Tahini has quietly become a British cupboard staple, which is generous of us, because most of it is sitting perfectly still.
Is tahini good for you? Yes, and not in a vague way. Ground sesame seeds bring unsaturated fat, plant protein, calcium, iron and copper, and almost no sugar at all.
The harder question is the one nobody seems to answer. What do you do with it after the hummus?
Nutrition first. Then the jar.
Key Takeaways
- Verdict: Is tahini good for you? Yes. It is ground sesame seeds and, in a decent jar, nothing else. A tablespoon brings around 89 calories, 2.6g of protein, 64mg of calcium and 1.3mg of iron.
- Portion: Tahini is nutrient-rich but calorie-dense, so a little goes a surprisingly long way.
- Allergen: Sesame is one of the 14 allergens that UK food labels must declare, so tahini is off the menu for anyone avoiding it.
- Sweet: Tahini's savoury, faintly bitter edge is exactly why it works against something sweet, and grape molasses is the partner it has been paired with for centuries.
Is tahini good for you?
Yes. Tahini is sesame seeds, ground until they give in and turn into paste, and in a good jar that is the entire ingredients list. A tablespoon brings unsaturated fat, a little plant protein, fibre, and proper amounts of calcium, iron, phosphorus and copper, with almost no sugar in it. It is rich stuff, so the spoon matters.
| Per 15g tablespoon | Tahini |
|---|---|
| Energy | 89 kcal |
| Protein | 2.6 g |
| Fat | 8.1 g |
| of which saturates | 1.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.2 g |
| Fibre | 1.4 g |
| Sugars | 0.1 g |
| Calcium | 64 mg |
| Iron | 1.3 mg |
| Phosphorus | 110 mg |
| Copper | 0.24 mg |
Figures from USDA FoodData Central for sesame butter (tahini) from roasted and toasted kernels. Brands vary, so your jar is the authority on your jar.
The line worth pausing on is the sugar one. A tenth of a gram in a tablespoon. Tahini is about as un-sweet as a spoonable food gets, which becomes relevant in a moment.
What does tahini taste like on its own?
Tahini tastes savoury, nutty and faintly bitter, more sesame than nut, with a thick richness that coats the roof of your mouth. On its own it is a serious ingredient: rich, savoury and slightly bitter. Give it something to push against, though, and it becomes much more interesting.
It comes alive against two things: acid, which is why lemon turns it into a dressing, and sweetness, which most British cupboards have never tried.
The sweet route is not a modern invention. In Turkey and across the eastern Mediterranean, tahini has been eaten with grape molasses for generations. Tahin pekmez. Sesame and concentrated grape juice, stirred together on bread, at breakfast, for a very long time.
Britain took the hummus and left the pudding behind.
Messyface is what happens when someone makes that pairing and puts a lid on it. Dark, glossy and deeply caramel-like, with a nutty savoury edge underneath from the sesame that keeps it from going sickly. Drag a knife through it and it pulls.
Two ingredients. Grape molasses and sesame tahini. That is the whole list, and it tastes like something that ought to be hiding a third one.
Messyface customers have described it as surprisingly rich, which makes sense once you try it: a little spread across hot toast goes a surprisingly long way.
What are the health benefits of tahini?
Is tahini good for you in any measurable way? Yes. Tahini's benefits come straight from what sesame seeds are made of. Most of its fat is unsaturated, and it provides plant protein along with calcium, iron, phosphorus, copper and thiamin. It also contains plant compounds called lignans. Nutritious, certainly. Miracle food, no.
- Unsaturated fat. Around 8g of fat in a tablespoon, most of it unsaturated. The British Nutrition Foundation's guidance on fats is that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat supports healthier cholesterol levels.
- Calcium, from a jar with no dairy in it. 64mg a tablespoon. Not a glass of milk, but a real contribution from a spread, and one of the few plant sources that turns up in everyday amounts.
- Iron and thiamin. A tablespoon provides around 1.3mg of iron, along with thiamin, which helps the body release energy from food.
- Lignans. Sesame carries sesamin and sesamolin, studied for antioxidant activity. Genuinely interesting, but much of that work is early and a lot of it is not in humans, so nobody should eat tahini as medicine.
That is the honest shape of it. Tahini is a nutritious food rather than a functional one. The better reason to keep it in the cupboard is that it tastes good, once you know what to do with it.
How much tahini should you eat in a day?
A tablespoon is a useful place to start. Tahini is rich, concentrated stuff, so you rarely need enormous amounts of it. In a dressing, loosen it with lemon and water; on toast, a spoonful spread right to the edges does plenty. The useful measure isn't really a daily rule. It's the size of the spoon.
Two things worth knowing, and then we can stop being sensible.
Sesame is an allergen. It is one of the 14 that UK food labels must declare, and sesame allergy is not rare.
If it is off the menu for you or for anyone you are feeding, tahini is off the menu too. There is no clever way around that one.
Drowning a salad in it counts. A dressing made with three tablespoons is three tablespoons, and it is easy to lose track once it has gone runny. Thin it with water and lemon and you get the same coverage from less.
Is tahini healthier than peanut butter?
Neither is healthier. They are good at different things. Tahini and peanut butter carry similar calories and similar fat, but tahini brings more calcium, iron and copper, while peanut butter brings more protein. They are different allergens, too. Choose on flavour and on what you are actually making.
| Tahini | Peanut butter | |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | Sesame seeds, often nothing else | Peanuts, sometimes with added oil, sugar or salt |
| Tastes | Savoury, nutty, faintly bitter | Sweeter, rounder, more familiar |
| Stronger in | Calcium, iron, copper | Protein |
| Allergen | Sesame | Peanuts |
| Best at | Dressings, hummus, anything with lemon | Toast, porridge, straight off the spoon |
The longer version of that argument, numbers and all, is in our tahini versus peanut butter piece.
The interesting bit here is what happens when the two turn up in the same jar. Messyface Peanut is rich, deep and properly caramel-like, with the peanut sitting just behind it.
Grape molasses, sesame tahini, smooth peanut butter. Thicker and nuttier than the Original, with the sort of texture that makes the spoon increasingly difficult to put down.
One clear note while we are on allergens. Messyface Original contains sesame, the Peanut edition contains sesame and peanuts, and both are made in a facility that also handles nuts.
Should you buy hulled or unhulled tahini?
Hulled tahini is made from sesame seeds with the husk removed. It is paler, smoother and milder, and it is what almost every recipe assumes you have. Unhulled tahini keeps the husk on, so it is darker, more bitter and stronger tasting, with more of the whole seed in it. For a first jar, buy hulled.
Black tahini exists too, made from black sesame. It is the most assertive of the three. Wonderful in ice cream. Startling in hummus.
Whichever you buy, expect it to separate. Nothing has gone wrong. That is what a food with no emulsifier in it does when left alone for a month.
What is the best way to eat tahini?
The best way to eat tahini is to give it a partner. On its own it is intense. Loosened with lemon and water it becomes a dressing for anything roasted. Blended with chickpeas it becomes hummus. Stirred into something sweet it becomes pudding. Savoury tahini is the famous half. Sweet tahini is the half that finishes the jar.
- A dressing, in thirty seconds. Tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, and a crushed garlic clove if you are committed. It will seize up and look ruined the moment the water goes in. Keep going. It comes back smooth.
- Over roasted vegetables. Cauliflower, carrots, aubergine. The bitterness works beautifully against caramelised edges.
- Hummus. The reason the jar was bought in the first place. Still correct.
- Swirled through thick yoghurt. With something sweet running through it, because plain tahini in plain yoghurt is two serious things sharing one bowl. Our granola and yoghurt bowl does it properly.
- In baking. Sesame goes very well indeed with sugar and butter, which is what halva has been telling us for centuries. These sesame slices are the easy way in.
- On hot toast, with something sweet. The tahin pekmez route, and the side of sesame Britain somehow missed. A thick spoonful of Messyface on hot toast, spread right out to the crust while the bread is still too hot to be sensible about, goes glossy across the whole surface and starts heading for the edges. Then banana on sourdough, if you want it done properly.
- Warm, over vanilla ice cream. Not breakfast. Spoon a little into a small bowl, microwave it for about five seconds, then pour. Never the whole jar: you only warm the bit you are about to eat, and the lid is metal.
Toast still steaming. Knife in. Right out to the corners. Marvellous.
Nobody eats it over a plate the first time. You find that out afterwards, usually on a sleeve.
Top Tips
- Stir it properly before you use it. Butter knife, not teaspoon. Stand the jar upside down for an hour first and it half stirs itself.
- Add water to a dressing slowly. It seizes before it smooths, and that is the recipe working rather than failing.
- Buy hulled for your first jar. Unhulled is better once you know you like sesame.
- If it tastes flat, it wants acid or sugar. Lemon, or something sweet. Almost never more tahini.
Frequently asked questions
Is it healthy to eat tahini every day?
For most people, tahini can comfortably be part of a balanced diet. It brings unsaturated fat and useful amounts of minerals including calcium and iron. It is also energy-dense, so as with most rich foods, a little goes a long way. Anyone with a sesame allergy should avoid it entirely.
Which is healthier, hummus or tahini?
Neither wins outright. Hummus is lower in calories per spoonful and adds chickpea fibre and protein, which makes it the better dip. Tahini is more concentrated and richer in calcium and iron per gram, and it is an ingredient in hummus anyway. Eating hummus means eating tahini.
What are the side effects of tahini?
For most people there are none. The significant risk is sesame allergy, which can be serious, and sesame must be declared on UK food labels for that reason. Tahini is also calorie-dense, so large quantities add up quickly. Some people find unhulled tahini bitter, which is a taste issue rather than a health one.
Should tahini be refrigerated after opening?
It does not need to be. A cool, dark cupboard is fine, and refrigerating tahini turns it into something close to concrete. The fridge does extend its life, so it is worth considering if you use it rarely. Either way it separates, and stirring it back together is maintenance rather than rescue.
Does tahini contain sugar?
Almost none. Plain tahini has around 0.1g of sugar in a 15g tablespoon, because it is simply ground sesame seeds. That is exactly why it works so well against something sweet: there is nothing in it competing. Pair it with grape molasses and all the sweetness arrives from the fruit, with no refined sugar added.
So, is tahini good for you?
Is tahini good for you? Yes. Unsaturated fat, calcium, iron, copper, almost no sugar, and one of the shortest ingredient lists in the cupboard. All of which is worth exactly nothing while the lid stays on.
Sesame has a sweet life as well as a savoury one, and the sweet one has been going on rather longer than the hummus.
If you want that pairing already done for you, Messyface is dark, glossy, deeply caramel-like and ridiculously good, made from remarkably simple ingredients: grapes and sesame.
Hot toast, right out to the corners, while it is still too hot to be sensible about.
