Have you ever wanted a really amazing sauce to drizzle on just about anything? Well I’ve got the most perfect green sauce you’ll ever taste. It’s fresh, flavorful, spicy and nut free, too!
MEET MY JALAPENO GREEN TAHINI SAUCE.
This green tahini sauce was just one of those things I whipped up one night while making salmon. I wanted something fresh and flavorful to drizzle on top. The next day I found myself adding it over my broccoli and cheddar chicken couscous and finally slathering these tuna cakes with it. I just can’t stop loving everything tahini and for good reason — it’s nutty, buttery, and perfect for sauces, marinades and salad dressings!
What is tahini?
Tahini is simply ground sesame seeds and it’s very similar to how peanut butter or almond butter is made. Good tahini is creamy, mild, nutty, toasty and spoonable. It should not be overly bitter, thick or pasty. My favorite brand of tahini is by Soom (plus it’s female owned!).
How to make green tahini sauce
Green tahini sauce is absolutely delicious and made with tahini, fresh cilantro, garlic, lime juice and jalapeno. It’s a bit zippy so just make sure you seed your jalapeno before adding it in, unless you LOVE spicy foods, then I say go for it and keep the seeds in, you wild animal, you!
If you have a parsley you need to use up, you can feel free to add some of that to this sauce as well. I recommend about 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley to start, then taste and adjust as needed. Personally I think it’s perfect with just cilantro.
Ways to use this green tahini sauce
1.) Use this green sauce as a chicken, tofu or salmon glaze or even a marinade if you’re feeling it! Personally I love it drizzled over salmon or these delicious Peruvian grilled chicken drumsticks. I think it would pair deliciously with these pineapple tofu kabobs.
2.) Use it as salad dressing. This sauce would be perfect in a black bean quinoa salad, but you can use it on just about anything you can dream up.
3.) Use it as a dip for chicken fingers or on grilled fish!
I hope you love this yummy green tahini sauce and find some fun, creative ways to use it! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and rate the recipe below so others know how you liked it! Thank you for your readership! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Jalapeño Green Tahini Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ jalapeño, seeded
- 3 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ cup packed cilantro
- 2-3 tablespoons warm water to thin sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Add additional warm water if necessary to thin sauce so that it’s spoonable.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste (just a little at a time), then blend again and taste. Add more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serves 4 depending how much sauce you want. Makes about 1/2 cup sauce, about 2 tablespoons per serving. Double it if you want more sauce!
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
Delicious!! My jelepeno was larger and not so hot, so I added a little cayenne.
Delicious!! My jelepeno was larger and not so hot, so I added a little cayenne. Easy to make and quite delicious on salmon
Doubled it and thank goodness I did – this sauce is SO GOOD. I want to put it on everything! In terms of S&P, I did ½ tsp salt (for the doubled recipe) and a few grinds of pepper, and that worked well for my taste.
Omg RIGHT?! I can seriously eat this on just about anything haha. Glad you loved it!
Great sauce. I doubled the recipe and used double the amount of jalapeno to add a bit more spice. I’m going to be using this sauce on everything.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it! Good call on the extra jalapeño 🙂
How long will this keep in the fridge?! Thanks!
It should last for about 4-5 days in the fridge! Enjoy 🙂
How long will this last in the fridge?! Thanks!
This sauce is really tasty and flavorful! I went ahead and used a whole small jalepeño in with the seeds and it’s spicy but not so overwhelming that it burns your face off. If you like spice, for sure, keep the seeds!
I also ended up using about 5-6 tablespoons in total of warm water to thin out to my liking but start off with the suggested 2-3 to see where you’re add, taste for seasoning of salt and keep at it.
So happy you liked the recipe, Stephanie!
Do you think this would still be good without the cilantro? I do not like cilantro. Maybe I could sub parsley?
I think it would work with parsley, but it’s not my personal favorite with this sauce.
Hmm…if your tahini has 190 calories per 2 tablespoons, how is your nutrition label accurate? It’s saying there are fewer calories in the entire recipe than less than the quantity of one of the ingredients in it!
I’ve updated the nutrition (was just missing a tablespoon of tahini). Thank you for the catch!
This is my favorite salad dressing! Very well-balanced. I think I’ve made it at least 5 times and have the link pinned on my phone.