Tahini (sesame seed paste) is something that has grown on me over the years. I first used it to make my own homemade hummus, then soon found myself sneaking a taste straight off the spoon while making the hummus. Finally, I graduated to spreading tahini over toast like peanut butter. Tahini has a uniquely nutty and almost bitter flavor that really grows on you. Just a little bit can add a lot of flavor to dips and dressings. The problem is that unless you’ve got some great ethnic markets in your area, tahini can be quite expensive.
Luckily, it’s pretty simple to make at home, providing you have a place to purchase bulk sesame seeds. Whether you can find the seeds at a reasonable price will determine whether or not it’s worth it to make your own tahini. The other factor to consider is that homemade tahini is usually not as smooth as store bought because, by some sort of commercial food magic, food manufacturers are able to remove the thin hull from the sesame seeds before grinding them into a silky smooth paste. I don’t know how to remove the hull at home, so my paste is a little rough in texture. I’m okay with that.
Now that you’ve decided whether or not it’s a good idea to make your own tahini, let me show you how!
Start with some raw sesame seeds. I’m using one cup, which yielded about 3/4 cup tahini. Make sure your seeds are fresh because if they are old, the oils in the seeds may become rancid and give your tahini a bad flavor. I bought my seeds in an 8 oz (about 1.5 cups) bag at a produce market, but they can also often be found in bulk bins.
The first step is to toast the seeds to amplify their flavor. This only takes a few minutes. Place the seeds in a dry skillet and cook over medium heat while continuously stirring. You’ll notice the seeds start to take on a golden color and there will be a few darker seeds peppered throughout. Make sure to stir the whole time so they don’t burn. Once they’re nice and toasty, transfer them to a different container immediately so they don’t continue to toast from the residual heat of the skillet. Burned seeds = bad flavor.
When they’ve cooled for a few minutes, transfer them to a small food processor. Add about a tablespoon of oil. Technically, you can use any oil, but I suggest a light oil with a neutral flavor so that the flavor doesn’t compete with the sesame seeds (in other words, not extra virgin olive oil). I just used canola, but sesame would be nice for obvious reasons.
This is just a super inexpensive (probably <$10) mini food processor that doesn’t have much power, but it still worked. If you’re using a food processor, you may need to make a larger batch in order to get the seeds to process properly. Super blenders like Ninja or Magic Bullets probably work well, too. I’m not sure about a regular blender, though, because the cup might not offer enough room for the seeds to “churn” as they blend.
When you first start blending, the mixture will seem dry (like the previous photo), but just keep scraping down the sides and processing. Eventually, those little seeds will begin to break down and form a paste. Blend until it reaches your desired consistency, but remember, a few lumps will likely remain because of the hulls. If you want, you can add a pinch of salt.
And that’s that! Make sure to keep your tahini in the refrigerator in an air tight container because now that all of those precious oils are exposed, they are more prone to going rancid. There’s no set time frame for how long it will stay good in the refrigerator, but it’s like natural peanut butter and should last quite some time.
Just made this and it came out perfectly, so I’ll be roasting some red peppers and making hummus (and pitas!) when I get home from work tonight. Thank you for helping me satisfy my craving. One thing, though– you forgot to warn us how amazing our kitchen will smell after this. ;)
Beth, what’s the shelf life? I am thinking making it in small batches (like you did) is best unless you think you can use it up quickly?
I think its shelf life is like peanut butter. As long as you keep it refrigerated and air-tight, it should last for quite some time.
this is a great idea! i’ll try it…as soon as i’m out of the sesame butter i bought…tahini can be so pricey! i did find joya for 6 bux at our local organic market called MOM’s (i’m in Maryland)…i do like the idea of simply putting the sesame seeds into the blender or processor with all of your other hummus ingredients….my tried and true recipe calls for 1/4 cup tahini – i wonder how this translates to how many sesame seeds?
I used a cup of seeds and yielded about 3/4 cup of tahini… so probably a 3:4 ratio of tahini to seeds.
Just grinded sesame seeds and oil?! I had no idea it was that EASY and so, so, so much cheaper than buying tahini at the market. Will have to try! Thank you, Beth!
I wonder if first putting your seeds into a coffee grinder would work to fine grind them…before continuing with the recipe
Well, once they begin to get to that fine texture, they start releasing oils and turn to paste… so it might make your coffee grinder pretty messy and hard to clean out. :)
Funny to see this here today! This is the next thing I have on my list to blog about! I buy my sesame seeds from azurestandard.com. They’re a food co-op and I have to meet the truck when they deliver but they have endless products for really great prices. $12 for 5 pounds sesame seeds. I use my vitamix to make tahini, whips right up into a very smooth paste. There are a lot of nutrients in the hulls, so I like to use them. Also, when I make my hummus I just throw the sesame seeds Into the vitamix, skipping the step of making tahini. :)
Think you for this tutorial! I’ve seen DIY nut butter tutorials and have been wondering if I could use sesame seeds to make tahini the same way. Tahini is ridiculously expensive around here, but I can find sesame seeds for next to nothing at ethnic markets. I wonder how using black sesame seeds would be? I imagine it would taste similar, but make for an interesting aesthetic.
Interesting! If you try black sesame seeds, let me know how it turns out.
Love the idea of homemade tahini! A word of caution about canola oil though: it’s high euric acid content and the way it is refined makes it highly toxic and full of free radicals = diseases. Lots of info on this on the web.
Please don’t worry about the Canola Oil. Do a quick search on Snopes about the taboos surrounding it. It is a very healthy oil, and though rapeseed oil naturally contains high amounts of erucic acid (30%-60%), canola does not. Canola oil sold in the states has to meet FDA standards, and will always contain ~1% erucic acid, making it perfectly safe.
I make tahini all the time and love using my Magic Bullet to do blend it all into a smooth paste! It’s so good, I sometimes dig into it with a spoon.
I just bought my first ever container of tahini yesterday. I wish I would have seen this first! BTW, I got a 16 oz container of organic tahini for just under $8.
Well NO WAY. Thanks!
I’m Turkish and we use tahini a lot in baking, to make cakes, cookies type of things but also in breads and that kind of stuff.
The other REALLY popular way to eat is by making a sauce / spread called “pekmez”. You simply mix some tahini with syrup we usually use grape syrup or another one that’s made of a berry (but this one is harder to find when you’re not in Turkey). As far as the amount of each is concerned I’d say half half. Iu depends on your taste if you want it sweeter or not.
You’re supposed to eat it with bread but I personally prefer iu straight off the spoon. ;)
I hope I made sense.
It’s my first time commenting on your blog and I love it. I’ve been reading it for several months now and you’re amazing! :)
I probably won’t make this one because it’s much cheaper to buy it here, but I never thought it would be this easy to make.
I got used to making and eating hummus without tahini (traditional recipes come in both versions) because I didn’t want to pay for tahini. But I know I can get inexpensive sesame seeds. Thanks so much for this tutorial!
I love hummus and it kills me every time I buy tahini to make it at home. I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to make this from scratch, I just have been too lazy to do it.
I make a LOT (as in most) of things from “scratch”. I’ve made tahini…ultimately…even though I have good sources for bulk sesame seeds and given that I have both a food processor and a mini-prep AND a Vitamix…I prefer Joya brand tahini.
All personal taste. I say try all options and decide what you like!