About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Whisk pantry staples into a creamy, spoon-coating sauce that keeps for days and turns any simple plate of vegetables, grains, or grilled meat into something that tastes restaurant-level. ✨

Ingredients

• Base
• 🌰 Tahini (well stirred): 240 g (1 cup / 8.5 oz) sesame
• 💧 Ice-cold water: 240–300 ml (1–1¼ cups / 8–10 fl oz), as needed for consistency
• Flavor
• 🍋 Fresh lemon juice: 60 ml (4 tbsp / 2 fl oz)
• 🧄 Garlic cloves, very finely grated or crushed: 8–10 g (2–3 cloves / 0.3 oz)
• 🧂 Fine sea salt: 5–6 g (1 tsp / 0.18–0.21 oz), to taste
• 🌿 Ground cumin: 2 g (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🍯 Maple syrup or runny honey (optional, for balance): 5 ml (1 tsp / 0.17 fl oz)
• Finish
• 🫒 Extra-virgin olive oil (optional, for richness): 15 ml (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🌿 Fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional): 5 g (2 tbsp / 0.18 oz)

Preparation

• 1 Prepare the garlic and lemon In a medium bowl whisk together lemon juice and grated garlic. Let stand 5 min so the garlic mellows slightly and perfumes the liquid.
• 2 Start the tahini paste Add tahini, salt, cumin, and maple syrup or honey (if using) to the bowl. Whisk until thick and pasty; it may seize and look grainy at first, which is exactly what you want before thinning the sauce.
• 3 Thin with ice water Drizzle in ice-cold water a few tablespoons at a time, whisking constantly. The mixture will loosen, turn pale, and become smooth. Continue adding water until the tahini sauce is creamy, pourable, and coats the back of a spoon; this is usually around 240–300 ml (1–1¼ cups) total. Taste and adjust salt and lemon.
• 4 Finish and adjust texture Whisk in olive oil if using for extra silkiness, then stir through chopped parsley. If the sauce thickens as it sits, whisk in a spoon or two of cold water to return it to a drizzleable consistency.
• 5 Chill and store Pour the tahini sauce into a jar or airtight container and chill 30 min before serving to let flavors meld. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days, thinning with a splash of water as needed before each use.

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

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