Super simple homemade tahini with only one ingredient and an active time of 15 minutes. Tahini, sesame seed paste, or sesame butter is an excellent addition to savory and sweet dishes. Of course, many will immediately think of hummus, a Middle Eastern spread, which is hard to resist, especially when served with some warm pita bread. But not all tahini are made equal, as you could imagine. I tasted some rather awful rancid and bitter ones, after which the whole jar ended up in the trash. Also, they can get quite pricey. From then on, I make it at home as it really is super easy.
How to Make Simple Homemade Tahini Paste
The process of making the homemade tahini is relatively straightforward. The complete process consists of 3 steps:
- toasting the sesame seeds until slightly golden,
- letting them cool to room temperature
- pulsing the sesame seeds in the food processor until creamy
With such easy steps, there is really no need to buy the tahini paste in the store. Also, the aroma of the toasted sesame seeds is fantastic, which will fill your house in no time.
While toasting the sesame seeds, make sure that you stir continuously to prevent burning the seeds, which will make the tahini much darker in color and bitter. Note that generally, toasting the sesame seeds reduces the bitterness. I find that using a large cast-iron wok works excellent as the sesame seeds sort of “dance around” the wok as you stir since the gravity and the convex sides of the wok do the magic.
Before processing the sesame seeds in the food processor, I like to cool the sesame seeds to room temperature. This way, there is no extra heat added while pulsing and disturbing the natural oils in the sesame seeds.
Obviously, you can use any food processor to do the job. However, please note that not all food processors have the same motor strength and can heat up quite a lot. Trust me, I melted the plastic off of one. So, the point is that the better the food processor, the faster and creamier the final product will be. If you notice that the food processor gets really hot, turn it off and let it cool a bit before continuing.
During the processing, check that there are no chunks of dry sesame bits on the sides of the bowl. Turn the processor off and scrape down the sides as necessary. Continue processing until thick, creamy and smooth.
Storing Tahini
Tahini keeps really well at room temperature for months due to its relatively stable natural oils and a high level of antioxidants. Just pour the tahini into a clean glass jar, cover it, and store it in a dry area of your kitchen or in a pantry.
About the Sesame Seeds
So which type of sesame seeds to get for this recipe? There can be several things to consider here.
Apart from the geographic region differences, the more obvious one is whether the seeds are hulled or not. I find that most organic sesame seeds are sold as not hulled. Hulled seeds retain their outer shell, making them more bitter than hulled ones, and the final texture of the tahini is not as creamy but rather a bit gritty.
How to Use Tahini
Apart from the famous hummus, there are plenty of delicacies that tahini pops up, savory or sweet. It is excellent as part of a salad dressing, pancake batter, cakes, muffins, dressing for roasted vegetables, etc.
Generally, if you like the nutty, slightly tangy, bitter, and creamy butter-like taste, you can’t go wrong with tahini. Also, healthwise, tahini is not a bad choice at all. So experiment and see where it takes you!
Simple homemade tahini paste
Equipment & Tools
- 1x glass jar (550 ml ~2.5 cups)
- Food processor (Note 1)
- Large skilet or wok
- Baking tray or a large wide bowl
INGREDIENTS
- 750 g sesame seeds (white, hulled)
INSTRUCTIONS
TOAST THE SESAME SEEDS
- Heat the skillet or a wok for a minute on medium heat (Note 2).Add the sesame seeds and toast for about 5 minutes or until they start to turn light golden.Transfer to a baking tray and cool to room temperature.
PROCESS THE SESAME SEEDS
- Place the cooled toasted sesame seeds in the food processor and pulse until it resembles a creamy runny paste. It should take about 10 minutes (Note 1).Scrape the sides of the bowl every 3 minutes or if you see that there are clumps of not processesed sesame paste on the walls of the food processor bowl.
- Pour the tahini into a prepared clean jar and store in a dry area.
NOTES
- Achieving the smoothest consistency of the tahini greatly depends on the food processor you will use. Please note that some food processors are just not strong enough to pulse for an extended period of time and overheat quickly (I melted the plastic on one!). In such a case, let it rest and cool down before continuing. For the timings given in this recipe, I used Magimix 4200XL food processor. Please adjust the times according to your food processor.
- I used a large cast-iron wok in this recipe as it retains the heat really well, and I find that the stirring is more consistent as it moves more sesame seeds all around the wok. The seeds are toasted more evenly in the wok compared to when toasted in the classic flat bottom skillet.
