Name: Lemon Tahini Dressing
Cook time: 5 min
Yield: Makes 1 1/3 cups
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup tahini; 2/3 to 3/4 cups water (as needed); 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste); Black pepper to taste

Photo by James Ransom

Test Kitchen-Approved

Author Notes

This dressing is perfect for fresh salads. If you like, add less water to make it more of a sauce. —Gena Hamshaw

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Lemon Tahini Dressing

Cook time 5 minutes
Makes 1 1/3 cups

Ingredients

In This Recipe

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Directions

Whisk or blend all ingredients together, starting with 2/3 cup water and adding more until you reach a desired consistency. Dressing will keep 5 to 6 days in the refrigerator.

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BarnOwlBaker
cyn
Angela Parsons
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Review

Gena is a registered dietitian, recipe developer, and food blogger. She's the author of three cookbooks, including Power Plates (2017) and Food52 Vegan (2015). She enjoys cooking vegetables, making bread, and challenging herself with vegan baking projects.

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11 Reviews

BarnOwlBaker February 28, 2020

Delicious and appreciated the comment to use miso paste I/o salt. In my opinion, the balance of tahini and lemon was great. Thank you Gena!

Bistro632 January 6, 2020

Delicious and so easy! I used my favorite tahini from a local Israeli grocer; it’s much thinner than the ones I’ve purchased from Trader Joe’s and the supermarket. I didn’t use the minimum amount of water and it was so thin I added more tahini. I will be using this on so many dishes...

cyn April 5, 2019

made this with just eyeballing everything but added a bit of extra lemon juice and a little of the zest, plus ground sumac, a teeny bit of dried orange peel, and a little crushed aleppo pepper. sooo good, and i am not the hugest straight-tahini fan! we poured it over some grilled eggplant with fresh mint, parsley, feta, and pine nuts. 👏👏

Melissa November 12, 2018

This has quickly become a family favorite. And don't be discouraged by come of the reviews-- it's so easy to tweak depending on mood and the flavors of your ingredients that day. I start with the proportions in the recipe, and then add more of whatever it needs to bring it into balance. Absolutely delicious drizzled on to asparagus!

beejay45 October 22, 2015

This is A lemon tahini dressing, just a template. You adapt it to your preferences, people. Really. Do you (and you know who you are) really have a stone tablet with THE lemon tahini dressing recipe on it??? If so, maybe you should take the time to post it. People post recipes that work for them and the people they cook for. Make it your own without the value judgements, can't you??? Not Gena Hamshaw, btw, so don't blame her. /;)

Maebe June 25, 2015

wayy too much tahini and not enough lemon. all I could taste was tahini, had to change a lot.

Angela P. February 11, 2015

Can you freeze this?

Nance January 10, 2015

Even better if you omit the salt and substitute miso paste.

Dominique June 9, 2014

I really enjoyed the combination of brown rice, kale, avocado and lentils (but beans would be equally good), but I found the dressing lacking a little punch, so I added 2 garlic cloves, very finely crushed, a bit of freshly squeezed orange juice and a few drops of siracha. Then, it was absolutely delicious !

Josie M. May 21, 2014

I thought this was heavy on tahini and light on lemon, unless you really like the taste of tahini.

Fred G. May 4, 2014

Chili pepper of some kind, better than black.

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