Creamy Tahini Dressing with Turmeric
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This Tahini Dressing recipe is a creamy, vibrant lemon tahini dressing made with turmeric. It’s bright, full of flavour and can be paired with almost anything from roasted veggies, salad, meat to potatoes or rice. It’s a supper saviour.
Tahini dressing is a creamy, plant-based sesame seed paste dressing which is ideal for vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free diets. This version is made from simple ingredients: tahini, plant-based milk, lemon juice, turmeric and salt. We’re not including oil here so the dressing thickens rather than emulsifies like a vinaigrette. I love the addition of turmeric here as it adds a gentle earthiness to the sauce and a little more complexity.
This is a dressing I reach for again and again. It’s a total lunchtime/dinner saviour using ingredients I always have in and can be whipped up in under five minutes. My most common usages is to drizzle it over a basic salad with grilled chicken to level up a humdum lunch or over roasted cauliflower for a lovely side dish.
You might not need all of it for one meal but that is perfect as you can store in the fridge for quick and convenient dressing to so many different kinds of meals.
Even if you are not into meal prepping, this easy Tahini Dressing is a must as it's such a time saver and so delicious you'll want it over every meal and who wants to make it from scratch each time. It’s fabulous drizzled over lamb chops, in lieu of mayonnaise in a potato salad and even stirred into a full bowl of finely diced cucumber to serve with roast chicken. It’s so easy and useful, especially if you are obsessed with tahini.
Why You’ll Love This Tahini Sauce
- Quick and easy to make in five minutes.
- It can be served alongside grilled meats, drizzled over salads, roasted vegetables or grain bowls. So many more uses listed below.
- Makes a large batch which will last all week in your fridge.
Ingredients Needed
Tahini. Choose your favourite brand. My favourite brand is usually the one that hasn't been sat on a supermarket shelf for months so that the oil separates, it's a very tedious process re-mixing it. You must make sure your tahini is smooth, drippy and hasn't separated.
Plant-based milk. You can use any plant-based milk. I like my Homemade Almond Milk or Cashew Milk. If you need a nut-free alternative then coconut milk or oat milk work just as well too.
Lemon. You only need half just to juice. Roll the lemon on your work surface before juicing to make sure it releases its juices properly.
Turmeric. Ground turmeric here. You can increase if you are a turmeric obsessive or even omit if you don't like it.
Salt. I like to use sea salt here for the best flavour.
How To Make Tahini Dressing
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Whisk the tahini with the lemon juice and turmeric until thick and almost paste like.
Pour the plant milk in slowly to loosen the mixture until smooth and pourable. Add the salt at the end this way you can season to taste.
Tips & Troubleshooting
It’s also easy to use an immersion blender. You just need to pour all the ingredients into a large measuring jug then blend.
If your tahini dressing seems a little curdled when you add the plant milk then use an immersion blender to make ultra smooth.
If it’s a little thin right after you’ve whisked it up then allow it to rest for about 15 minutes and it will thicken. Whisk before serving.
Use lovely fresh drippy tahini and make sure it is well mixed so there is no oil separation in the jar.
The tahini dressing whisks up nice and thick so is ideal for a drizzling over robust veggies, grains and meat. However, if you want to dress it over salad leaves but are worried about it weighing the leaves down, or fancy a bit of a lighter effect then just whisk in more milk.
How To Use Tahini Dressing
This vegan tahini dressing is incredibly versatile but here are some of the ways in which you could serve it:
As a salad dressing for my Crunchy Chopped Salad or my Garbage Salad. These kind of chunky salads will hold this creamy dressing really well.
Serve over grain bowls made with quinoa, rice or lentils.
Why not serve it as a dip alongside some Gluten-Free Flatbread. Or spread it inside your sandwich wraps instead of mayo or houmous.
I always serve it drizzled over Sweet Potato Bacon Rosti.
You can also try this tahini dressing for roasted cauliflower, sweet potato or carrots.
Recipe Variations
This is the easiest version of it but if you want to ring the changes then you can make these small adjustments.
Add herbs. Choose fresh leafy herbs like coriander, parsley, basil, dill or mint. Or even a mini handful of all of them. Blend them in the sauce alongside the other ingredients. I always serve this version drizzled over my Sweet Potato Bacon Rosti.
Switch out for yoghurt. You could also switch out the plant-based milk for a plant-based coconut yoghurt instead. This makes the sauce thicker and a little tangier. Lovely as a spreadable dip where it can replace mayonnaise or houmous in most meals.
Add avocado. You need half an avocado for this recipe, just blend it in with everything else for a really creamy sauce. Add coriander for a guacamole alternative.
FAQs
This tahini dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days in an airtight container. It will thicken as it chills.
To thin out the tahini dressing you can either whisk in a little more plant milk or water to loosen.
Make sure to pour in the milk slowly whisking all the while. If it seems to have separated or curdled when all the milk has been whisked in by hand then smooth out using an immersion blender.
Sesame seeds are inherently bitter and the flavour can get more so if the tahini you are using isn’t fresh. Make sure the tahini is well within its use-by date and is well mixed so there is no oil separation. The lemon juice in this recipe will balance out the bitterness and the plant-based milk will soften it so you have a well balanced dressing.
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This Creamy Cashew Salad Dressing is easy to make in five minutes and is rich, smooth and dairy-free. It’s perfect for salads, grain bowls and roasted vegetables.
This Homemade Smoky Fajita Seasoning Paste takes about 10 minutes to make, it’s smoky, spicy, zingy and will soon become an absolute staple in your kitchen.
Whipped Butternut Squash Dip is a deliciously simple vegan appetiser If you are looking for a break from the usual houmous option then this gorgeous dip is legume free, dairy-free, nut-free and sesame-free so ideal for dietary restrictions and a cinch to make.
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Creamy Tahini Dressing with Turmeric
Ingredients
- 100 g tahini
- 1 lemon - 30g lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 120 g plant-based milk
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Whisk the tahini with the lemon juice and turmeric in a small/medium sized mixing bowl or measuring jug until thick and almost paste like.
- Pour the plant milk in slowly, whisking all the time, to loosen the mixture until smooth and pourable.
- Whisk in the salt at the end this way you can season to taste.
- Serve as a salad dressing or drizzled over roasted vegetables or grains.
