Lemon Tahini Dressing

Ditch the store-bought dressing and whip up a batch of homemade Lemon Tahini Dressing. With just a few pantry ingredients, you’ll have a versatile, delicious dressing for salads and roasted veggies.

“2020 is shaping up exactly as planned,” said nobody ever. But I will say, in ONE way, and one way only, it’s shaping up as I imagined.

And that’s because I had planned to make 2020 the year I shared the recipes my family has loved forever, but I’ve just never shared on this blog.

From roasted sockeye salmon to blood orange margaritas to orange glazed chicken, I’ve been happy to share these simple, beloved recipes that I turn to time and again.

Between my citrus salad dressing and this tahini dressing, you can find a homemade salad dressing in my fridge nearly 365 days a year.

I like making homemade dressings for the same reason I make my own best dry rub for ribs rather than buying it: I can control what’s in it. I’m secretly hoping that I can convince you to ditch store-bought dressing forever, too.

What is tahini?

The easiest way to understand tahini is that it’s just like peanut butter, except that instead of peanuts, it’s made with ground sesame seeds.

Check the label of tahini before purchasing. The only ingredient should be ground sesame seeds!

Tahini is common in Mediterranean and North African cuisine. It’s often served by itself as a dip or sauce (my local Lebanese restaurant serves it as the sauce for falafel).

It’s an important ingredient in dishes such as hummus and baba ghanoush. It can also be used as a substitute for peanut butter in recipes such as my Asian noodle salad.

What you’ll need for this lemon tahini dressing:

• tahini
• lemon juice (zest the lemons first and make lemon creme brulee or a lemon curd cake!)
• Dijon mustard
• garlic
• paprika
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

What to do with tahini dressing:

Once you make a batch, you’ll soon discover that there is hardly anything this dressing is NOT good on.

I put it on classic green salads and Thanksgiving salad and salad for Christmas and turkey burger salads, as well as chopped “village” salads (no lettuce) like the one above.

Grilled chicken kabobs? They get a drizzle of this. Falafel? I dunk them right into this dressing. Grilled zucchini? Roasted carrots? Sautéed green beans? Yes, yes, yes.

Is tahini vegan?

Because the only ingredient in tahini should be ground sesame seeds, it is absolutely vegan.

How long is this lemon tahini dressing good for in the fridge?

Just like my miso ginger dressing, keep this in a mason jar or other airtight container in your fridge for up to one week (if it lasts that long!).