Tahini – that smooth creamy sesame seed butter – is delicious in sweet and savory ways: 3 New Ways to Use Tahini. It’s this week’s Healthy Kitchen Hacks!
It’s Healthy Kitchen Hacks Wednesday – the day we share our favorite time-saving kitchen tricks and cooking shortcuts to help you make healthy and delicious meals.
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Now…onto today’s featured Healthy Kitchen Hack:
3 New Ways to Use Tahini
I’ve had the *tough* job of working on this post all summer. I’ve tried several different brands of tahini, also known as sesame seed butter. The best brands have only one ingredient: sesame seeds. It’s a key ingredient in hummus. My family has taste-tested LOTS of ways to swirl it, drizzle it and top dishes with tahini.
And if you’ve recently made Deanna’s Chocolate Tahini Zucchini Bread, you may be wondering what to do with the rest of the jar.
Here are my family’s 3 absolute favorites, that you probably haven’t tasted, yet….
1. Drizzle over spaghetti squash – or any squash – and bake
Okay. I’m pretty excited about this idea. After baking my spaghetti squash, the tahini got all bubbly and slightly toasted. It would be just as delicious on sweeter butternut squash, acorn squash, Hubbard squash or even small Delicata squash.
After baking my spaghetti squash, I scraped out the long strands of spaghetti-like noodles of squash flesh. Then I drizzled with soy sauce, sprinkled with basil and toasted sesame seeds. Oh. My. Yum. (See recipe below) 3 New Ways to Use Up Tahini: Sweet + savory #HealthyKitchenHacks via @TspCurry Click To Tweet
2. Pour over pancakes or waffles
Growing up, my family always put peanut butter and syrup on our pancakes. But I must confess I’m currently on a tahini + syrup kick. The savory notes in tahini are perfect with the sweet syrup (sorta like the savory bacon + maple syrup combo!)
Check the label, some tahini brands have similar protein amounts as peanut butter:
- Tahini (Soom brand) – 7 gram protein per 2 tablespoons
- Peanut butter – 7 grams protein per 2 tablespoons
3. Stir into pumpkin soup, chili and curries
The nutty, slightly bitter flavors in tahini are a perfect contrast to sweet, earthy pumpkin soup. Drizzle over the top of each bowl or mix into the soup when simmering.
Tahini cuts the heat in chili – but tahini’s bold flavor doesn’t get lost in all those ingredients from beans and meat to tomatoes and peppers.
Tahini in curries is magic. It adds a toasty note, but again, it’s bold enough to stand up the heat and coconut milk flavors in curries.
PrintTahini Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Description
The most delicious way you’ve ever eaten spaghetti squash: Top with tahini and bake until tahini is bubbly! Plus, tips on cutting it in half easily and safely with out cutting off your finger!
Ingredients
1 large spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted if desired
1/4 cup packed basil leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
Instructions
Heat oven to 400-degrees-F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
Cut spaghetti squash in half. (Use these simple instructions to Easily & Safely Cut Squash.)
Drizzle one squash half with 1 tablespoon tahini. Spray squash half with cooking spray (this helps keep the squash moist when backing and helps the tahini get toasty during backing.) Repeat with other squash half and remaining 1 tablespoon tahini. Place squash halves on baking sheet; loosely just lay a large piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil over top of both halves.
Bake 50-55 minutes (less time for medium or small squashes) until fork slides easily into squash. Using a fork, scrape out squash halves onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and torn basil. Serve warm, room-temperature or even cold.
Have you ever tried tahini? How do you use tahini?
Heather
Wednesday 13th of September 2017
Thanks for the idea! I have this jar of tahini I bought to make hummus from scratch, but I have never made it because I look at the jar of tahini and thought, "What am I going to do with the rest of this jar?" Unfortunately, that's all the farther my thought process went. So thanks!
Serena Ball
Wednesday 13th of September 2017
Oh good! So happy to know your kids will now be pouring tahini on their pancakes. (:
Liz
Saturday 2nd of September 2017
So creative! I never thought of using it as a PB with pancakes but now I've got to try it! I made a tahini cookie with chia seeds that turned out amazing last summer but forgot to write down the recipe- You've inspired me to try it again!
Serena Ball
Saturday 2nd of September 2017
I WANT that recipe! Yum...those cookies sound like the perfect not-too-sweet treat, Liz.
Mona
Thursday 31st of August 2017
Wow! I am definitely trying the spaghetti squash.
Serena Ball
Saturday 2nd of September 2017
Thanks Mona. It's an easy recipe!