Sesame

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

If you have tahini in your pantry, many excellent meals await.

March 19, 2020

photo of sesame noodles with scallions one of our favorite tahini recipes.

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 Alexandra Shytsman
1/61
Sweet Potato–Tahini Dip With Za'atar
The base of this dip is so simple: It's mostly sweet potatoes and tahini. If you don't have the sumac on hand, you may want to add a squeeze more lemon.
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Photo by Alex Lau
2/61
Sesame-Ginger Dressing
This savory, addictive dressing will taste good on just about anything, including cold noodle salads.
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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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