Middle Eastern Tahini Sauce
An easy everyday tahini sauce recipe that's perfect for falafel, shawarma and kabobs. You can make a big batch of this easy Mediterranean sauce and always have it at hand.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Total Time10 minutes mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 91kcal
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup tahini
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup water more if needed
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional
In a bowl stir the tahini and minced garlic.
Add salt, cayenne pepper and cumin and mix well.
Add in the lemon juice and water. Stir to combine and add more water if you like the sauce to be thinner.
Add the chopped parsley (if using), mix and taste to make sure the seasoning is right. Add more salt, cayenne pepper or lemon juice if desired.
- If you like your tahini sauce runnier, add more water, one tablespoon at a time.
Other flavor variations include:
- Lemon tahini sauce: double the amount of lemon juice in the original recipe for more acidity.
- Spicy tahini sauce: Add ¼ teaspoon more cayenne pepper to the basic tahini sauce recipe.
- Tahini yogurt sauce: Add 2 tablespoons yogurt to the original tahini sauce recipe and add more water if needed. Tahini yogurt sauce has more subtle tahini flavor and is a bit creamier.
Serving suggestions
Here are a few dishes you can serve the tahini sauce with:
Calories: 91kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 151mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg