Tahini Salad Dressing Recipe

This tahini salad dressing recipe is creamy and luscious. Perfect on a green salad or roasted cauliflower. In fact, this salad dressing would be perfect drizzled on a Buddha bowl or used as a dip for fresh veggies.

A good salad dressing is worth its weight in gold and this tahini salad dressing recipe is so worth it.

I don’t post many salads on TIHIC but you can bet when I have a good recipe, I’m always sure to let you know.

Tahini is becoming a staple in my home. Let me tell you why.

Ways to use tahini:

Some of my favorite ways to use tahini are to drizzle it on everything from toast to pancakes, brownies to cookies, cheesecake, and yes, even salad!

I also use it when I make Dan dan noodles, on roasted sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower salad and of course, hummus.

A jar of this tahini dressing recipe never lasts long in my fridge.

Just a few simple ingredients like lemon juice from fresh lemons, olive oil and a couple garlic cloves makes this a great creamy dressing for your favorite green salad.

I love white wine vinegar in this homemade dressing, but apple cider vinegar could be another option.

Homemade salad dressings are what make a great salad. Whenever I entertain, people always comment on the salad. Honestly homemade salad dressing is what turns a so-so salad into an incredible salad.

Make my standard and keep it in the fridge along with this great recipe, too! (And balsamic vinegar will suffice if you don’t have maple!)

What is tahini?

Tahini is toasted, ground sesame seeds, ground fine until they make a smooth paste.

Sesame seeds are quite oily and often the tahini you buy needs to be mixed together just like organic peanut butter when the oil separates from the peanuts. Tahini is kind of like the peanut butter of the Middle East!

In some brands of tahini, and my guess is that it’s just old tahini, the tahini solidifies in which case it helps to add some warm water and mix it in until you get a smooth drizzly consistency.

Good tahini is creamy and rich with a mildly nutty and very savory flavor. Kind of an earthy flavor if you ask me.

Tahini can go rancid if it is not refrigerated or if it is old. Smell it!

When buying tahini make sure you do not buy a tahini sauce. A tahini sauce recipe already contains lemon and garlic and trust me, it is so much better to make your own.

There are lots of brands out there and each has its own flavor. Some are nuttier and some are slightly bitter.

Some of my favorite tahini’s are found at Trader Joe’s and Middle Eastern groceries have so many. Look for Soom foods and Ziyad, Zadaf and Mid East.

I used this lemon tahini dressing on a green salad that I served with pickled celery and plums. So good and so simple.

This would be a perfect Fall salad if you switched out plums for persimmons. Blueberries for cranberries or pomegranate seeds. You get the picture, right?

And the celery could easily be served on its own. But you have to admit, it is one pretty salad.

If this is your first time making this delicious dressing you are in for a treat.

Tahini Salad Dressing

No need for a food processor for this easy dressing. It is easily whisked up in a small bowl, measuring cup, or a mason jar.

If you are making just tahini salad dressing and NOT the pickled celery-though you should-this is what you do.

Whisk together 1/2 c white wine vinegar, 2 1/2 T sugar, 1 T salt, 1/2 c tahini, 1/4 olive oil-the good stuff like EVOO, 2 garlic cloves put through a garlic press or you can grate them, but I like my fingertips, and more salt and pepper to taste.

That’s pretty simple, right?

Now if you take my advice and make the pickled celery, you can use the pickling mixture in the salad dressing and skip adding the vinegar, sugar and salt separately. Got that?

To put this salad together, and this is just a guide, because everyone has their own way to make salad.

I love Little Gems that can be found in the produce area at Costco. They are really just little romaine’s. Unfortunately mine froze in my fridge last night!

One Little Gem is enough for the two of us and they last a long time in the fridge if they don’t freeze!

This lemon tahini salad dressing would also be great on a kale salad so keep that in mind if you can’t find Romaine or Little Gem’s.

A simple salad green salad is what I was aiming for. With the addition of pickled celery and plums, lots of celery leaves, (just as I would use fresh herbs) this became one great salad.

Tossing on some fresh blueberries was a good idea, too!

Want some nuts? Toasted hazelnuts are great and a sprinkle of sesame seeds or a drizzle of sesame oil over the finished salad. would really bring out the sesame flavor.

Yes, you probably will have some pickled celery leftover and if you do, they are wonderful in gin and tonic’s! Cheers!

Need a Few More?

Tahini Turmeric Dip

Almond Butter Tahini Cookies

Smoky Pumpkin Hummus

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