Bored by your dinner plans? This green goddess tahini will liven up any basic meal! I’m always so happy to have it in the refrigerator to serve as an appetizer or snack.
Just a dollop or two brings together random leftovers and simple meals made with veggies, greens, whole grains or beans. You can also spread it onto your sandwiches or wraps. Green goddess tahini is here to save the day. You’ll find many more serving suggestions below.
This recipe was inspired by a similar dip that I grabbed at Whole Foods before hosting girls’ night (I can’t seem to find the brand name). A couple of my friends follow dairy free and vegan diets, so I’m always on the lookout for fun options that satisfy our requirements. As the night went on, we all fell in love with the dip—it’s creamy, rich yet fresh, and satisfying. It’s irresistible.
So, I combined my Best Tahini Sauce (truly the best) with the herbs from my Easy Green Goddess Dressing, and here you have it. You can make this recipe with any combination of cilantro, parsley, basil, dill and/or mint. Add a small handful of fresh tarragon if you can find it for that characteristic green goddess flavor. This dip (or sauce) is lovely in any season and at any holiday. I hope you fall in love with it!
How to Make Green Goddess Tahini
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s how it works and why. You’ll want to fill a bowl with ice and water while you wait on step one.
- Soak freshly minced garlic and lemon juice for 10 minutes. This step infuses the lemon juice with fresh garlicky flavor, and it’s really worth the wait. Otherwise, we’d blend garlic directly into the sauce, but I find that the garlic continues to become more intense as time goes on and eventually tastes harsh. Always use fresh garlic, not pre-minced garlic from a jar.
- Strain the garlic out of the lemon juice. This is easy to do with a flexible spatula and a fine sieve.
- Combine the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor: the infused lemon juice, tahini, herbs, salt and a little pinch of cumin .
- Blend until the mixture is a smooth green and the herbs have broken into tiny little flecks.
- Add ice-cold water, two tablespoons at a time, while running the food processor. You’ll notice that at first the sauce thickens, but then loosens into a beautifully creamy sauce. Cold water is key when making anything with tahini; it helps yield a pale white (vs. yellow), extra creamy sauce.
Green Goddess Tahini Serving Suggestions
This recipe can serve as a dip or sauce. Offer it as a creamy vegan appetizer, like you would hummus. In fact, it would be a great addition to a full spread with Mediterranean dips like hummus, baba ganoush, and feta dip.
Spread it onto a fresh sandwich or wrap, like this Green Goddess Hummus Sandwich. Or use it to bring together a healthy bowl of a meal with veggies, beans and whole grains, like this Farmers’ Market Bowl with Green Goddess Sauce.
Here’s a short list of components that go well with green goddess tahini:
- Chickpeas
- Crackers, crostini, pita wedges or pita chips
- Falafel
- Greens, like arugula or spring greens
- Raw vegetables: Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, fennel, etc.
- Roasted vegetables: Roasted asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, Delicata squash, green beans or these Colorful Roasted Vegetables
- Whole grains, like farro, quinoa or wild rice
More Fresh Dips & Sauces
These herbed dips will brighten any meal! I have many more dips, dressing and sauce recipes here.
Please let me know how your recipe turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you, and I’m eager to hear how you serve this dip.
Green Goddess Tahini Dip
- Author:
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Dip
- Method: Food processor
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegan
Serve this green goddess tahini as a dip or drizzle it as a sauce! This delightful vegan dip is a great appetizer with crudités, crackers or pita wedges. Green goddess tahini livens up basic vegetables and makes any meal more exciting. Recipe yields a generous 1 cup.
Scale
Ingredients
- 4 medium-to-large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup tahini
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh herbs (tender stems are fine): use cilantro, parsley, basil, dill and/or mint
- Optional: Up to 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- Pinch of ground cumin
- 5 to 6 tablespoons ice-cold water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the garlic and lemon juice. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes, to give the garlic time to infuse the lemon juice with flavor.
- Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl of a food processor. Press the garlic solids with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the garlic.
- Add the tahini, herbs, salt and cumin to the food processor. Blend until the herbs are just tiny green flecks, scraping down the sides and bottom of the food processor as necessary.
- While running the food processor, drizzle in water 2 tablespoons at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the food processor as necessary. After about 5 to 6 tablespoons, you should have a lovely, creamy green sauce. It will thicken further as it cools.
- If desired, thin with additional water for a more drizzly sauce. At which point, you may want to adjust as necessary—if you’d like more tang, add more lemon, or for more overall flavor, add another pinch of salt. Your tahini sauce is ready to serve! Leftovers will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 week. The tahini may thicken with time; whisk in additional cold water as necessary to thin.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my Best Tahini Sauce and Easy Green Goddess Salad Dressing.
Serving suggestions: Serve with raw or roasted vegetables, like carrots, bell pepper, celery, cucumber, broccoli or tomato. Try it with toasted pita wedges, pita chips, whole grain crackers, or crostini. These are only a few uses, go wild with it!
▸ Nutrition Information
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