Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce | The Rustic Foodie® (2024)

This vegan Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce recipe is easy and makes a great healthy dressing for salads! It's made with fresh herbs and garlic.

This Herbed Tahini Dressing is a great all-purpose sauce to drizzle over salads, grilled or roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, falafel, or shawarma. It can also be used as a dip for fresh veggies.

I love a good sauce drizzled over just about anything. This one is great, because it's packed with flavor and fresh ingredients. It's made with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, along with parsley, cilantro, and dill.

The tahini gives this sauce a nice creamy texture. The lemon juice adds a tangy pop of acidity, and the fresh herbs give it great flavor.

It's not specific to any particular cuisine, making it an all around sauce or dressing that can be used to top your favorite grilled or roasted meats, vegetables, or salads.

If you've got fresh herbs growing in your garden, this sauce is a great way to use them up!

What Herbs Go With Tahini?

Tahini is a paste made from toasted, hulled sesame seeds. The seeds are blended until smooth, along with some oil until the mixture forms a paste.

It's used extensively in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines and found in popular dishes like hummus and baba ghanoush.

Tahini has a nutty and earthy flavor. It's naturally vegan, dairy free, and gluten free (make sure to check labels to be sure the brand used is free of gluten), making it a great addition to any dish.

Tahini paste may be found in the ethnic aisle or natural foods section of your local grocery store or purchased online.

It pairs well with fresh herbs of all kinds. Parsley, dill, tarragon, cilantro, and thyme are all great choices to combine with tahini. This recipe calls for parsley, cilantro, and dill.

I recommend using fresh herbs to make this Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce. Dried herbs do not have as much flavor and do not work well for sauces like this one.

Ingredients For Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce

Here's what you'll need to make it.

• ½ cup Tahini
• ¼ cup Lemon Juice
• ¼ cup Water
• 2 cloves Garlic
• ¼ packed cup Parsley
• ¼ packed cup Cilantro
• ¼ packed cup Dill
• ¼ tsp. Kosher Salt and Pepper

How To Make Herb Tahini Sauce

This sauce is so easy to prepare and well worth the effort. It can be used drizzled on top of or alongside so many different dishes.

It's made by tossing all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulsing until the mixture has reach a desired consistency.

1. Start by peeling two large cloves of garlic (there is no need to mince it).
2. Roughly chop ¼ packed cup each of fresh parsley (flat leaf or curly parsley is fine), cilantro, and dill.
3. Squeeze ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice into a measuring cup (equals 1-2 large lemons), making sure to remove any seeds.
4. Add ½ cup tahini to a food processor (tahini is thick, so you will likely need a spatula to scrape it all into the food processor).
5. Add the ¼ cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup water, the packed ¼ cup each of fresh parsley, cilantro, and dill, the peeled garlic, and ¼ tsp. each kosher salt and pepper to a food processor.
6. Pulse until the mixture is completely combined.

How To Get The Right Consistency

Tahini is very thick and can become pasty and chunky when liquid such as water or lemon juice is added to it. The texture of this sauce may vary depending on the brand of tahini used.

The food processor helps to combine the tahini and the liquids properly, but it may need to be tweaked a bit.

1. Once all of the ingredients have been pulsed in the food processor, test the sauce to make sure that it is the right consistency. It should be thick, but pourable.
2. Feel free to add a bit more water and continue to pulse if the sauce seems too thick. Alternately, you can add more lemon juice if you'd like to thin it out and add some more acidity.
3. Taste the sauce to test the seasoning level. Feel free to add a bit more salt and pepper if needed.

The consistency is correct if the sauce is pourable, but not watery and can easily be drizzled over a dish like salad or roasted vegetables.

Does This Sauce Need To Be Refrigerated?

This Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It lasts up to a week if stored this way.

The sauce may harden a bit if stored in the fridge, so you may need to add a bit more water or lemon juice and stir until it reaches desired consistency before serving.

I love to whip up a batch of this stuff and keep it on hand in the fridge.

You can also double the recipe if you'd like more of it, or to have some to keep as leftovers in the refrigerator throughout the week.

Can It Be Frozen?

I do not recommend freezing this sauce, as it is best enjoyed fresh or within a week of making.

What To Serve With Tahini Sauce

The flavors of this sauce are earthy, bright, and tangy, making it a great addition to savory dishes of any kind.

I love to add sauces like this one to roasted vegetables like Mediterranean cauliflower, roasted broccoli, or garlic green beans.

It's perfect drizzled on top of a grain bowl made with quinoa or brown rice, along with some roasted or fresh vegetables, like this Summer Grilled Vegetable Salad.

You can also use it as a dressing on green salads or fresh salads of any kind.

Herbed tahini sauce is delicious with falafel, shawarma, kofta kebabs, or any other Middle Eastern dishes.

I love this sauce served alongside grilled meats like chicken or beef, as well as grilled veggie skewers. It pairs well with grilled vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and eggplant.

It could even be used as a spread on a sandwich or a burger bun.

If you love to use fresh herbs, be sure to check out these dishes!

• Dill Egg Salad
• Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
• Fresh Pea Mint Salad
• Tarragon Chicken Salad
• Cheddar and Chive Scones
• Green Pasta Sauce
• Smoked Salmon Dill Ricotta Crostini
• Spinach Walnut Pesto

Love sauces and dressings? Check out these recipes!

• Cashew Cilantro Sauce
• Lemon Tarragon Dipping Sauce
• Fresh Herb Ranch Dressing
• Dill Pickle Tartar Sauce
• Spicy Thousand Island Dressing
• Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing

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Air Fryer Falafel

Chicken Shawarma Wrap

Homemade Gyros

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