Tahini or sesame paste is one of the staple ingredients in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean kitchen. With just two ingredients and less than 30minutes you can have a full jar of fresh homemade tahini that is better than the store bought ones.
There are so many ways to use tahini, such as making hummus, tahini sauce and mutabal. I am going to show you how to make your own tahini with tips and tricks for bitterness and color.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
The best tahini, IMHO as a girl who lived with tahini her whole life, should be mildly nutty, creamy and stir-able with light beige color. The problem with many homemade ones is that they are too sesame-y meaning they usually have a sharp intense sesame flavor that might as well bring bitterness to tahini.
Making smooth and creamy tahini paste in -not so- expensive gadget is a challenge. People usually complain about their homemade tahini is gritty and not as smooth. Using a coffee grinder along with your everyday blender solved that problem and leaven you with a silky creamy tahini paste.
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- For the sesame seeds, most available variety is the hulled sesame seeds which are the type we are using. You can make tahini out of unhulled sesame seeds which we call " tahina hamra" translates for red tahini for its color.
- I recommend using light tasting olive oil or avocado oil. Any neutral oil would work and un-toasted sesame oil works as well.
Recipe Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Fist we will lightly toast half the sesame seeds in a large dry pan. Take care at this step we do not want them to get too dark or burn just lightly golden color.
- Working in batches grind 1/3 rd of the toasted sesame seeds with another 1/3rd of the raw seeds in your coffee grinder.
- Grind until it reaches the consistency of a play dough, you will need to stop a couple of times scrapping the sides of the grinder then grind again.
- In your blender add oil then the ground sesame paste that we already made and mix well.
- Check the consistency of your tahini to see if you need more oil. If so, add more oil through the opening of the blender while it is working. Mix in salt if using.
Recipe Expert Tips
- Toasting sesame seeds in the pan is better than toasting them in the oven as they might easily burn.
- You will need to stir the sesame seeds while toasting to prevent any burning and ensure almost even color.
- Storing tahini: I always store my tahini in my pantry making sure it is away from any heat source. This means I do not store them near my stove but I also do not store them in the fridge. I have never actually store my tahini in the fridge nor seen my mom does that. Homemade tahini should be safely stored this way for a couple of months. If you are in doubt then you are welcome to store yours in the fridge.
Recipe FAQs
You will need a powerful blender for a creamy and smooth tahini, like Vitamix or Blendtec otherwise it will not be as smooth. I haven't had luck getting it done properly in my food processor but you are welcome to try.
You can make tahini out of raw untoasted sesame seeds if you like it that way. I've tried them all and this is the version I like more. Untoasted sesame seeds made a very pale tahini and the smell was honestly weird to me. Making it out of only toasted sesame made it taste too sesame-y as well and the color was too dark. You might want to try and check which version you like the most. Here is a color comparison.
Toasting sesame seeds makes them nuttier and releases their oil. I have found that 8-10% of the sesame weight is lost after toasting. It is recommended that you at least compensate for that oil.
With this recipe it should not. There are three ways that people use to make tahini less bitter. First the use of half toasted and half untoasted sesame seeds. Second, is adding flour which I used to do before trying to limit my carbs. I used to add 1/2 cup of lightly toasted all purpose flour for each cup of toasted sesame seeds along with the oil. Third method is by grinding peanuts along with the sesame seeds. I felt this might change the taste of the tahini so I figured out that the first method is better.
Traditional way of making tahini starts by washing tahini in water with a little salt. Then it is roasted then milled. Check out this youtube video for more.
Ways To Use Tahini
Oh the possibilities are endless we love making tahini sauce, baba ghanouj, hummus, tahini chicken, halva, tahini cookies, or simply drizzle it over molasses and eat with feteer, yumm.
Recipe At A Glance
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Homemade Tahini
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw hulled sesame seeds 260g, divided.
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup neutral oil.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Instructions
- Add one cup of sesame seeds to a dry pan over medium low heat. Stir to toast for about 5 minutes keeping an eye on it so it will not burn.
- Remove pan from heat and start working in batches adding about third of the toasted sesame seeds to another third of the untested sesame seeds to your coffee grinder and grind.
- You will need to stop in between scrapping the sides and bottom then grind again until you get a smooth dry paste that you can shape in your hands much like a play dough.
- Most probably you will repeat this step for 3 times for each batch and each time will take about 5-7 seconds.
- In your blender pour 1/4 cup of oil then add the paste that we’ve already made.
- Blend well to combine then check consistency.
- If you feel it is too thick for your liking, turn your blender on and drizzle more oil through the opening of your blender until it reaches the right consistency.
- Mix in salt if using, then pour the tahini in a clean container or jar with a lid.
Notes
- You can make tahini out of unhulled sesame seeds which we call "tahina hamra" translates to red tahini for its color. I prefer using hulled and it is widely available in US stores.
- I recommend using light tasting olive oil or avocado oil. Any neutral oil would work and un-toasted sesame oil works as well.
- Toasting sesame seeds in the pan is better than toasting them in the oven as they might easily burn.
- You will need to stir the sesame seeds while toasting to prevent any burning and ensure almost even color.
- If you cannot get your grinder to turn the sesame seeds into a paste you might want to add a bit of oil to get things running.
- Storing tahini: I always store my tahini in my pantry making sure it is away from any heat source. This means I do not store them near my stove but I also do not store them in the fridge. I have never actually store my tahini in the fridge nor seen my mom does that. Homemade tahini should be safely stored this way for a couple of months. If you are in doubt then you are welcome to store yours in the fridge.
Nutrition
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First published March 4, 2017 . Last updated November 26, 2020 with important tips, clear step by step instructions and readability.
Made this a couple of night for a tahini sauce also from your site. This is such an informative post, you seriously know what you are talking about. The tahini came out full of flavor and worked very well in the sauce.