ISO Hummus without tahini

[lancas]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has a recipe for making hummus without tahini?
I often have all the ingredients for hummus, but can't get tahini.
Are there any alternatives that taste good?

thanks,
liz

 

[Andy M.]

Hi, Liz. Welcome to DC.

Tahini is sesame paste. It's a staple in Asian markets. Perhaps you can find some there.

Peanut butter is used as a substitute in some recipes. I don't know if it would work in hummus.

 

[skilletlicker]

I've made it with peanut butter using Alton Browns recipe. I'm not as enthusiastic as most of these reviewers but it was pretty good.

 

[GB]

Here is another vote for peanut butter. It will certainly not be the same as hummus, but it will be good nonetheless.

 

[auntdot]

We live in the toolies and can get tahini at our groceries.

If there is an afterlife I hope they have peanut butter noodles on the menu, or at least have provisions for delivery.

I adore peanut butter but believe there is no alternative to tahini in hummus.

 

[Andy M.]

auntdot, if you're making your peanut butter noodles with sesame paste instead of peanut butter, you'll have to change the name...

 

[callie]

lancas, great question. I cannot find tahini around here either. I've thought about trying to find some online...

 

[Robo410]

see if your market has sesame oil in the international asian section. if so, cut some into peanut butter. try to use a natural peanut butter also.
for future use, order some on line. anything can be gotten on line.

 

[lancas]

follow up

thanks for all the replies
I'll certainly have to give pbutter a try.

My question was prompted because I will be living on a sailboat in the tropics. (over 80 most of the time, and no air).I made the assumption that tahini would not keep well under these circumstances.
Maybe that's wrong, and it will keep well in the heat, in which case, I should probably be ok.
Another consideration on a boat, though, is that storage space is at a big premium, so if I can have a product do more than one job, it gets the space. As far as I know, there is not much else to do with tahini, is there?

liz

 

[Robo410]

cold sesame noodles use tahini (peanut butter was a substitution)
several salad dressings can be made with tahini.

 

[Constance]

I can't get tahini paste here either. I've intended to order some on line, but wondered if I'd use it that much.
I've saved the recipe, including notes from reviewers that suggested going light on the peanut butter and adding hot sauce, and Robo's suggestion to add a little sesame oil.
I'm definately going to give it a try. When we have friends come over, I like to have ingredients on hand to make snack, and hummus will be a nice change.

 

[bethzaring]

I can't get tahini paste here either. I've intended to order some on line, but wondered if I'd use it that much.
I've saved the recipe, including notes from reviewers that suggested going light on the peanut butter and adding hot sauce, and Robo's suggestion to add a little sesame oil.
I'm definately going to give it a try. When we have friends come over, I like to have ingredients on hand to make snack, and hummus will be a nice change.

Same here! I can not locally get tahini and I saved the recipe and the various comments. I will be trying it with peanut butter

 

[Green Lady]

You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.

 

[callie]

You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.

What else, Green Lady? Sesame seeds and.....?
TIA

 

[GB]

Nothing else. Just the seeds.

 

[callie]

thanks, gb! that sounds almost too easy. guess I don't care that I can't find tahini around here - i'll just make my own!

 

[GB]

Toast the seeds first and if you need to then use a little olive oil to get it going.

 

[larry_stewart]

sometimes, when i cant get my hands on tahini, ill just make it a little extra thick, and add a few drops of sesame oil for the sesame taste. Its not perfect, but good in a pinch.

 

[velochic]

My dh loves this recipe, and he's Middle Eastern. I got it from an old friend in the US, so it's not a recipe I got from the in-laws and lit's ess than authenic. Still, it's very good. You might try it if you don't want to mess with griding the sesame paste yourself.

15 oz. can garbanzo beans
8 scallions, chopped coarsely, white parts only
1/4c. fresh lemon juice
1/4c. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. cumin
1 t. coriander
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
6 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely

Whiz it all in a blender, adding small amount of olive oil if it needs to be thinned. If you are not a garlic lover, you'd definitely want to lessen the garlic... it's very garlicky.

 

[skilletlicker]

You can make your own tahini by putting sesame seeds in a high powered blender like the Vitamix.

Do you use hulled seeds?
What if you don't have a vitamix? Just an ordinary blender?