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Created on August 21, 2026
Allergens: Sesame seeds.From the ingredient list, against Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Always check the labels of the products you use.
Tahini is ground sesame. Nothing else. A jar from the shop costs between eight and twelve euros a kilo; a hundred grams of seeds and ten minutes in a processor give you the equivalent, with a far franker sesame flavour because you have just toasted it yourself.
It is also a base: hummus depends on it entirely, so does falafel sauce, and a spoonful in a dressing transforms a salad. Like cashew cream, it is the sort of preparation you end up making every week without thinking about it once you have started.
Sesame, from the people who sell it
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is one of the oldest plants grown for its oil — there are traces of it in Mesopotamia more than four thousand years ago. The seed is tiny, but it is close to half fat by weight, and that is precisely why this recipe works: tahini needs no added oil, the seed provides its own.
Whole or hulled? Ours is whole, with its husk. It gives a darker, more rustic tahini, slightly more bitter — the kind found in Lebanon and Palestine. Very pale industrial tahinis are made from hulled seeds: smoother and milder, but flatter too.
Toasting is the step that decides everything. A raw seed gives a dull paste that is hard to grind; toasted, it releases its oil and its scent, and the processor gets through it in half the time. Never skip this step, and never push it too far: sesame goes from blond to burnt in fifteen seconds, and bitter tahini cannot be rescued.
A note on allergens: sesame is one of the fourteen substances that must be declared. That is no small matter for a tahini, which is 100 % sesame.
The ingredients
For about 215 g of tahini, 12 spoonfuls:
- 200 g organic sesame seeds
- 20 g extra virgin olive oil, if needed
- 2 g salt
The recipe, step by step
- Toast the sesame dry. Wide pan, medium heat, no fat. Stir without stopping for four to five minutes. The seeds should turn blond, jump a little and smell of hazelnut — not brown.
- Tip them out at once onto a cold plate. Left in the pan they would keep cooking. Let them cool for ten minutes.
- Grind dry. Put the seeds in the processor bowl with the salt and run at full speed. They pass through three states: powder, dry paste stuck to the sides, then a cream that flows. Allow eight to ten minutes.
- Scrape the sides every two minutes. It is tedious, it is essential, and it is the only demand this recipe makes.
- Add oil if needed. With a powerful processor it is unnecessary. With an ordinary one, a spoonful at a time until the paste starts to turn by itself.
- Jar it. The tahini is ready when it falls from the whisk in an unbroken ribbon.
The little extra
Do not give up at minute six. That is where everyone abandons it: the paste is dry, gritty, stuck to the sides, and you convince yourself the machine is not powerful enough. It is. You simply have to keep going — the oil always comes out in the end, and the change happens all at once, in a few seconds. Scrape, restart, wait.
Tahini separates in the jar and the oil rises: that is the sign it contains no emulsifier. Stir it with a long-bladed knife before each use.
What to swap
- Whole sesame → hulled sesame, for a paler, milder tahini. A different product, just as good.
- The olive oil → sesame or sunflower oil, more neutral. Olive oil marks the flavour, which you will like or not.
- The processor → a mortar, given time and determination. It is the original method, and it takes a good half hour of arm.
- The toasting → nothing replaces it. Raw-seed tahini is possible but dull, and much slower to come together.
Keeping and making ahead
At room temperature: 1 month in a sealed jar, away from light.
In the fridge: 3 months. It hardens in the cold; take it out half an hour before use.
How to tell it has turned: a sharp, old-oil smell. Sesame is fatty, so it goes rancid — make small batches rather than one big jar.
Equipment
A processor with an S-blade, not a smoothie blender: tahini is too thick to circulate in a narrow jug. A wide pan, so the seeds sit in a single layer. And a stiff spatula for scraping.
Nutrition
Nutrition declaration
| Per 100 g | Per serving (18 g) | Total for 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 640 kcal | 116 kcal | 1,392 kcal |
| Fat | 55 g | 9.9 g | 119 g |
| of which saturates | 7.8 g | 1.4 g | 17 g |
| Carbohydrate | 12 g | 2.1 g | 26 g |
| of which sugars | 0.3 g | 0.1 g | 0.6 g |
| of which polyols * | 0.0 g | 0.0 g | 0.0 g |
| Fibre | 11 g | 2.0 g | 24 g |
| Protein | 16 g | 3.0 g | 36 g |
| Salt | 0.99 g | 0.18 g | 2.16 g |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
If you change the number of servings above, only the last column moves — and that is right: doubling the recipe doubles the cake, not the slice. The first two columns describe the cake itself; they do not depend on how many people are eating.
Values calculated from the ingredients, for 12 servings, allowing for about 2 % evaporation during cooking. They are no substitute for a laboratory analysis and vary with the brands used.
* The reference data do not give every value for Sésame, graine. Rows marked with an asterisk are therefore minimums: the true figure is equal to or higher than the one shown. A low value declared as such beats a false zero.
Composition source: Ciqual 2025, ANSES (Licence Ouverte / Open Licence (Etalab)).
This composition qualifies as: High fibre · Low sugars · Sugars-free.
Wordings authorised by Regulation (EU) No 432/2012; thresholds from Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.
What these figures say. Tahini is an oilseed paste, so it is dense: you count it in spoonfuls, not ladles. Its fat is the seed’s own, very largely unsaturated, and that is what sets it apart from a spread where the fat has been added.
Frequently asked questions
My tahini stays gritty, why?
Because it has not run long enough. That is nearly always the answer. Ten minutes in total, scraping as you go, and add oil only as a last resort.
It is bitter, what can I do?
The seeds toasted too far. Nothing rescues that. Next time, take the pan off the heat as soon as the scent rises, without waiting for colour.
Should it be salted?
Two grams is enough, and you can leave it out if the tahini is destined for baking. Salted, it spreads; unsalted, it does desserts just as well.
Can I double the quantities?
Yes, and it is actually easier: a processor works badly with too small a load. Below 150 g of seeds, the blade spins in thin air.
The products in this recipe
What to try next
- Homemade hummus with tahini — the obvious next step, with the jar you have just made.
- Cashew chicken with ginger and sesame — the same bag, seeds left whole.
- Organic sesame seeds — the single ingredient of this recipe.
