This maple tahini dressing is so creamy and easy to make. You only need 4 ingredients and about 10 minutes and you'll have a delicious vegan sauce you can use in so many ways.
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Jump to:
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🤓 What is Tahini?
- 👩🍳 Using Store-Bought Tahini
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- 🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- 🧊 Can I make this sauce ahead?
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- 🍽 Ways to Use This Maple Tahini Sauce
- Maple Tahini Dressing with Dijon Mustard
Tahini sauces and dressings are so flexible. Some are lemony and sweetened with honey like in this recipe with whole roasted cauliflower. Others include garlic or a spicy sauce such as harissa.
For the last few months, this creamy tahini maple sauce has been my go-to for drizzling over roasted veggies and grains bowls. It's brightened with lemon and sweetened with maple syrup.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy. 4 ingredients plus salt and ice water.
- Fast. Make it in about 10 minutes.
- Vegan. This is a fabulous creamy sauce that's completely vegan.
- Stores well. Keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for one week.
- Many uses. This sauce is fantastic on many roasted veggies, grains bowls, or as a dip.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Tahini - check additional information on tahini in the below sections.
- Lemon juice - freshly squeezed adds a brighter flavor than lemon juice purchased in jars, but use what you have on hand.
- Maple syrup - use pure maple syrup, Grade A.
- Dijon mustard - ideally grainy Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt
- Ice water
🤓 What is Tahini?
Tahini is a butter or paste made from ground sesame seeds and is very popular in both savory and sweet Middle Eastern foods. It's made from hulled sesame seeds and may include a little oil and salt, particularly if homemade. Tahini can use sesame seeds that are roasted, for a deeper nutty flavor, or used raw for a lighter taste.
Tahini is the consistency of a very thick batter that is pourable. It tastes somewhat like peanut butter but is a little more bitter.
If you purchase it, there is a range of textures and subtle flavors available in various products. It's best to try a few tahinis to determine whether or not you prefer a mild or deep nutty flavor or if you like a little sweetness to your tahini.
My store carries Joyva Sesame Tahini which I find a good general-use tahini. This taste test on The Kitchn covers products you would likely have to order.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
👩🍳 Using Store-Bought Tahini
When you first open your container of tahini, it is likely to be separated, with the oil component floating on top of a thick sesame seed paste. It must be mixed together again before using it in a recipe. Here are some ways to do this:
- If the tahini hasn't fully separated:
- How to tell: The tahini paste will be like a thick sludge, and the oil layer will be a thin slick on top.
- Dinner knife or spoon. Insert either utensil into the tahini and stir rapidly.
- If the tahini has completely separated:
- How to tell: you will feel a defined solid layer of sesame paste at the bottom when you try to stir it. The oil layer will be thick. This is typical when you first bring it home from the market.
- Immersion blender. Pour the oil and remove the paste into a bowl. You may need to use a knife or spoon with the paste. Use an immersion blender to emulsify the tahini.
- Note: Depending on the size and shape of the container the tahini was purchased in, you may be able to do this in the container.
- Food processor. If you don't have an immersion blender, use a food processor fitted with a metal blade to re-emulsify the paste. If the sesame seed paste is very firm, this is the faster method.
Once the tahini is emulsified, pour what you don't use for a recipe back into the container, and store upside down. This way, if it separates again, it is easy to reintegrate. A jar is best for this.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Medium size bowl
- Whisk
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this creamy maple tahini sauce are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Whisk. Whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon, and salt together in a small or medium bowl. It will be thick and almost paste-like. It may be lumpy and stiff from seizing after adding the lemon juice. All this is completely normal.
Step 2
Add water. Gradually whisk in the ice water 2 - 3 tablespoons at a time. The sauce will lighten and become super-creamy. The rule on this step is to start with less water and add more as needed to get the consistency you want.
If the tahini sauce becomes grainy, it's because the water was added more quickly than the oil in the tahini could absorb it. Surprisingly (to me), the solution is to whisk in more water, a bit at a time, until you regain the creamy texture.
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- The maple syrup counteracts the inherent bitter taste of tahini.
- Adding ice water is important in turning tahini and lemon juice into a creamy sauce.
- Tahini by itself doesn't have a lot of flavor, and the addition of the mustard adds delicious savory notes.
🧊 Can I make this sauce ahead?
This maple tahini sauce keeps in the refrigerator very well for up to 2 weeks. It will thicken over time, but simply whisk in additional ice water to thin.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Add garlic paste or grated garlic cloves to taste. Garlic powder is another excellent way to add garlic to this sauce.
- Thin it out further with a little neutral-tasting oil, such as safflower oil or avocado oil.
- Use honey in place of maple syrup for sweetening. (Note: the sauce will not be vegan if you use honey.)
🍽 Ways to Use This Maple Tahini Sauce
- Drizzle over roasted vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. It's fantastic over cauliflower steaks with some chimichurri.
- Add a little apple cider vinegar and olive oil for a salad dressing.
- Toss into grain bowls and Buddha bowls.
- Make pita sandwiches with falafel topped with this sauce.
- Pour into a bowl for a dipping sauce with crisp apples, celery, bell peppers, and carrots.
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Maple Tahini Dressing with Dijon Mustard
Equipment
- Medium bowl
- Whisk
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, Grade A
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Dijon-style country mustard
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, to taste or ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅓ cup ice water
Instructions
- Make sure the tahini is well-mixed by stirring it. Measure the water and add a couple of ice cubes.
- Whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, mustard, and salt. It will be very thick. Once the lemon juice is added, the tahini mixture may seize and become stiff with a grainy texture. This is normal.
- Gradually whisk in the cold water, adding only 2 - 3 tablespoons of water at a time. Whisk the water completely into the sauce before additional water. Add enough water to achieve the consistency you want.
- Note: If the sauce becomes grainy, and the oil appears to separate back out of the tahini, continue to add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the sauce becomes creamy again. It's magical how it suddenly shifts!
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