The rich, nuttiness of tahini with the bright acidity of lemon and the spice of garlic will make this Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce your new best friend!
A well made tahini sauce is one of life's great pleasures.
It is so good on everything. It can be used as
- A dressing for a green salad or something fancier like Seitan, Onion, Jalapeño Salad with Tahini Dressing
- A topping for Pearl Couscous with Zucchini and Purple Kale
- Drizzled over steamed veggies
- Over sorghum or bulgur filled bell peppers or baked eggplant
- Leave the dressing thick and use it as a base for a tart
- As a spread on a sandwich made of pan seared tofu or tempeh
- On a piece of toast or as a dip for bread
Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce is so versatile and customizable, let you imagination go wild!
Ingredients
- Tahini
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Aleppo Pepper
- Smoked Paprika
See recipe card for quantities.
The tahini gives the sauce it nuttiness and richness. Try our Tahini Paste.
Lemon juice gives a acidic brightness to the sauce.
Garlic gives a spiciness and bite.
The Aleppo Pepper gives an earthiness that balances well with the other flavors.
Smoked Paprika gives the sauce a smokiness and a touch of heat.
Instructions
Step 1: Put the tahini into the measuring cup or bowl.
Step 2: Add lemon juice to the tahini.
Step 3: Mix the tahini and lemon juice together. I typically do this before adding the other ingredients as the lemon juice can make the tahini hard to stire.
Step 4: Add the rest of the ingredients.
Step 5: Mix well. Add the water until the sauce is the desired thinness.
Substitutions
If you don't want the citrus flavors, a particularly sour kombucha makes an awesome replacement.
Sweet paprika with a touch of cayenne can provide a nice replacement if you can't find Aleppo Pepper.
Variations
Use lime juice instead of lemon juice.
Add in red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or Bird's Eye chilis to give the Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce some heat.
Urfa biber can give an additional boost of earthiness and heat.
Use fermented garlic, it gives the sauce a sparkle that is amazing.
Tahini on its own has umami. But add in some red miso to give a more rich, complex umami boost to the sauce.
Equipment
- A measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- A silicon spatula or other mixing implement
Storage
Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
The sauce can also be frozen for at least a couple of months. It will expand when it freezes, so make sure there is room in the container for it to expand.
Related
Looking for other sauce recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce:
Recipe
Tahini/Lemon/Garlic Sauce
Equipment
- 1 measuring cup
- 1 measuring spoons
- 1 bowl optional, you can use the measuring cup to save on cleanup
- 1 silicon spatula
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Aleppo Pepper
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup water or more to thin
Instructions
- Put the tahini in the measuring cup or bowl. I find it easy to mix in the measuring cup because I can measure amounts so easily.
- Add the lemon juice to the tahini. Mix well. You may find the mixture gets very stiff, but keep at it, it eventually mixes. Add a bit of water if you need to to make it smooth.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, except the water. Mix well.
- Add water until the sauce to thin to your desired consistency.
- Enjoy!
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