You might think that a product like sesame paste, or tahini tastes the same across the board no matter the brand. But in truth, tahini is as varied as any other product. For instance, you know that Jiffy peanut butter is going to taste completely different from Justin’s brand, which has far fewer ingredients.
Sadly there are companies that add all kinds of fillers to tahini, from palm oil to even flour! The flour makes the tahini more bitter, and is a nightmare for people on a gluten free diet. So when a lot of viewers asked me to do a taste test on tahini, I was totally down for the cause.
Growing up in a Palestinian household, tahini was ubiquitous. Tahini went into salad dressings, our weekly batch of hummus, sauces drizzled over meats, and in desserts as well. If you use a bad quality tahini, you can possibly ruin a dish that you spent all day cooking. Conversely, a good quality tahini can elevate a dish, and add that authentic quality. A good tahini should be creamy and balanced with no bitterness and a mild nutty taste.
When buying tahini, ALWAYS check the expiration date to make sure it is as fresh as possible. Store in a cool dark place, and refrigerate after 6 months. As there are an overwhelming amount of tahini brands out there, I picked brands that had no fillers, came from a variety of countries, and were accessible either online or in the supermarket, which is why I picked Trader Joes to add to the selection. You can learn more about the brands by clicking on the links below
- TRADER JOES
- ZIYAD (1 POUND) amzn.to/44ed4GR
- BEIRUT (1 POUND) amzn.to/44dOeXV
- AL’ARD (PRICE IS FOR 2 POUNDS) amzn.to/3rjLABg
- TARAZI (1 POUND) amzn.to/46EjiBs
So, which ones did we like the best? I can tell you it was almost a 3 way tie! To see the results of our taste test, click on the video below. If there are other Middle Eastern products you want us to review, leave them in the comments below!
