What happens when you mix a serious craving for Mediterranean food with a good charcuterie board? Why, a mezze platter, of course.
If you haven’t heard it before, the word mezze originates from a Turkish word meaning appetizer, and it basically describes a large platter of deliciousness that’s meant to be shared.
You won’t find cream cheese and pepper jelly on a mezze platter, though – think fresh tabbouleh, hummus, marinated olives, and other Mediterranean inspired goodness. This seriously delicious lemon garlic tahini sauce makes the perfect addition, because it can be used as a dip for other additions, including:
- Paleo falafel
- Gluten-free flatbread
- Fresh veggies like carrots, bell peppers, and cucumbers
It also makes a great dressing for gyros or grilled kabobs, and it can be made in under five minutes.
Easy Tahini Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- immersion blender (A regular blender can also be used if you double or triple the recipe so that there's enough volume to blend)
Ingredients
- ½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp sea salt (to taste)
- 2-3 garlic cloves (coarsely chopped)
- cold water as needed
- fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Immersion Blender Instructions
- Place the tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic cloves in a mason jar.
- Add 1 tablespoon water and blend everything together. Continue adding water (usually 1-2 more tablespoons) until your tahini sauce reaches the desired consistency.
- Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro (if using), then serve. Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
Blender Instructions
- Place the tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic cloves in the blender.
- Add 1 tablespoon water and blend everything together. Continue adding water (usually 1-2 more tablespoons) until your tahini sauce reaches the desired consistency.
- Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro (if using), then serve. Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
More Dressings & Dips
Ranch Dressing – This creamy dressing is so much better than store-bought versions, which often contain MSG, solvent-extracted vegetable oils, and artificial flavors.
Spinach Dip – A dip usually needs chips, but if you’re avoiding grains or trying to up your veggie intake, you can serve this recipe up with cucumber slices, carrot or celery sticks, plantain chips, or sweet potato rounds.
Homemade Caesar Dressing – This salad dressing is delicious over crisp romaine lettuce, and also makes a fantastic marinade for steak or chicken, dip for homemade chicken wings, or sauce for baked fish. Click here for a dairy-free version.
Thousand Island Dressing – This recipe is a family favorite. We drizzle it on salads, slather it on reuben sandwiches, and use it as a dipping sauce for fries and cut veggies.
I grew up eating hush puppies with honey! Don’t know that honey would work well with this recipe, but it might!
I LOVE falafel but since we’ve moved to the middle-of-nowhere-Texas, I’ve not been eating it too often. Totally making this. Tonight. Yum.
I made these for dinner tonight and they were absolutely fantastic!
I love falafel and and I can’t wait to try this low carb variation. Thank you Heather and thank you Caitlin!
thanks! my sister is a paleo fan and will love this!
Oh, looks so delicious! Can’t wait to move in to our new home and start making all those tasty things:) I’m only cooking some beauty stuff there, but no food yet:(
Can these be made without eggs? I love falafel but haven’t been able to have them with my food sensitivities, which include eggs but traditional falafel is not made with egg.
You could try chia seed eggs. In a small bowl add 1 tablespoon chia seeds to 3 tablespoons water and let gel for five min before adding..
I don’t see eggs in this recipe….?
This article used to have two recipes- one for falafel that contained egg and one for tahini sauce. I split the recipes into two articles, so now you can find the falafel recipe with egg here: https://mommypotamus.com/paleo-falafel-recipe/
Love the idea, but it would be awesome if you could post the carb count on each patty.
Sounds good, what do you think of using besan instead of almond meal?