Way better than the store bought stuff
Anyone else tired of paying nearly $10 a jar for Tahini? I stopped buying tahini at the store months ago. If you buy sesame seeds in bulk at your natural foods store, you can make your own way more awesome organic version for around $2 bucks.
Measure out 3 cups organic sesame seeds into a skillet
Toast on stove-top over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until seeds are golden brown.
Dump into food processor, add a teaspoon of sea salt if desired.
Process for 7-10 minutes, scraping down sides every couple minutes. It will look dry and crumbly, but don’t worry it’ll come together.
Tahini is ready when completely smooth.
Store in your old Tahini Jar, if it’s a 16 oz jar, it’ll fit perfectly. For ultimate freshness, keep in the fridge.
Vedged Out 
I love how much money you can save by doing some of the work yourself. It is also great that you can control exactly what ingredients go into your food. No need to read any labels, you just know what is in it… and it makes you so proud of being so handy in the kitchen ;D
I know! 1 or 2 ingredients, depending on whether or not you want salt. It’s great 🙂 Plus…. it’s so much better!
So amazingly simple and I bet it tastes great. Sadly, won’t be trying this one as sesame is a big no go in this house! Hope you’re all feeling better x
Oh man, I forgot you guys had sesame issues. Toasted Almond butter is fantastic 🙂 Especially with a little maple syrup added in.
Good idea – never tried it but I’ll be seeking it out now!
I use tahini a lot. yes! I am one of those that spends $10 on a jar. I am totally going to try this. Thanks so much!
I know right, spend less than 10 bucks and you risk low quality possibly rancid varieties. You’ll love this Ana!
Lol! I JUST bought a jar yesterday for around $7 I think and I hated spending that. I even contemplated making my own since I make my own nut butters, applesauce, etc. but I didn’t think my food processor would grind the tiny seeds. Good to know that it works…I totally want to return the jar now! Looks super yummy and way better than what I bought too 🙂
Oh girl, it works perfectly. I wasn’t sure, but I always have sesame seeds in the pantry so I just gave it a go one day. I was blown away by the results. So much fresher and yummier. You just want to eat it out of the jar!
Thank you! I’m going to totally return the jar and make my own! Honestly. The jar stuff looks kind of nasty and grossed me out anyway, haha. I have a jar of toasted sesame seeds already in my fridge so I won’t have to buy anything. Yay! So glad for your post!
So cool Brandi! Glad I could help! Let me know how you like the homemade version!
£1.18 for a jar over here, but its only a little jar, none the less I like the idea of making my own tahini when I make hummus!
16 ounces is about 500 grams, which is the size commonly sold here. I’m not sure if you get a better value then we do. I know our quality peanut butter is much cheaper than yours. Maybe it’s a supply and demand thing.
Its weird all the differences between England and over there, most peeps in England don’t use measuring cups but I think they make everything so much easier?
I know, I really struggle with metric conversions. I lived in Australia for a while and it was super frustrating trying to cook from recipes there. I was like, why can’t they just give me the measure in cups 😉
I did find a good conversion table somewhere?
They’re everywhere online, but I hate looking things up when I’m in the middle of a cooking groove 😉
great! I’m looking forward to do my own tahini as well:))
I hope you enjoy it!
Brilliant! Thank you. I pay about $7 a jar. I was recently bemoaning that fact too, so your tutorial comes at the perfect time. 🙂
Glad to help! I don’t like overspending on ingredients when I don’t have to. Lord know my organic grocery bill is all ready through the roof! 😉
Agreed!
🙂
Reblogged this on Dining on Dialysis and commented:
For we Dialysis folks:
Nutrition:
Number of Servings: 48
Serving Size: 1 Tbsp
Calories 103
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 2 mg
Potassium 84 mg
Protein 3.2 g
Total Carbohydrate 4.2 g
Dietary Fiber 2.1 g
Sugars 0.1 g
Calcium 352 mg
Phosphorus 226 mg
Iron isn’t on that list! Tahini is super high in Iron 🙂 Thanks for the re-blog 🙂
!46 mg of Iron per Tablespoon.
Woot! Thanks!
I’ve been wanting to make my own tahini for eons! Thanks for the inspiration!! 🙂
No worries, sometimes we just need a little nudge. 😉
Brillian!!
Thanks!
I treat the stuff like gold! I’ll bet the flavor of homemade is SO much better (read: fresh)!
Really? It’s that easy? You don’t add anything but sesame seeds? I’ve bought my last expensive jar of tahini! Thank you!
Really really that easy, you just need 15-20 minutes to do it. So worthwhile! Let me know what you think!
I will!
🙂
It is so ridiculously fresh! I’ve bought Tahini before (the kind that comes in a tin) that was within date, but tasted rancid. That was the push to make my own. Totally gold, just wait til I give you the new salad dressing recipe that will go with the green smoothie challenge. We’ve been putting nothing else on our salads.
I’m totally counting on you for the dressing. I’ve made nothing but FLOPS so far, dang it!
Emailed….. Go forth and have it on a salad!
Has anyone tried this with raw sesame seeds (not toasted)? Does it work just as well? I’d like to keep my diet mostly raw, so I wondered if it’d be possible to do this w/ raw sesame seeds?
Absoloodle. Let me know how you like it Dawn, you may need to process the seeds slightly longer. Fun chatting with you on FB this morning 🙂
I had no idea tahini was so easy to make. Thank you and Happy New Year!!
Super Easy Jeanette! Happy New Years to you too!
Thanks Somer, I didn’t realise it was so easy to make. And I can’t mess the measurements up on this one, because there’s only one ingredient:)
Exactly! 😉 Anyone could make it, but I’ve got confidence you’ll grow in the kitchen, like anything worth learning, it just takes time and patience. xx
And fresh tastes so much better!! 🙂 I hate the canned stuff personally!
For reals. The one in the can is the worst variety of all. I’ve had some decent organic stuff from a glass jar, but it doesn’t compare at all to this 🙂
Yeah, I swore I hated the stuff till I had jar type – but gah, so pricey. I make mine in my Vitamix 🙂 So fast!!
Wha? I love my blendtec, but anytime I’ve tried to make nut butter the blades just stop moving. Maybe vitamix does have an edge after all!
Had no idea it was that easy! This is great.
It really is just that easy! Enjoy!
Thank you, Somer, for reminding us of something so simple! Yes, I am sick of paying $8 something for organic tahini paste. I am definitely going to try your recipe!
Yay, another convert! Your taste buds will thank you too!
I am going to have to try this. I almost killed my food processor in an attempt to make home made coconut spread out of desiccated coconut but if it croaks on this recipe, at least it will have died a noble death! I need some more tahini…I have chickpeas waiting its glistening enrobing so I am going to have to hunt out my sesame seeds (in the freezer) and get toasting… just one thing…how do you stop yourself from eating the toasted sesame seeds with a spoon right out of the pan and having to toast more? 😉
Watch out, your food processor may be on it’s last leg! I killed my S blade on my last batch of almond butter. Thank goodness it was just the blade and not the machine!
I love toasted sesame seeds too, but the tahini is so good, it’s worth the wait 😉
Today I cook some sesame seeds! (and most probably my food processor as well…) I am in need of that sticky degustatory delight and have some of Frugal’s baked falafels in mind and a whole pile of home grown greens and some home made pita bread… definately going to have to make some now! 🙂
Good luck, keep me posted Fran. Frugal’s falafel sounds fantastic at the moment (minus the egg) 🙂
Yup…you don’t need the egg (even though I have 9 dozen of them in the fridge thanks to our overzealous hens…), I love experimenting with different bean flours and have some wonderful orange red lentil flour just waiting to be paired with those chickpeas and still the whole mass together. Might even toss in some pureed spinach or silverbeet…could be interesting 🙂
Mmmm stop it. It’s lunch time here! You’re making me hungry!
LOL! It’s 5.56am here…the munchies haven’t hit me yet but I did have to have my first massive bucket of tea to kickstart me into my day…tonight we feast on falafels and home made tahini thanks to Frugal and you 🙂
Holy Cow, I’d still be sawing zzzz’s. Not a morning person 😉 Enjoy your meal tonight!
my friend amy showed me this trick this year. it is so magickal.
It’s totally magickal! Lucky duck! I had to figure this out on my own 🙂
Love it…thanks!
Anytime 🙂
Yum yum yum – how beautiful and SO easy to make 🙂
XXXX
I knew you’d love this 😉
I totally want to try this! Do you buy your sesame seeds at Whole Foods or Smith’s bulk bins or somewhere else? I’ve never bought them before 🙂
I’ve bought them at Smith’s before but our Good Earth in AF has better pricing. So fresh and good, you’ll never go back once you try this! 🙂
I guess I’m fortunate to live near a store where I can purchase 2lbs of tahini for $4, but it’s always good to have a backup plan! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Wow, that is WAY fortunate!
Wow! I don’t know why I never thought about making tahini before! I guess it’s because I still *strangely* haven’t invested in a food processor as of yet. I think it’s about time I push the button *literally* Could you make a recommendation on the model to get? I’ve been putting off the decision because I don’t know if I should get the Cusineart Elite series or the standard model.
Thank you so much!
If you can afford it, splurge and get the elite model. I only recommend cuisinart, I’ve had mine for nearly 10 years and it still runs like brand new,mine is the standard and I do wish I had the cup capacity of the elite.
making food products home-made is always better but I don’t like tahini at all! 😦
Oh girl, I didn’t use to like it either, but I think that’s because all I had tried was the nasty stale stuff from a can. You might love the fresh variety. So much different!
What perfect timing! I was just at the grocery store last night and wanted to purchase tahini, but they were all out. I always hate spending the $9 that it costs for a jar, but this is a big hummus house. We need it! 🙂 Now I can go back to the bulk bin today and pick up sesame seeds instead.
I tried making my own once before, but I didn’t toast them and I used black sesame seeds. Do you know what does NOT look appealing in hummus? Black tahini. Gray hummus? Not good. 🙂
You are cracking me up Cadry, the first time I made this I used the black seeds and didn’t toast it either. BIG mistake 😉 Black seeds are pretty for decorating food, not so pretty in hummus!
We love hummus too, and I’ve been making an oil free goddess dressing with this that is killer!
Yay! I’m not alone in my black seed failures! 😀
The dressing sounds fabulous! Are you going to post the recipe?
It’ll be in my upcoming revamped Green Smoothie Challenge, but I’ll email it to you!
Awesome! Thank you!
Emailed to your yahoo address 😉
Oh this is perfect! One of my friends and I was trying to make homemade tahini this week without a recipe and it didn’t go so well. I’m so excited to try again with this info! Thanks for sharing!
No worries! Good luck! Let me know how you like it!
that looks ridiculously easy.. i dont know why i havent made any at home..maybe coz we dont use so much between 2 people:) i threw out my food processor.. so i will have to blendtec it!
So easy. Sarah at Gazing in says she uses her vitamix to make this, anytime I’ve tried to make nut butter in my blendtec, the blades just stop. I should give it a go because it would probably be much quicker.
you should return it then.. it is supposed to blend everything right:) did you get a new jar? blendtec was giving away a new jar new blade coz they won a lawsuit against vitamix.
The model I bought came with 2 jars, the wild side (bigger) and the traditional sized one. I know they also sell a mini jar attachment especially for nut and seed butters but I didn’t want to shell out an extra 100 bucks for it when I all ready have a super good quality food processor. Where did you find out about the free jar and blade, I would love a 3rd jar! (My blendtec count is up to 889 and I’ve had it for less than a year) So I use both jars at least once a day. LOVE IT.
Wow, never knew it was so easy to make tahini. Do you buy sesame seeds in bulk? I can only find small jars in my grocery store and they seem expensive? Anywho, this looks great. Another reason I need a food processor.
I buy my seeds in bulk at any Natural Foods store, Whole Foods should have them 🙂 Yes, you totally need a food processor! 🙂
I am SO doing this. I love that just about everything about a plant-based diet can be done at home with a little free time and a kitchen slave or two.
You’ve done it again! You know how I love cheap DIY versions. Thanks!
You rule! I am just about out of my store bought can and feel some hummus making coming on. Awesome. Thanks Somer.
I so need to do this – I never knew it was so easy!
I always make raw tahini- I never thought to toast the sesame seeds! Sounds (and looks) delicious! 🙂
I’m late to the party, but I wanted to add that I have been doing this for years (I do add a tablespoon of olive oil to my tahini and no salt). My tip is to make hummus right after you make your tahini. You can never get all the tahini out of the food processor, so it’s a win-win and a single clean-up!
Thanks for all your recipes – I’ll be starting your smoothie challenge next week. I am one of the unfortunates who got the flu, so I haven’t been able to go to the grocery in two weeks. I’ll stock up tomorrow and get started.
Oh, I’m totally making hummus straight after next time! 2 for 1! Hope you feel better soon, we had that flu, it was brutal!