From vibrant green dipping bowls to the perfect partner for roast veg, tahini makes a star ingredient in sauces. Here are our fave ways to tap into the rich, creamy allure of that sensational sesame paste.
Go green
Let's start with this eye-popping, tongue-tingling from Michael Rantissi, super easy to make and superb with his falafels.
Vibrant green tahini is perfect with crunchy falafels Source: Falafel for Breakfast
Rev up roast veg
Yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, honey and salt and pepper make up the creamy sauce that's just perfect on this dish of . Serve it as a side, with leafy greens as a salad, or even on a pizza!
Spiced roasted pumpkin Source: Feast Magazine
Tahini loves garlic
Tarator, a classic Lebanese sauce, shows off how well tahini and garlic go together. Take cauliflower to golden roasted glory, then dip or drizzle the hot cauli with tarator in from Food Safari Earth. Heaven!
That garlic-tahini combo, with a touch of vinegar, is also the perfect drizzle for , where it gets wrapped up with spiced beef, crunchy lettuce and pickled turnip. Chicken lovers can make like Ainsley Harriott in Ainsley's Mediterranean Cookbook and swap the beef for a shawarma - just make sure to douse it in a healthy helping of tahini sauce.
And it's lovely with this, too. Marinated and grilled lamb is juicy and packed with flavour, and served with a garlic, yoghurt, lemon, cumin and tahini sauce.
Fried cauliflower with tarator Source: Sharyn Cairns
Beef shawarma with tahini sauce Source: Feast magazine
Chermoula lamb shoulder with garlic and tahini yoghurt Source: Smith Street Books
Crunchy chicken, creamy sauce
Chicken coated in panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds is so good with this .
Sesame chicken and sautéed kale with miso tahini cream Source: Feast Magazine
Lift your salad with sesame
This makes a great side or can be turned into a meal by adding cooked wild rice or quinoa. The dressing brings together the umami appeal of miso with tahini, tamari, olive oil and ginger, and it's an excellent recipe for brightening other roast veg salads, too.
There's just so much flavour happening in this wholesome and spectacular Israeli : pomegranates, raisins, roasted cauli, pine nuts and - of course - a lemon, yoghurt and tahini dressing.
Roasted chickpea and carrot salad with miso tahini dressing Source: Heidi Sze
Cauliflower, pomegranate and pine nut salad Source: Ben Dearnley
A slaw-fire winner!
Creamy tahini, sweet honey and smoky black vinegar make a delicious dressing on this colourful salad. Justine Schofield says she took inspiration from Asian prosperity salads for this combo of red cabbage, daikon and carrot and creamy dressing, which she shares in Macau Gourmet.
Prosperity slaw with tahini dressing Source: Macau Gourmet with Justine Schofield
Making barbecue sauce even better...
To go with his , Luke Hines creates a finger-licking good, kinda smoky, kinda creamy barbecue sauce.
Crispy gluten-free cauliflower nuggets with easy barbecue sauce Source: Loving Gluten Free
