Miso Tahini Dressing

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This easy-to-make Miso Tahini Dressing combines the umami taste of miso with the nutty flavor of tahini. It’s the perfect dressing for salads, grilled vegetables, grain bowls and can be used as a marinade too.

A white hand is drizzling a spoonful of miso tahini dressing over a green leaf salad in a large white bowl.Pin

Nutritional Benefits

Tahini has long been a staple ingredient in my pantry. It’s rich in omega-6 fatty acids, essential amino acids, fibre, antioxidants, as well as minerals like iron, magnesium and calcium. It’s also a good source of vitamin E and B1, and contains some protein too. The combination of these nutrients makes tahini a wonderful ingredient for cholesterol reduction and regulation, it’s great for heart health, and is also anti-inflammatory.

Likewise the health benefits of miso are plenty. Miso is a fermented food with a well-balanced nutrient profile. It is also a rich source of omega-6 fatty acids in addition to vitamin K, manganese, and copper. The fermentation process contributes beneficial gut bacteria which makes miso the perfect addition to your diet for immune support and improved digestion.

Ingredients For A Miso Tahini Dressing

This tahini miso dressing only requires a handful of ingredients that can all be found at your local supermarket. Depending on where you live the one exception to that may be the white miso. If they don’t stock this, it can be found at an Asian grocery store.

All the ingredients needed to make miso tahini dressing are laid out across a table in small bowls.Pin
  • Shiro miso – a sweet white miso paste that adds a mildly umami flavor to the dressing.
  • Good quality tahini – the base ingredient that adds a mild nuttiness and a bit of sweetness to this delicious sauce/dressing.
  • Fresh lemon juice – tahini is very thick so this is adding a bit of tang to the dressing but also helps to make it pourable.
  • Fresh Ginger – this provides a hint of warmth and spice to the dressing. A perfect match for the miso and tahini.
  • Fresh Garlic – adds pungency and balances the other ingredients.
  • Maple syrup – contributes some sweetness to lighten the flavor profile.
  • Sesame oil – adds rich, deep, and earthy tastes.

A small amount of water is also added but just enough to get the consistency you’re after in the dressing. It should be thick but pourable and really stick to whatever you’re adding it to. You don’t want to completely water down the taste so add it sparingly.

How To Make This Dressing

This delicious recipe takes minutes to make and can be mixed by hand, or with an immersion blender if preferred. Both are fine, but the stick blender will give you a smoother, creamier dressing overall.

  1. Add the miso, tahini, garlic and ginger to a small mixing bowl then mix to combine.
  2. Next add in the lemon juice, maple syrup, sesame oil, some water and salt, and whisk until your desired consistency is reached. The dressing should be slightly thick but pourable. If you’d prefer a thinner consistency, add more water (just a little at a time) until it reaches the consistency you’re after.

Serving: This is the perfect creamy dressing for buddha bowls and salads. It’s also delicious poured over a bowl of brown rice and baked vegetables or meats.

A white bowl full of miso tahini dressing with a drizzle of sesame oil sits on a grey background.Pin

Substitutions And Variations

Yellow miso can replace the shiro in need. It has a similarly sweet taste.

This is a great salad dressing for meal prep. Double the recipe and keep it in the fridge to use on salads, a grain bowl, or roast veg and meats.

Tips For Success With This Recipe

Hulled tahini is the best choice for this recipe. This variety has had the hull (or husk/outer shell) removed from the seed before grinding. As a result it’s lighter, creamier and much less bitter. In contrast, unhulled tahini still has the hull intact, making it quite bitter in flavour and darker in colour.

Storing/Freezing/Make Ahead

Keep any leftover dressing in a glass jar or airtight container in the fridge for a week or two.

This is a great make-ahead recipe as the flavours have more time to meld together. If the dressing thickens up too much in the fridge simply add a little more water or lemon juice to thin it out.

This recipe is not suitable for freezing.

FAQ

Are tahini and miso the same thing?

No. Their main differences are the base ingredients and of course, taste. Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds and is quite nutty in flavour. Miso is made from cooked legumes (soybeans, chickpeas etc.) that are fermented with koji and a grain for months to years. Its flavour depends on the legumes used but it tends to have a very savoury or earthy/umami flavour.

Is tahini dressing good for you?

Yes. Tahini packs a nutritious punch with thanks to its base ingredient – sesame seeds. They’re rich in protein, good fats, essential amino acids, antioxidants, and an array of vitamins and minerals.

Should I buy hulled or unhulled tahini?

Hulled tahini. In unhulled tahini, the seed’s hull remains intact, and it contains oxalic acid as well as phytic acid in trace amounts. These substances not only give the tahini a bitter taste, but they also inhibit the absorption of minerals – particularly the calcium, which tahini is well-known for.

More Dressings And Sauces Recipes

If you try this recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment, rate it, and remember to tag @wholenaturalkitchen in your pics or reels on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok!

Close-up of a small jug filled with Miso Tahini Dressing sitting on a white table in front of a salad.Pin

Miso Tahini Dressing

This Miso Tahini Dressing is quick and easy to make. It's also very versatile and goes well with baked veg, salads, or slow cooked meats.
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Course: Sauces
Cuisine: Japanese Inspired
Keyword: Dressing, Miso, Sauce
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 244kcal

Equipment

  • Medium-sized bowl
  • Whisk or spoon to stir (immersion blender if preferred)

Ingredients

  • ½ cup hulled tahini
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp white miso
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2-3 tbsp water or enough to make the dressing pourable
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 small clove garlic crushed
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • Pinch salt

Instructions

  • Add the miso, tahini, ginger and garlic to a small mixing bowl and mix well to combine.
  • Next add in the lemon juice, maple syrup, sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of water and salt then whisk it all together until it reaches your desired consistency. If you find the dressing is still not pourable – add in the extra tablespoon of water and mix again.
  • To serve, pour over salads, or roasted vegetables. It's also a great match for slow roasted meats.
  • Store in a glass jar or an airtight container in the fridge for a week or two.

Video

Notes

If you’ve made some previously, you could use Garlic Miso in place of the white miso. If you do, just leave out the garlic clove in the recipe because you won’t need it.
You can continue to add water until you get the consistency of dressing you desire but taste as you go to ensure you don’t water it down significantly. Try alternating between a little water and lemon juice with an extra pinch of salt if you intend to add much more water than what the recipe calls for.

Nutrition

Serving: 30g | Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 329mg | Potassium: 200mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

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Gabby Campbell

Gabby is a degree qualified Naturopath/Nutritionist (BHSc Nat) with a love of all whole foods. She started her Naturopathic career in clinical practice before making the move to recipe development and online education – a result of wanting to combat the misinformation that abounds on the internet about food and health. Whole Natural Kitchen aims to transform the way you think about healthy eating by helping you embrace an abundance of nutritious foods while leaving the health fads behind. MORE ABOUT GABBY

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