Name: Tahini Lime Dressing
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Ingredients: 7 tbsp tahini ($1.44); 2 medium limes, juiced ($0.66); 6 tbsp water ($0.00); 1 tsp sea salt ($0.05); 2 tsp garlic powder ($0.20)

GF DF V 30 PAL

Creamy tahini lime dressing is easy to make, ready in 2 minutes with just one bowl and a spoon. Lime tahini dressing is so simple and is creamy without any dairy. This tahini lime dressing is vegan, gluten free, paleo, Whole30 and low carb friendly.

Wooden spoon in jar filled with lime tahini dressing.

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Why you will love this recipe

Easy to make – all you need is a bowl and a spoon or a fork to combine the dressing ingredients. Simply measure the ingredients and stir with a spoon.
Simple ingredients – you can find all the ingredients for this homemade dressing in the grocery store.
So many uses – you can use this dressing on salads, grain bowls, buddha bowls, roasted veggies, or as a dip for fresh veggies or sweet potato tots.

Ingredients

Tahini – tahini helps to make this dressing creamy without any added dairy. The tahini is creamy and has a nutty, sesame seed flavor that is perfect for salad dressings.
Lime juice – lime juice is the acid in this dressing and is a bit more bitter than lemon juice and is perfect for salad dressing.
Water – water helps to thin out the dressing.
Spices: salt and garlic powder – these help to give the dressing some flavor. Raw garlic can be overpowering in salad dressing, so garlic powder is the best way to add some flavor.

How to make lime tahini dressing

Check out a step by step story on how to make creamy tahini lime dressing!

Add the ingredients to a small bowl and stir with a spoon or fork.

You may notice that at first the dressing ingredients don’t want to come together, and the dressing will seem gritty/grainy. Continue to stir the dressing and eventually it will come together into a thick, creamy dressing.

Use dressing immediately or store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Top tips

The dressing will take a minute to come together – when you first start to stir the dressing, the oil from the tahini and the water will not want to combine. Keep stirring the dressing and you will notice it starts to come together and get thicker.
Customize this based on how thick or thin you want your dressing – if you love a thinner dressing, add a tablespoon or two more water than written. If you want an even thicker dressing, reduce the water by 1 tablespoon or add more tahini.
Allow to come up to room temperature from the fridge. Tahini based dressing can be thick right out of the fridge and will thin out a bit once at room temperature. Before you add water to the dressing, allow it to sit out 5-10 minutes before deciding to add more water.
If you find your dressing does not come together and looks curdled, put it in a high speed blender. Essentially tahini is high in fat and fat and water tend to not want to combine at first. If after 1 minute of stirring it still isn’t coming together, use your high speed blender to combine.

How to use this lime tahini dressing

Over salads, buddha bowls or grain bowls
Drizzled over top of chicken shawarma rice bowls
Drizzled over roasted vegetables
As a dip for raw veggies, sweet potato wedges or broccoli tots
Drizzled over falafel, sweet potato lentil patties, or sweet potato patties

Tahini lime dressing poured over a grain bowl.

Optional additions to the dressing

Sweetness: If you find this dressing to be a bit bitter, add 1/2 -1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey (not vegan) to taste.
Spice: Add 1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes or 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder to the dressing for some spice and added flavor or 1/2-1 jalapeno (seeded) – you will need a high speed blender if adding the jalapeno.
Fresh Herbs: Add 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro or parsley, 1-2 tablespoons of fresh dill, or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves to the dressing. Be sure to use a high speed blender as you will need to break the herbs up finely to combine.
Dried herbs: Add 1/2 -1 teaspoon of herbs de Provence, Italian seasoning, ground cumin or oregano to the dressing. Simply stir in the dried herbs, no need for the high speed blender.

Common questions

What is tahini

Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds – similar to peanut butter but made from sesame seeds.

Tahini is smooth, has a nutty flavor and has a very distinct sesame flavor. It’s a great way to make things creamy without dairy and is wonderful as a base of dressing or sauces. Typically tahini is used in hummus to help make that creamy consistency without much added oil.

Where to buy tahini

Tahini can be found in most grocery stores now, often in the same part of the grocery store as the peanut butter. If you cannot find it there, you can look in the international food section of the grocery store too. Another great option is to buy tahini online.

Glass jar filled with tahini lime dressing.

What are other recipes that use tahini

Storing leftovers

Fridge: Store leftover dressing in an airtight container for up to a week.
Freezer: Store in individual servings in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Substitutions

Tahini – you can use sunbutter, almond butter or cashew butter in place of tahini in this recipe.
Lime juice – lime juice is slightly more bitter than lemons but lemon juice would also work well here. You could also use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar as well.
Garlic powder – if you don’t have garlic powder on hand, you can simply omit it.

Salad topped with creamy tahini lime dressing.

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