Homemade tahini salad dressing is so easy to make that you'll never want to buy store bought again! Just like goddess dressing, this recipe is lightly garlicky and lemon-y, perfectly creamy and ready in under 10 minutes.
Tahini goddess dressing is a healthy salad dressing that's free from added sugars. It's lemon-y, lightly garlicky, and packed with flavor.
This recipe is my twist on the original Annie's dressing, making it a goddess style tahini dressing, AKA the best kind of salad dressing!
Recipe features
- Diet-friendly: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free optional (just use tamari in place of soy sauce), nut-free
- zesty, tangy and creamy, just like the store bought kind
- Ready in less than 10 minutes using just 6 pantry staples!
Ingredients and substitutions
Apple cider vinegar and lemon juice make this dressing very tangy. If you want a more subtle flavor I recommend decreasing the vinegar to 2 tablespoons and replacing the other 1 tablespoon with water.
Note: One large lemon usually makes 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice. Use leftover lemon juice in this strawberry vinaigrette or in a lemon blueberry smoothie.
Tahini is just ground sesame seeds. It can be found in a few different places in the grocery store: either by the “health food” section, by the peanut butter and jellies or by the condiments.
Dry parsley can be replaced with 1 heaping tablespoon fresh chopped parsley if desired.
One garlic clove can be replaced with ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder.
Soy sauce provides saltiness and umami flavors. Choose a reduced sodium soy sauce for a lower sodium dressing. Use an equal amount of tamari to make this recipe gluten-free.
Step by step instructions
This recipe is as easy as:
- Add Ingredients to a blender
- Blend until smooth
If you don’t have a blender you can just whisk the ingredients together in a bowl.
Recipe FAQ and expert tips
- Thickness/consistency: Sometimes the oils in tahini separates while in the bottle, so make sure your tahini is well-stirred before adding it to the blender. The dressing thickens as it cools in the fridge. You may need to add a splash of water before serving.
- Serving ideas: Try out this tahini goddess dressing on a warm kale salad with roasted butternut squash or this kale salad with chickpeas.
- Make it green goddess by adding a total of 1 cup of fresh chopped herbs like cilantro, parsley, dill, and/or basil. You can include the stems. Or try my avocado green goddess dressing instead!
This recipe makes 5-6 servings of tahini dressing. It lasts in the fridge for about a week, or you can make it in bulk and freeze in individual jars.
Yes! Tahini dressing freezes well. I like to freeze it in pint sized ball jars. Leave at least ½ inch of space at the top of the jar. Freeze for up to 3 months and let thaw overnight in the fridge before using. Just place a jar to thaw in the fridge for 1-2 days prior to use.
Yes! Tahini is high in oil content which can cause it to spoil quickly. For best quality, store tahini in the fridge or according to label instructions.
Use tamari in place of soy sauce to make this recipe gluten-free and soy-free. Choose a tahini that is certified gluten-free as sometimes gluten-containing ingredients are added to help with shelf life.
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📖 Recipe
Goddess Style Tahini Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar see note #1
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce I like to use reduced sodium
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice ~1 medium lemon
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced, see note #2
- water as needed to thin
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to thin to desired consistency. Store refrigerated in airtight jar for up to a week.
Video
Notes
- Apple cider vinegar and lemon juice make this dressing very tangy. If you want a more subtle flavor I recommend decreasing the vinegar to 2 tablespoons and replacing the other 1 tablespoons with water.
- Garlic: Adjust amount based on your flavor preferences. One garlic cloves = ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Storage: Keep refrigerated in a closed container for up to a week.
- Freezing instructions: I like to freeze dressing in pint sized ball jars. Leave at least ½ inch of space at the top of the jar. Freeze for up to 3 months and let thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
Nutrition
Note: This recipe was originally shared on September 24, 2018. I updated the recipe post on March 2, 2021 to include tips & FAQ, new photos and a video. The amount of apple cider vinegar was decreased from ¼ cup to 3 tablespoons in the updated recipe.
Todd S.
I am a long time addict of Annie's Goddess so I know a thing or two about how much it should taste and also how much it should cost.
First off, thanks for posting this recipe. While it's not a match, it's still good and the best thing I took away from it is the inspiration to reverse engineer the recipe because it's not as readily available as it once was and its only a matter of time before it is discontinued like everything else.
Unfortunately this recipe only yields only 6oz of dressing with an entire sauce cup of water added to it and just factoring the price of tahini alone, just the tahini used in this recipe was more expensive than an entire 8oz bottle of the real thing. But the good news is the proportions are obviously way off. The ingredients label on the Annie's has the tahini 4th down the list below the oil, water and vinegar. In comparison this comes out tasting like peanut butter and having around 300 calories per realistic serving. I'm going to rejigger this and see if I can't do better but thanks for lighting the fire.
Cassidy Reeser
Hi Todd, thanks for the review! I'd say this is more of an inspired-by Annie's dressing than an attempt at an exact copy, so I'm glad you found a good template to start out with. Have fun fiddling with the recipe! 🙂
Margo Nathanson
I too am a fan of Annies, but want to cut costs for groceries. Can you share your hack? I used to make this recipe, and while really good, I found the same as you-too peanut buttery and too fattening.