Tahini Ranch Dressing

Name: Tahini Ranch Dressing
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients: 1 cup smooth liquid tahini (like Soom); 1/2 cup lemon juice; 1/2 cup water; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 1 tablespoon olive oil; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; 1 cup finely chopped dill, chives and parsley, in equal parts

Recipe from Julia Goldberg

Adapted by Tejal Rao

Tahini Ranch Dressing — Davide Luciano for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker.

Total Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 4(828)
Comments: Read comments

This ranch-dressing adaptation comes from Julia Goldberg, a cook at Superiority Burger, Brooks Headley's vegetarian fast-food restaurant in New York. While traditional ranch relies on buttermilk and mayonnaise for its creaminess, the base in this version is tahini, or sesame butter, mixed with lemon juice and water until it turns smooth and glossy. Maple syrup and a generous amount of salt are crucial to mimicking the intense salty-sweetness of bottled ranch. The thick herb-packed sauce can be used as a versatile dressing for raw or grilled lettuces, a dip for crudités or a tangy sauce for grilled meat. After hours at Superiority Burger, the cooks like to experiment, drizzling it over oven-browned potatoes, or folding it into burritos. The recipe makes enough so that you can experiment with leftovers, too. —Tejal Rao

Featured in: A Vegan Ranch Dressing That Rivals the Original

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Ingredients

Yield:2 cups

1cup smooth liquid tahini (like Soom)
½cup lemon juice
½cup water
½teaspoon garlic powder
2tablespoons maple syrup
1tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1cup finely chopped dill, chives and parsley, in equal parts

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large bowl, use a spatula to mix the tahini with lemon juice. The mixture will seize and thicken, and look alarmingly close to creamed butter and sugar. Don’t worry about this. Gradually add water, and keep mixing; the tahini will soon turn pale, smooth and creamy.
Step 2
Add garlic powder, maple syrup and olive oil, and taste. Season with salt and pepper (the dressing could use at least a teaspoon of salt). Finally, mix in the herbs. The dressing is ready to use right away, though it will taste even better the following day and will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Ratings

4 out of 5

828 user ratings

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Comments

zizi-k7 years ago

What is "smooth liquid tahini"?
What if you have just "regular" tahini?

Arlin1387 years ago

Just don't mistake this for low-fat dressing. Tahini is almost entirely fat: 1418 calories in 1 cup, which includes 1145 calories from fat.

If you divide the 1145 fat calories by 16, there are about 72 fat calories in a 2-tablespoon serving.

Maggie7 years ago

Soom tahini is one of the better brands on the market. It's not a solid rock like the commonly found Joyva. It's nice and smooth. There's no need to refrigerate it. And, if you store it upside down (on a dish just in case it leaks), the oil doesn't separate. Incidentally, peanut butter should be stored upside down as well, and you'll never have the oil rise to the top.
You can thank me later.

Laurel7 months ago

Delicious dressing. I did use the mini food processor to blend it more. I used more lemon juice, and would use a bit less maple syrup.

Danette10 months ago

So good! Used fresh garlic and whatever herbs I could find. Halved the maple syrup.

Erin1 year ago

I've made this 4 or 5 times *almost* exactly as the recipe describes, but use a touch less maple syrup. Just made it again for Easter with sunflower seed butter to accommodate an allergy and it was still great! Needed less water, more salt than when I've used tahini.

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