Easy Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing
A blend of your favorite fresh herbs and lemon, along with garlic, sriracha, and a touch of maple syrup transform tahini into a perfectly balanced Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing: creamy, nutty, savory, and bright. This recipe also works well as a sauce or dip, too.
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Why I love this Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing Recipe
This oil free dressing only takes a few minutes to prepare, and then just let it sit! This recipe is:
Vegan
Quick to prepare, and then just it marinate!
Easy
Healthy
Garlicky
Nutty
Tangy
Oil Free
Dairy-Free
Gluten-Free
A total crowd-pleaser!
Ingredients
- Tahini: This unassuming nutty paste is simply ground sesame seeds (some brands add salt too). But when transformed into a sauce, tahini parlays into pure magic.
- Fresh Herbs: Fresh herbs make all food more flavorful, fragrant, and bright. And they bring tahini to a whole new level! I especially love mint, dill, parsley, cilantro, and chives.
- Lemon Juice: The acid from lemon cuts the richness of the tahini beautifully and adds tang to the dressing.
- Lemon Zest: Zest adds a burst of freshness, vibrance, and true lemon flavor to this recipe.
- Granulated Garlic: Garlic is always a good idea with tahini! I like using granulated garlic in this recipe because it brings a more potent garlic flavor than fresh garlic. Plus, it keeps longer for leftovers. And generally speaking, granulated works better than garlic powder in liquid dishes.
- Maple Syrup: The addition of syrup does not make the dressing sweet, but simply well balanced: it will make the dressing less pungent and more delicate.
- Sriracha: A dash of sriracha makes everything taste better! And it works especially well with tahini.
Substitutions
- While fresh herb are superior for this recipe, if you don’t have any on hand, you can use dried herbs instead. Use 1/3 the amount of dried herbs to fresh herbs, or 1/4 cup of dried herbs if following this recipe. And if possible, allow at least an hour for the dressing to sit and the flavors to blend together.
- Jarred minced garlic, dried minced garlic, fresh garlic, or garlic powder can substitute for fresh garlic. Use this garlic conversion chart for accurate measurements.
- Other sweeteners like agave nectar can replace maple syrup.
Equipment Needed
A mini food processor is ideal for this recipe. A large food processor will work, but since the recipe doesn’t take up a lot of space in the large appliance, it is a bit laborious to use.
If you don’t have either, don’t worry! You can use a whisk instead; your dressing will just be a bit thicker. See details in recipe card notes.
To make the lemon zest, you will need a zester or grater. If you don’t have one, simply omit the zest. The dressing will still be delicious without it!
How to Make Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce
The method is simple with just two key steps.
- Simply prepare all ingredients and add them to food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Pin this Tahini Herb Dressing for later:
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is perfect as a dressing, sauce or dip:
Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing
Use this tahini garlic dressing over a kale salad, a falafel salad, or a quinoa salad. Tahini is especially delicious paired with roasted sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and roasted chickpeas in a salad.
Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce
Herb tahini sauce is a wonderful way to bring together a buddha bowl. We love to make a “bar” and everyone can customize their bowl. Ingredient ideas include air fryer tofu, crispy roasted beets, steamed kale, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, quinoa, and steamed broccoli.
Or check out this delicious Delicata Squash Bowl using this lemon tahini sauce!
Lemon Herb Tahini Dip
This lemon herb tahini recipe makes a wonderful dip, especially with roasted veggies and falafel. You can also serve it with fresh vegetables, pita bread, pita chips, or dolmas.
Making Ahead and Storage
This dressing can be made up to two days in advance. While it is fine to eat right away, the flavors come together the longer it sits.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or freeze in air tight container for up to 4 months.
FAQs
Fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs are the key ingredients to add to tahini paste to make a flavorful, bright tahini sauce. Other additions include garlic, sea salt, sriracha, and maple syrup.
Tahini pairs especially with Middle Eastern, Greek, and Mediterranean cuisines, like falafel, dolmas, and pita bread. Tahini makes an incredible salad dressing, especially for kale salads. It also goes well with roasted sweet potatoes as a sauce, and roasted veggies as a dip.
Why not make a delicious lemon herb salad dressing, dip, or sauce?! Tahini upgrades endless dishes, like salads, wraps, roasted veggies, falafel, dolmas, veggie platters, and breads.
Tahini tastes like a more pungent nut butter. And unlike nut butters, it is not generally enjoyed alone. Instead, tahini is best when used as an ingredient in a sauce or dressing.
If you enjoy this recipe, check out:
- Spicy Tahini Sauce
- Sumac Salad Dressing
- Green Herb Sauce
- Roasted Beet Salad
- Garlicky Roasted Cauliflower with Capers & Panko
- Vegan Squash Buddha Bowl with this lemon tahini sauce!
Please, let me know what you think of this easy tahini dressing recipe once you try it by rating and commenting below!
Cheers!
–Jenn
Easy Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing
Equipment
- mini food processor or standard size food processor; see below for method without food processor
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3/4 cup assorted fresh herbs, chopped; like dill, parsley, mint, cilantro, chives dried herb note above under substitutions
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic Or use another form of garlic. See substitution notes above.
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt* See note below.
- 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon sriracha optional
- 3 TBSP -1/3 cup water**
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into food processor or mini food processor. If you don't have one, see note below.***
- Blend until smooth.
- Taste. Adjust thinkness (with more water) as desired.
- Can use immediately or let sit for up to 48 hours in advance.
