My healthy plant-based How To Make The BEST Homemade Tahini recipe is a quick and easy way to enjoy fresh and creamy tahini. It's made with only 3 clean, real food ingredients, is ready to enjoy in about 5 minutes and is raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, paleo, lectin-free and Medical Medium compliant!
Making homemade tahini is really easy and it can be used in many healthy, clean eating dessert, dip and dressing recipes.
Homemade Tahini
You may have heard about tahini or used store-bought tahini in a recipe before, but what exactly is tahini?
Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds and the only equipment you need to make it with is a good food processor.
While you can make tahini with just 100% ground sesame seeds, I like to add a little bit of 100% pure avocado oil and a touch of Himalayan pink salt to mine.
Is Tahini Vegan?
You'll be glad to know the answer is YES!
There are only 3 clean, real food ingredients in my homemade tahini recipe: sesame seeds, avocado oil, and Himalayan pink salt - all of which are vegan.
What Can I Make With This Easy Vegan Tahini Recipe?
The most common recipes it's used in is hummus with dressings following as a close second place.
Here are my top 5 favorite recipes from my website that make with tahini:
- Raw Vegan Roma Tomato and Tahini Dressing
- Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
- Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Gluten-Free Vegan Tahini Brownie Truffles
- Tahini Ginger Dressing
You'll love that this easy vegan tahini recipe is plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, keto-friendly, paleo-friendly, lectin-free and is Medical Medium compliant!
Can I Make Homemade Tahini with a Vitamix?
Yes, you can!
I find that it's a little harder to make in a Vitamix because of the size of the container, but it can be done.
Instead of adding the sesame seeds to a food processor, follow these instructions:
- Add all the ingredients to a Vitamix and start with "VARIABLE 1".
- Slowly increase the speed from "VARIABLE 1" to "VARIABLE 10".
- Use the tamper to help blend it and to help push the ingredients into the blades.
- Blend for approximately 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
How To Make This Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
I'll show you how to make creamy and smooth homemade tahini with just three ingredients in less than 5 minutes in step-by-step instructions below!
Step 1: Begin Processing the Sesame Seeds
First, add the sesame seeds to a food processor and begin processing.
The entire process will take approximately 3-5 minutes to get the tahini as creamy and smooth as possible.
Step 2: Add The Remaining Ingredients
Second, after the sesame seeds have processed for about 1-2 minutes, add the avocado oil and salt into the chute part of the food processor and continue processing.
You will need to let it process for another 2-3 minutes and will need to stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides to help it along.
The tahini will be ready when it's creamy and smooth with no grainy texture.
Step 3: Store The Tahini
Lastly, store your tahini in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks.
I like to use a glass mason jar to store mine, but any type of non-toxic container would work.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Food Processor. The hardest part about making tahini is just waiting a few minutes for it to process and patience is the key to success! Your sesame seeds will go through 3 phases:
- Sesame Seeds - in this stage, the sesame seeds will be whole and ready to process.
- Paste - after about 2 minutes of processing, the sesame seeds will turn into a thick paste. They aren't sesame seeds anymore and they aren't tahini yet. This is the "in-between" stage.
- Tahini - after about 4 minutes of processing, the paste will turn into a smooth and creamy consistency which is what you want.
Sesame Seeds. There are two types of sesame seeds you can use, but I prefer to use the "hulled" version and is what I used in this recipe. I like to buy organic raw hulled sesame seeds in bulk because it costs much less to make homemade tahini than to buy store-bought.
- Hulled Sesame Seeds - the outer layer (or kernel) has been removed.
- Unhulled Sesame Seeds - the outer layer (or kernel) is intact.
Avocado Oil. This is actually an optional ingredient, but one I like to use when making homemade tahini. I like to add it because it makes the sesame seeds a little easier to process and it adds a little healthy fat to the recipe. You can leave it out if you prefer or substitute it with organic extra-virgin olive oil.
Himalayan Pink Salt. I like to add a tiny bit of Himalayan pink salt it's also optional so you can omit it if you prefer or substitute with sea salt.
How To Make The BEST Homemade Tahini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups organic raw hulled sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon 100% pure avocado oil
- ⅛ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Add the sesame seeds to a food processor and begin processing on "HIGH" speed.
- After the sesame seeds have processed for about 1-2 minutes, add the avocado oil and Himalayan pink salt into the chute of the food processor and continue processing for an additional 2-3 minutes. Stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides to help it along. The tahini is ready when it is creamy and smooth with no grainy texture.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The notes, instructions, and photographs for this recipe are copyrighted material and are protected under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). They cannot be used legally without my written permission.
The recipe and photographs for "How To Make The Best Homemade Tahini" by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home™ website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and cannot be used without my written permission.
Want More Healthy Vegan "How To" Condiment Recipes?
Check out these:
- Gluten-Free Vegan Bread Crumbs
- Whipped Coconut Cream Topping
- Homemade Peanut Butter
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with over 100+ plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 😉
Connor Mangus says
5-7 minutes??? it took me 30 before i got the sesame seeds to be mostly broken apart but my ninja food processor cracked. what kind of crap is this?
Karielyn says
Hi there Connor, I'm sorry to hear the homemade tahini didn't work for you 🙁 I've never tested it or made it in a "ninja" food processor, so I have no experience with how that would turn out. It could be that the "ninja" wasn't powerful enough to process the sesame seeds because it definitely should not have taken 30 minutes.
If you do a quick Google search for "How to Make Tahini", pretty much every recipe says to process it anywhere from 2 - 5 minutes, which is even less time than my recipe indicated.
Thanks for the feedback and maybe you could try it again with a regular food processor and I'm sure you would get much better results.
Jodie krenske says
Can this be made using a vitamix?
Karielyn says
Hi there Jodie! Yes, you sure can! Just start it out on low speed and use your tamper to blend it into a smooth paste-type consistency, moving up to high-speed if needed.
Thanks for your question and you're going to love making homemade tahini 😉
Shelley says
This looks great! But how long will it keep in the fridge for? Thanks! 🙂
Karielyn says
Hi there Shelly! In an air-tight glass container, it should last in the refrigerator for several weeks. I make it in small batches (about a cup at a time) and mine never lasts that long though!
Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy it 😉