Sesame

Our 61 Best Tahini Recipes, Because Hummus Is Just the Beginning

If you have tahini in your pantry, many excellent meals await.
photo of sesame noodles with scallions one of our favorite tahini recipes.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

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Hummus, we love you, but we all need more than one go-to tahini recipe. Tahini is a pantry star, helping to make sauces more complex and earthy, noodles more savory, cookies more nutty, and dips more creamy and satisfying. Here are our 61 favorite tahini recipes to get you started.

  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Judy Mancini
    3/61

    Tahini Cookies

    Think of these tahini cookies as grown-up peanut butter cookies. The tahini lends a creamy, earthy flavor.

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  • Photo by Cara Howe
    4/61

    Steel-Cut Oats With Squash and Tahini

    Tahini recipes are especially welcome at breakfast, when the sesame paste can add a bit of protein and nutty flavor to your favorite hot cereal.

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  • Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    5/61

    Swirled Sesame Tea Cake

    The appearance of tahini cookies, tahini brownies, and halvah sundaes at restaurants helped boost tahini out of the hummus bowl and into the pastry case. This tahini quick bread recipe will make you a believer too.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Liza Jernow
    6/61

    Chickpea-Mushroom Veggie Burgers

    Tahini helps hold together these homemade veggie burgers. Make the patties and freeze them, then cook from frozen in your oven.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
    7/61

    Halva 5 Ways

    The best thing about this classic sesame-based confection (aside from the fact that it’s so delicious) is how easy it is to make at home.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    8/61

    Hot Sesame Noodles with Scallions and Pork

    Swap in any kind of ground meat and any kind of vegetable for this saucy, clean-out-your-pantry rice noodle stir-fry.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    9/61

    Swiss Chard–Tahini Dip

    This dairy-free dip is wonderfully creamy, thanks to your favorite tahini and a good bit of olive oil.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li
    10/61

    Gluten-Free Chocolate-Tahini Brownies

    These boldly chocolatey (and completely flourless) brownies get topped with a savory swirl of tahini. Dragging a toothpick through them to make pretty designs is part of the fun.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Styling by Molly Baz
    11/61

    Fried Meatballs with Tahini Sauce

    Meatballs get the bright and crispy treatment here, with a crispy millet coating and a tangy lemon, garlic, and tahini sauce.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    12/61

    Miso-Tahini Squash Soup With Brown Rice

    A mixture of savory miso and nutty tahini adds a creamy richness in this filling vegetarian soup. Cut through the richness with ginger and garlic a few choice drops of hot chili oil and save this perfect cure-all for a blustery day.

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  • Photo by Nicole Franzen
    13/61

    Grain Bowl With Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Spiced Chickpeas, and Chard

    Composed of four elements—vegetables, a grain, a protein, and a sauce—Buddha bowls like this one are simple and really flexible. Use whatever you have; we promise it'll still come out pretty.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    14/61

    All-The-Seeds Hamantaschen

    These hamantaschen are filled with a celebration of seeds set in chewy-soft caramelized honey and tahini mix. While poppy is traditional, we threw in sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin as well for variety and crunch.

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  • Photo by Marcus Nilsson, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    15/61

    Broccolini With Sesame Sauce and Lemon

    Don't let your broccolini get boring. Serve it with this fantastic (and easy) salty-sweet sesame sauce.

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  • Photo by Candice Kumai
    16/61

    Avocado-Miso-Mushroom Bowl

    Grain bowls love a little creamy tahini, especially if they're topped with earthy mushrooms. Feel free to add whatever vegetables are in your fridge; this sort of grain, veg, and tahini recipe isn't strict.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
    17/61

    A Vegetarian’s Dream Sweet Potato Dinner

    Put roasted sweet potatoes, crisp mushrooms, and tender lentils over a dill-spiked feta-tahini sauce, and you'll have a restaurant-worthy meal at home.

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  • Photo by Candice Kumai
    18/61

    Spicy Miso-Tahini Ramen

    Miso paste and tahini add creamy texture and savory flavor to this spicy ramen bowl. We like to top it off with a slightly runny soft-boiled egg.

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  • Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    19/61

    Little Gem Wedge Salad with Tahini Ranch

    Philosophical question: Is it still a wedge if it isn't smothered in blue cheese and bacon? It's debatable, but we do know that this is a healthyish wedge salad we'd happily eat every day. It's got the rich part—a creamy tahini dressing that's so thick it anchors the greens. It's got the crunchy stuff—seeds and coarse salt. And it's got freshness—actual lettuce and herbs. Iceberg who?

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  • Photo by Cara Howe
    20/61

    Shaved Mushroom, Celery, and Sesame Salad

    In this salad, the color palette—pale whites and browns—may leave something to be desired, but the gorgeous medley of textures and very complementary flavors makes up for it.

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  • Photo by Candice Kumai
    21/61

    Spicy Tahini and Avocado Soba

    Soba + tahini + avocado? Enough said. This easy noodle bowl is the kind of thing we could eat every day for lunch.

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  • Photo by Marcus Nilsson, Prop Styling by Amy Wilson, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    22/61

    Fiery Green Tahini Sauce

    This is the condiment version of those summer sandals you want to wear with everything. It goes with sandwiches, crunchy vegetables, and chips.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Andy Baraghani
    25/61

    Muhammara

    This tahini recipe proves that there's much more to sesame dips than hummus. This vibrant mix of toasted walnuts and roasted red peppers is great with pita or crunchy veggies.

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  • 26/61

    Salted Chocolate Halva

    Salt and bittersweet chocolate lend a savory, sophisticated edge to this tahini-based dessert.

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  • Photo by Candice Kumai
    27/61

    Miso Kale Caesar Salad

    With tahini, miso, a touch of sweetness, and rice vinegar, this umami-lover’s dream salad is the perfect way to put a fresh spin on the classic.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Susan Spungen
    28/61

    Chocolate-Tahini Linzer Cookies

    Melt tahini with chocolate in whatever shade you please for a glossy bittersweet filling that will sandwich together rich cocoa shortbreads.

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  • Photo by Luisa Brimble
    29/61

    Deconstructed Falafel Salad

    Get all the flavors of falafel with crispy roasted chickpeas, crunchy crouton-like pita chips, crisp cucumber, and a lemon-tahini dressing.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Andy Baraghani
    30/61

    Smoky Eggplant Dip (Eggplant Moutabal)

    If you don’t have a grill or a gas stovetop, you can broil the eggplants in the oven, turning occasionally, until charred and tender.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton
    33/61

    Soba Noodles With Crispy Kale

    Nutritional yeast acts like a vegan version of Parm here, adding a hit of umami that plays well with crispy roasted kale and tender buckwheat noodles. 

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  • Photo by Anson Smart
    34/61

    Tangy Beet-Cashew Dressing with Chile

    In Amy Chaplin's salads, the vegetables are in the dressing. This is just one version of the raw beet dressings from her book Whole Food Cooking Every Day, where she combines sweet beets with tahini (or cashew butter) and red chiles to create a rich, creamy sauce.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Astrid Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Hampton
    35/61

    Chocolate, Pistachio, and Tahini Truffles

    In this version of two-bite truffles, you're swapping the traditional heavy cream with tahini and all of your favorites, like chocolate and honey. While these are make-ahead friendly, it may require some strong self-control to keep them from disappearing.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    36/61

    Shawarma-Spiced Chicken Pita With Tahini-Yogurt Sauce

    Traditional shawarma—found as a street food staple throughout the Middle East—calls for roasting meat on a large vertical spit. We got the same effect here—this time with chicken—by roasting at a high temperature, which yields chicken that is crisp on the outside yet moist and juicy on the inside. Dress the crisp chicken with a nutty tahini-yogurt dressing and sliced cucumbers.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    39/61

    Baked Falafel With Orange-Tahini Sauce

    By skipping the frying, this weeknight falafel dinner makes this classic Middle Eastern platter a lot easier. Drizzle on a tangy, orange-spiked tahini sauce and serve with quick-pickled red onions and an easy green cabbage and tomato salad.

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  • Marcus Nilsson
    40/61

    Haricots Verts and Freekeh With Minty Tahini Dressing

    Whisking tahini, lemon juice, and fresh herbs makes for a salad dressing that's like a Middle Eastern take on the classic ranch.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    41/61

    Black-and-White Halvah

    This striking dessert combines two types of tahini for a marbled look. They should be roughly the same consistency for this halvah recipe—ideally pretty loose and pourable—which makes marbling much easier.

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  • Charles Masters
    42/61

    Charred Eggplant and Tahini Spread

    Served with crusty bread or pita, this cumin-spiked spread is the perfect excuse to make dip the meal.

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  • Romulo Yanes
    55/61

    Gilded Sesame Cookies

    A tahini-based dough is rolled in gold- or silver-dusted sesame seeds for eye-popping cookies that melt in the mouth. (They're just as delicious if you skip the fancy gilding.)

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  • Photo by Eric Wolfinger
    56/61

    Turkish Lamb Chops With Sumac, Tahini, and Dill

    Here, the meat is coated in toasted whole spices—fennel, coriander, and cumin seeds—that have been very lightly crushed. The seeds retain their texture, giving the meat both a heady scent and a good crunch, and the tahini adds a rich nuttiness.

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  • Photo by Amy Neunsinger
    59/61

    Roasted Plums With Tahini Dressing

    The savory quality of the herbed sweet-sour plums, plus this incredibly creamy tahini and lemon dressing, is unthinkably tasty.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Lillian Chou
    60/61

    Pork Wontons With Sesame Sauce

    Whipping an egg into the filling of these simple, folded dumplings makes them fluffy and moist—and a double hit of soy amps up the umami.

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  • 61/61

    Lemon-Tahini Sauce

    Everyone needs to have a tahini recipe like this one memorized. Whip up a batch and toss it with grains and chopped carrots for a colorful salad, blend it with cooked chickpeas for a quick sandwich filling, or spoon it over blanched kale or broccoli florets set on a bed of brown rice for dinner.

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