Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce
Bring your favorite pasta to the next level with this Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce. With only 4 ingredients, it is vegan, gluten free and just super easy to make. You will having a hard time not to eat this sauce at once before the pasta is ready.
I know that pasta nights are a ritual in many homes. That's no different for me.
It's not a big surprise why pasta is such a favorite for everybody filling plates and bowls regularly.
Pasta itself is simple and quick to make. So I usually do that at least once a week, maybe sometimes 2 times.
I have a couple of great pasta recipes here already, like my 10 Minute Mediterranean Vegan Pasta or the Roasted Garlic Sun Dried Tomato Pasta.
But wait! There is more to explore and make you hungry. Just use the search bar on the right, or check my Pasta Recipes category.
And today it's time for you to meet my newest addition to this list:
This Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce is here and just waiting for you. To make it fast and to put it not only pasta, it's just so good.
Whatever is your favorite pasta, go ahead an make it. Then we are ready to get saucy.
My Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce is spicy thanks to Habanero pepper, unbelievably creamy with tahini, garlicky, and seriously incredibly easy and delicious.
Shall we start? It's going to be quick, but still, let us not waste any time.
But before we get to it, let me give you some hints about Habanero peppers. It's recommended that whenever you use these peppers, please make sure to wear some gloves.
The peppers are really, really hot and you can get skin irritation on your hands, fingers, if they are not protected.
Or you might touch your face with the spiciness on your fingers and you absolutely do not want to have any of that there, especially not close to your eyes.
OK , now that this is out of the way: heat a small skillet. You can add a little bit of vegetable broth or olive oil.
Fry the garlic and Habanero peppers for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a blender. Add tahini, water, and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Now you are ready to enjoy.
This dairy free pasta sauce requires just 4 ingredients and one easy simple step. As you can see, I combined it with mushrooms and some peas and mixed it with my favorite spaghetti.
So creamy and delicious.
But this is also an absolutely versatile sauce for everything. You can put it on wraps, sandwiches, or eat with some baked vegetables and potatoes.
So many options and you will never get tired of it.
Believe me it's hard to resist not to eat the sauce just with a spoon and forget the pasta. When you can relate or find yourself in this position, I suggest to make a double batch.
I recently had a big dinner with friends and we made some baked sweet potatoes.
Stuffed them with sautéed veggies and topped all of that with this sauce. It was so great.
You can also make the Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce part of a seriously delicious plant based appetizer.
Put it on salads as a dressing, or munch on raw veggies to dig in.
Get ready for pasta night with this Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce
If you know me a bit I'm in love with tahini, and could eat it almost every day. No joke it might happen, it's a staple here and I use it for so many things, not only sauces.
Only recently I read an article about how one can make your own tahini.
I was so curious to give this a try, since I'm all about enjoying homemade foods. I have tried it with nut butter and this time I thought tahini is worth to give a try. I can happily confirm you can do it, it's really fun and it smells fantastic.
Plus it's pretty easy if you have a food processor: just put the sesame seeds in it and process until a paste is formed. Add a bit oil or water to thin, if needed.
That's all no other magic and it's also really cheap and affordable to make your own version. If you need more inspiration how you can do it, check out "How To Make Tahini".
As always if you try it. tag me on Facebook and Instagram. Say hello, snap a picture, and let's meet up. Happy pasta night, Florian.
Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce
Bring your favorite pasta to the next level with this Spicy Tahini Pasta Sauce. With only 4 ingredients, it is vegan, gluten free and just super easy to make. You will having a hard time not to eat this sauce at once before the pasta is ready
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini
- 1 cup water
- 1 Habanero pepper, seeded
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 lemon, juiced
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Heat a small skillet. You can add a little bit of vegetable broth or olive oil. Fry the garlic and Habanero peppers for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a blender. Add tahini, water, and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
Notes
If your tahini is already fairly liquid, start with ½ cup of water and add some more until you have the desired consistency.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 2 TbspAmount Per Serving: Calories: 178Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2.2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 10mgCarbohydrates: 6.4gFiber: 1.4gSugar: 0gProtein: 5.2g
This sauce looks SO creamy and irresistible! First of all, I love the simplicity of the ingredients. Tahini is something I've had just a handful of times, but it sounds like it'd be incredible in this sauce. Habanero is my favorite pepper - spicy food is the best! It's funny, right before I read in your post all the other options of what to put it on, my mind immediately went to using it for stuffing and/or dipping with a sweet potato...love the versatility! Sounds SO good, Florian!
Thank you, Sara! I hope you get to try and enjoy this. Oh, if you really, really like it spicy, you can try using two peppers. I'll try next time I make this.
Cool recipe, anxious to try it! Would jalapeños be an ok substitute?
Hi Amanda! Jalapeños will work! Enjoy!
Do you have suggestions for making it less spicy? The flavor sounds great- I just can't handle food that's very spicy
Hi Meagan! Use half of the habanero, or leave them out!
I bet it would be really good with some chipotle peppers!
Hi Michael! This will work as well!
I tried this and it seems like the ratio is way off. When I used 1/2 cup of tahini to 1 cup of water it was basically the consistency of water once blended, I had to add in about another 1/2 cup of tahini to get it to look like the consistency in the picture. The flavor was okay, kind of bland but really lemony, even though I only used half the lemon.
That's a bit odd. Was your tahini very liquid by itself? Sounds to me like that because when I use a 1:1 ratio tahini to water what comes out is really, really thick nothing like a pasta sauce.
And when you need to add more tahini, I think it's a good idea to add more garlic, salt etc.
Made this exactly as the recipe instructed and it was very blah and tasteless, spicy though.
Tried this tonight and I thought it was pretty interesting, in a good way! I had to make a few adjustments to get it the way I wanted it (a little more lemon, extra garlic, and some salt). I can definitely see myself making this again! By the way, what's the red sauce drizzled on top in your picture??
It's sriracha!
I thought so!
This was just....so bland. So so so bland.
This is really good. Had it over pasta and was spicy and delicious. I used two jalapenos since that is what I had.
Thanks so much for your amazing feedback and making it! One of my favorites!
I am a big wuss so used an ordinary chilli. I added peas and sweetcorn to my pasta for the last 2 minutes then drained and poured on the sauce it was lovely.
Thanks so much for your fantastic feedback and making it, Jacque! I'll have to try with sweetcorn and peas next time! Sounds delicious, yum!
I made this recipe with 1/2 cup water since my tahini was pretty runny. After heating in a pan, I definitely should have added the extra 1/2 cup of water. I ended up cooking it in a pan with canned, diced tomatoes with moscato wine (classy I know) and WOW! This is going to be my go-to sauce for lots of things now. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing and making it, Kenny! Glad it was such a big hit! Really hope you'll try lots of more recipes.
As a dairy and gluten intolerant this is a beautiful easy creamy tasty sauce .. this will now become a staple in my house .. thank you ?
You're So welcome, Joanne! Thanks for your fantastic feedback and making it. One of my favorites! Really hope you'll try lots of more recipes!
This is very good! I only used 1/2 cup of water and added an extra 1/2 lemon. I roasted some veggies (eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, and onion) and added it all to pasta with basil and nutritional yeast. Plenty of sauce, still have leftovers. Would be delicious with falafels, too. Highly recommend!
Thanks so much for your fantastic feedback, Tobi! One of my favorites! I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try!
I made this for myself one evening and wished someone else was there to taste! Such a Wonderful recipe! I used a Jalapeño pepper and an extra clove of garlic. Tossed the pasta with some sautéed mushrooms and topped with cilantro and avocado. I will be making again-luckily I have tahini sauce leftovers!!
Thanks so much for your fantastic feedback and making it, Allison! Leftovers are always delicious! I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try!
QWe were excited to try this, so made it with what we had on hand-jalapeños instead of habaneros. Prepared everything else as directed. We were low on veggies, so we served it with carmelized onions and chickpeas. Also served it with red pepper flakes so everyone could add their favorite level of heat. This was delicious! Even my meat eating husband is a fan. This recipe is definitely going into the dinner rotation at our house. Next time we will try it with the habanero.
Thank you for a quick and easy vegan winner!
Awesome, Valentina! Thanks for sharing! I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try!
The recipie is easy to follow and creamy, but it tasted very plain. I tried adding a couple of spices to give it more flavor.
Hi Lorena! I love this recipe with all these tasty garlic flavors and made that all the time, yum! It's a readers favorite, but feel free to adjust to your own liking, enjoy!
This sauce is amazing! Added jalapeños instead and put it with lentil pasta, tomatoes & diced red peppers. Tasted so good
Hi Zachery! That sounds lovely! Thanks for making it and sharing your feedback! I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try!
I made this sauce tonight and had it with spaghetti squash, mushroom and peas. It was delicious! The sauce was so creamy.
Thanks a bunch for your amazing feedback and making it, Joanne. I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try.
Such a yummy recipe! I didn’t make quite as much since I was just cooking for myself, so I made a few variations, leaving out the habaneros, and adding some grass-fed ground beef, cumin, and a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and sherry cooking wine for some tang. Loved it and will definitely be making again!
Thanks for making and sharing it, Clara! I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try.
I will be making this tonight but adding my own twist to it while still keeping it vegan I have different peppers I’ll be using that are not as sharp as the ones recommended and I’ll be sautéing the garlic pepper mushroom and some onion then blending all together with the rest of the ingredients and adding some Sriracha for a smidge of heat and served mixed with mushroom and peas as pictured so will see how this turns out but I’m excited to try it.
Let me know how it goes, Kelly! Sounds delicious.
Hello this looks great. Ive actually never bought tahini..Is there a certain brand you like best or do you make your own?
Hi Aurora! Sunita is delicious.
I have made this recipe twice and both times it has tired out bitter. I used a jalapeño instead of habanero, could that be the cause of the bitterness?
Hi Jennifer! It can be. I made it all the time and never experienced this issue.
You might be burning the garlic. That does it for me sometimes.
I finally got around to making this dish. It was so good, but not much flavor until I added Nutritional Yeast. Yum!!!
Thanks for making it, Laurel! Would you mind leaving a star rating with your review? This is so helpful for other readers. Thank you so much.
This looks amazing and delicious! I love the idea of using zucchini noodles instead of pasta, and tge fact that it is only 178 calories!! I have one question though: Does the 178 calories include the pasta as well, or is that just for the sauce?
Hi Lisa! For the sauce not including pasta. Hope that helps.
Do you have long this would keep in the fridge? It’s just me, so won’t use a whole batch but would be nice to have on hand and heat up as needed.
Hi Rese! It will stay fresh in the fridge, properly stored for around 1 week. Hope that helps.
How long does this last in the fridge?
Hi Tabitha! It can be stored in the fridge for one week. Hope that helps.
Easy to make, I love this dish, plus it's quick and healthy. I added the Peas and mushrooms like in the picture which is great but I bet you could probably add other veggies too!
Thanks for making it, Staci! Yes it is also delicious with any veggies you like. Would you mind leaving a star rating with your review? This is super helpful for other readers. Thanks so much.
Hi,
This looks good. Can you advise how much pasta suits one batch of the sauce please?
Many thanks
Kimi
Hi Kimi! 8 oz should be fine. Hope that helps.
I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. I did modified it a bit. I use Barilla chickpea pasta. I used three times the amount of garlic. I used Minced garlic. I added 1/4 more of the tahini sauce to make it thicker. I add a little grape seed oil, I added garlic salt, oregano, paprika, and parsley. I also used one pack of sautéed mushrooms. I will definitely cook this recipe again.
Thanks for your wonderful feedback and making it, Tiffany! Love that you share your modifications. Everything sounds so delicious and tasty. I hope you'll find lots of more recipes to try.