Tahini Date Shake
Creamy, dairy-free shake made with tahini, dates and bananas. This rich smoothie would be a lovely after-dinner drink or afternoon treat!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Our month in Austin is coming to a close far too quickly. I only have two more nights left before we pack our bags and head north. I kind of want to throw a flailing fit about it. “It’s not fairrrrrrr!”
I haven’t crossed off all the restaurants and activities on my Austin bucket list, so I’m feeling some intense pressure to take advantage of every minute left. It always kills me to leave a place without seeing it all. I want to cross off one place on my list to move on to the next, but that won’t happen with Austin. It rarely happens that way. I almost always want to go back! There’s always more to see and do, isn’t there?
I feel the same way about Austin as I do about my trip to Israel last fall. One of my favorite restaurants in Tel Aviv was Café Louise, where we must have sampled just about everything on the menu. They handed out tiny tahini-date-banana “shakes” to enjoy before dinner. I loved that shake, and I’ve recreated it at home a few times.
This recipe is rich and creamy, featuring nutty tahini and sweet dates, two of the Middle East’s most beloved ingredients. The result is a decadent treat that is closer to a milkshake than a smoothie in terms of sweetness and richness, although there’s no ice cream involved. It’s dairy-free and vegan. This “shake” is a little on the unusual side, but I hope you’ll give it a try!
Tahini Date Shake
This creamy, dairy-free shake is made with tahini, dates and bananas. This rich smoothie would be a lovely after-dinner drink or afternoon treat! Recipe yields two small shakes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk or milk of choice (nut-free if necessary)
- 2 sliced and frozen ripe (but not overripe) bananas
- ¼ cup well-stirred tahini
- 4 Medjool dates, pitted and torn into pieces*
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon real vanilla extract
- Optional garnishes: pinch of cinnamon and/or sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the milk, frozen banana slices, tahini, dates, cinnamon and vanilla.
- Blend until smooth. Taste and add more vanilla or cinnamon if desired. If you’d like to lighten it up, blend in some ice as well. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.
Notes
*Date tip: If your dates are old and difficult to tear open, soak them in hot water for 5 minutes before using.
Change it up: Substitute nut butter for the tahini, like peanut butter, almond butter or pecan butter.
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.
As an Israeli I can tell you you made a very nice description of Tel Aviv. People and food cautivanted every visitor.
Gastronomy is a symphony where the different cultures that live there play they own flavored to create wonderful dishes with middle eastern / Mediterranean accents . Markets are a joy of the senses and invite you to eat and cook Great shake loved it Thank you.
I tasted some amazing banana ice cream yesterday at my local farm shop and I was so tempted to get some but my body really doesn’t agree with dairy so I resisted temptation! When I got home I made this with a frozen banana from the freezer and it was everything I needed and more. Second time making it and definitely not the last.
I’m so glad this hit the spot, Georgia!
All of your recipes are awesome . Thank You So Much . Joanne
Thank you, Joanne!
This was absolutely delicious!! My boyfriend and are huge fans of your recipes. I’ve already bought three copies of your cookbook. One for us and two for gifts. I rarely give cookbooks as gifts but we’ve been so impressed with your cooking that I’m excited to share it with my loved ones.
We made your Southwestern Kale Power Salad for dinner and I noticed this shake recipe on your site. A few hours after dinner, we were craving a sweet treat and realized that we had everything for the date shake. It absolutely exceeded our expectations. You are a fantastic chef and your recipes never disappoint. Thank you for another delicious recipe Kate! :-)
Thank you so much for such a kind comment, Alicia! Thanks for buying the book and sharing it with others. And I *love* this as a sweet-tooth craving, too! Thank you for reading. :)
wow this is just fantastic! so delicious. i added a few handfuls of ice and i used fresh home made unfiltered almond milk. it turned out like ice cream so i served it in a bowl with a spoon. i will be making this again and again. next time i’ll try adding a bit of fresh mint. thank you so much for the wonderful recipes you provide.
Tasty! Thank you, for your review. And, you are very welcome!
I found this recipe by chance. I was searching smoothie recipes with tahini as an ingredient. All I can say is, WOW! Am I ever glad I found this one. It was amazing and extremely satisfying to my sweet tooth. Going in my recipe box as a new fav! Thanks for sharing.
I am glad you did! Thank you for the kind words and for your review, Tan.
Oh goodness Kate. This one is a winner!!! 5 stars aren’t enough.
I used homemade almond milk and am drinking this for breakfast.
Thank you so much for another wonderful recipe.
You’re so sweet, Morgan! Thank you. I appreciate the kind words and review.
A super delicious recipe! Was needing something to do with the Tahini I got from Israel.
I love that! Thank you, for your comment and review Shivi.
Delicious! I like to spoon it out of the glass like a dessert. So good, the perfect treat.
Thanks for your review, Elena!
I was not expecting to like this as much as I did! It is DELICIOUS and a perfect dessert/afternoon snack. Definitely will make again and again.
Great to hear, Olivia!
this is a really delicious adaptation of the tahini-date shake i fell in love with last october when i visited tel-aviv. i discovered this shake at a super cute breakfast/lunch cafe, and couldn’t resist ordering it. it blew my MIND, it was so delicious. ever since then, i’ve been dreaming of that shake and wishing i could visit that cafe on command.
i found this version of the shake and it’s quite delicious, although the one i devoured was slightly different and maybe a little more dreamy but still delicious!
the one i had in tel-aviv had walnuts and oatmeal in it, and i forget which milk substitute, but the other ingredients seem to be the same.
i just made this for dinner even though it’s traditionally a breakfast meal (treating myself!) i don’t have any pecans right now, but i did make this as-is and added about 1/4 cup of rolled oats with some ice, only 1 banana, and used oatly oatmilk. it’s like drinking ice cream for dinner!
highly recommend :) and recommend playing around with ingredients, too!
thanks for creating this post for us tel-aviv dreamers!
Thank you for your detailed feedback!
thanks for the lovely recipe! I used some more milk and added pomegranat seeds on top
will definitely have this shake again :)
You’re welcome!
I finally made this for breakfast this morning after fantasizing about it for several weeks. Y’all, it delivered. I ended up taking half of it into work for my smoothie-obsessed coworker because it was too good not to share. It is so thick and creamy and exactly the right level of sweet. Another absolute winner- I’ve never made a recipe off this site that wasn’t a solid 10/10.
I’m glad you did! Thank you for sharing, Sofie.
Really delicious! Can’t wait to make this on a hot summer day.
This literally tasted like a vanilla milkshake – so delicious!!!
I didn’t plan on leaving a comment, but when I realized there were only 19 reviews, I was shocked! I absolutely love the recipes that you share, and this one is no exception.
I love tahini, and I can’t wait to try it out the day I visit Israel or even Ethiopia as they supposedly have the best sesame seeds in the world, but in the meantime, I have to content myself with what I have in China.
I used to drink smoothies with berries, but ever since I tried this tahini, banana and date smoothie, I fell in love to the point that I use those ingredients for my oatmeal as well.
Thank you for sharing this, and keep up the great work!
What an excellent substitution for a shake. I have never tried tahini in a smoothie/shake before and man was I missing out! Thank you for yet another great recipe
Thanks for the recipe, hope you enjoyed your trip to Palestine! <3
This was so delicious! And super quick and healthy! Perfect dessert!
Late but still relevant, I made this and really enjoyed it! I soaked the dates beforehand in warm water to make them easier to blend. I also froze 50% of the oat milk to make it a thicker texture as well!
Overall truly loved the subtle nuttiness of this. Will be making a lot this summer!
SO delicious! I doubled the recipe, but only used three bananas and it was more than enough. I think next time I will try with one less date as well. Such a treat, thank you as always for the foolproof recipes.
Where has this been all my life? So delicious
I decreased tahini to two tablespoons and added one cup spinach. This was my single serving morning smoothie. Absolutely delicious!
Great to hear, Mary! Thank you for your review.
Currently enjoying my delicious tahini milkshake! Thanks for this awesome recipe…makes me want to book a trip back to Israel
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Valerie! I appreciate your review.