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.
PrintCreamy Tahini Dressing
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
- Category: Salad dressing
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
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.
Diana
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☺️
Just say om
Try substitute syrup Monk.. or Iadded yogurt, and the drop of liquid brags Amino soy sauce.
Elissa R Levine
Sooo good. Just what I was looking for to dress up a kale bowl without the usual sesame oil. Thank you!
Kate
You’re welcome, Elissa!
Susan
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!
Kate
That’s great to hear, Susan!
Elaina
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.
Janice
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
Kate
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.
Shelly
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.
Kate
I love that! Thank you for your review, Shelly.
Jen
How many servings does this make?
Kate
Hi Jen, see the recipe card right above the ingredients list.
Michael Faulkner
Can you use Tahina instead of Tahini? Do you compensate for their differences in test and texture? Thanks,
Kate
This is best as written, Michael!
Deanna
Yummmmm!!!!
Julia
Love this dressing. It’s goes with everything!! Fantastic alternative to mayo and other less healthy dressings. And super easy to make
Katie W
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.