5 Ingredients or Fewer

Homemade Tahini

by:
August 30, 2012
4.7
3 Ratings
Homemade Tahini
  • Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Author Notes

For a coarser texture and more flavorful tahini, use unhulled seeds. For something smoother and creamier, go with the hulled sesame. I used a mixture of olive oil and vegetable oil. I found the flavor of the olive oil over-powering in a large quantity, but liked having a little bit to give it complexity. I also used a lot more total oil than most recipes out there call for (1:1 seeds to oil versus 4:1). If you find your paste comes together with less, by all means hold your horses. —PhoebeLapine

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup sesame seeds, hulled or unhulled
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ½ - ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons warm water
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Arrange the sesame seeds on a parchment-lined baking sheet in an even layer. Toast the nuts until golden brown and fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through cooking to redistribute, about 6 minutes. Allow the seeds to cool slightly.
  3. Transfer the sesame seeds to a small food processor or blender. Add the olive oil and puree, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until a paste forms.
  4. Add the salt and ¼ cup of vegetable oil. Continue to puree until smooth. Add the water – this will give the mixture a lighter smoother texture. Puree until the tahini is thinner than a nut butter, smooth and spreadable. Add more vegetable oil in ¼ cup increments until you achieve this texture (it took me about 3/4 cup).
  5. Transfer the tahini to a sterilized jar and keep in the fridge for up to a month, with all of your other condiments, or use immediately in your hummus recipe or as a nutty vinaigrette.
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  • Pamela Turner
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  • GoodFoodie
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  • kitblu
    kitblu
PhoebeLapine
Phoebe is a writer, gluten-free chef, culinary instructor, award-winning blogger, and author of The Wellness Project. You can find her healthy comfort food and gluten-free finds on www.FeedMePhoebe.com

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3 Reviews

Pamela T.
Pamela T. November 14, 2019
I wanted to make hummus and was all out of tahini. I knew the F52 community would come to the rescue and this recipe did so admirably. I had just enough sesame seeds for a half recipe. My food processor left me with a somewhat coarse mixture, but I had also depleted my supply of vegetable oil and ended up subbing grape seed oil, so possibly that made a difference. However... all ends well. The finished hummus made with this tahini was the smoothest batch I’ve ever prepared and we loved the fresh toasted notes of sesame. Big 👍!
 
GoodFoodie
GoodFoodie September 17, 2012
Brilliance! I've WAY too many jars in my frig and have had particular trouble with store bought tahini getting bitter way to quickly.
 
kitblu
kitblu September 16, 2012
This tahini is much lighter in colour than my store-bought. Is it the oil used? Or a different sesame seed. Isn't there a dark coloured sesame seed?