make my salad dressings now instead of store bought. This recipe is delicious and I come back to it often! I love this on salads and roasted vegetables. I look forward to your blog posts and cooking recipes from your Love Real Food cookbook!
I love this dressing and make it all the time exactly as written.
I’m obsessed with dressing! We use it on quinoa bowls with crispy fried chickpeas and veggies (cucumber, carrot, tomatoes). Every time I have it, I wonder why I don’t make it more often!
Hi Courtney, It’s a very versatile dressing! I’m so glad you enjoy it.
Best dressing ever! Going use the leftover for a chicken marinade.