It’s finally here. A deliciously creamy pasta but without all of that heavy dairy. This vegan tahini pasta is going to make your creamy guilty free pasta dreams come true. It’s so delicious with garlic, chilli, lemon, and basil flavors shining through. Bonus part: the sauce is made in 2 minutes and you basically just need to boil pasta.

Tahini pasta served in a white plate garnished with basil leaves and chilli flakes

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Tahini paste is so delicious in a variety of sweet and savoury recipes. But I had the idea to incorporate it in a pasta dish and use common Asian ingredients because it’s similar to your classic peanut noodles. It has a similar nutty taste and works so well in this dish.

This tahini pasta sauce is so well balanced. You get the nuttiness of the tahini, combined with spice from chilli flakes, sweetness from the honey, saltiness from the soy sauce and tartness from the citrus. You’re hitting all the right notes: salty, sweet, sour and spicy. Trust me – when you get all 4 of the “S” words action, you know it’s going to be well balanced.

Tahini pasta served in a white plate garnished with basil leaves and chilli flakes

Tips for making Tahini Pasta

This is one of the easiest pasta dishes you will ever make! The sauce comes together in no time and the rest of the recipe takes 5 minutes once the pasta is cooked. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • The tahini pasta sauce comes together in 1 bowl – simply mix all the ingredients in. When you’re mixing, it’s likely that the tahini sauce will seize up and get really thick, but continue mixing and it’ll loosen up again. That’s also why we add a few tablespoons of water
  • Once the sauce is ready and the pasta is cooked, the final steps is to throw everything together and this is best done in a pan over low heat, to allow the sauce to melt onto the pasta
  • Cook the garlic and chilli flakes in the olive oil, then add the pasta, green onions, basil and the sauce. Add the sauce in 2 parts to control how saucy you want your pasta to be. I find that some people love it saucy and some not so much. This way you can taste and adjust
  • Also be sure to reserve some pasta water to add to the pan and help loosen the sauce a bit and make it more creamy.
  • When re-heating any leftovers, you should also re-heat in a pan on low heat with a splash of water
Tahini pasta served in a white plate garnished with basil leaves and chilli flakes

That’s pretty much it! It doesn’t get any easier than that. I love having mine with tons of fresh basil on top (which is awesome because I always have lots of fresh basil in the summer). If you give this tahini pasta recipe a try, definitely let me know what you think and leave me a review.

For more recipes that use tahini, check out:

A large beige platter with cooked tube pasta mixed with a light beige sauce with a lemon wedge at the side, a light green tea towel, a serving spoon at the side, toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley with plates at the side with pasta in it with a metal fork, a green drinking glass and a small plate with toasted pine nuts.
5 from 3 ratings

20-Min Creamy Tahini Pasta

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Author: Amina Al-Saigh
This easy vegan tahini pasta has just made your dairy free creamy pasta dreams come true! Tahini, garlic, lemon and chilli are the star flavors in this unique and super easy dish.
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Ingredients
 

For the Pasta:

  • 1 tablespoon salt, for the pasta water
  • 454 grams pasta, 16 ounces
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Sauce:

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup tahini paste, 250 ml
  • lemon zest, from 1 lemon
  • ¼ cup lemon juice, fresh
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes, optional
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt, more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

For Garnish:

  • ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta. Cook according to package directions. Just before draining, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water.
  • While the pasta boils, prepare the sauce. In a medium sized skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden. Add the tahini, lemon zest, lemon juice, chilli flakes, salt and black pepper. Whisk well until combined. The sauce will be quite thick at this point.
  • Reduce the heat to medium low and slowly pour in the reserved pasta water while continuing to whisk. The sauce will loosen up and thin out. Continue stirring for an additional 2-4 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken up again.
  • Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and mix well. Check for seasoning. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and finely chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • To reheat leftovers, add a few tablespoons of water at a time and heat until you reach the desired consistency.
  • You may find the lemon flavour to be quite strong at first, it does mellow out as it sits so keep that in mind when tasting it
  • To toast pine nuts, heat a small pan over medium heat and add the pine nuts. Toast them in the dry pan for a few minutes until lightly golden brown
  • Slivered almonds also work well here if you do not have pine nuts
Serving: 1Serving, Calories: 412kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 38g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g, Monounsaturated Fat: 18g, Sodium: 2121mg, Potassium: 485mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 520IU, Vitamin C: 13mg, Calcium: 77mg, Iron: 3mg
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