The Best Tahini You Can Buy at the Store (or Online)

We stirred and spooned our way through 18 jars of tahini to determine the very best one.
Photo of containers of the best tahini on a marble countertop.
Photo by Joseph De Leo

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I’m always glad to have tahini in my pantry. I sometimes think of this versatile sesame paste as peanut butter’s sophisticated cousin, ready to add mild, nutty flavor and depth to whatever I’m cooking, without overpowering other ingredients. The best tahini has a silky-smooth texture that works wonders in sauces, salad dressings (have you met tahini ranch?), smoothies, soups, brownies, and yes, of course, hummus. So, if you’re not already on board, it’s time to hop on the tahini bandwagon.

These days, your local supermarket likely carries a variety of brands, but that doesn’t mean they’re all good. So a few weeks back, the Epi team gathered every tahini we could get our hands on—18 varieties!—and tasted them, so you don’t have to. While some were bitter, gritty, and oily, most of them weren’t terrible. And our favorite brand, Mighty Sesame Tahini, was good enough to eat by the spoonful. To find out why we loved it, and to read about our testing methodology, keep scrolling.

The Best Tahini: Mighty Sesame Tahini and Mighty Sesame Organic

If you’re looking for a great tahini to use for anything and everything, see if you can get your hands on some Mighty Sesame. Both of the brand’s offerings—whole seed and organic—were deemed delicious in our taste test: they actually tied for first place. The whole seed tahini has a clean, natural-tasting sesame flavor that’s softly savory. Testers loved its deeply roasted notes, stating that it was “nutty and dark, but not bitter at all.” We’re especially excited to use it in baked goods.

The Mighty Sesame tahinis were also among the smoothest, creamiest options of the brands we tried. Generally, we found many organic tahinis to be more clumpy and gritty than non-organic varieties—but that wasn’t the case with Mighty Sesame. Their organic tahini was lighter and thinner than its non-organic counterpart, but this wasn’t an issue, because it tasted just as good. Testers praised its balanced flavor, with one noting, “I want to put this on noodles ASAP.”

Additionally, you can get Mighty Sesame Tahini in a squeeze bottle, which you don’t have to stir before using.

Mighty Sesame Co. Organic Tahini

Mighty Sesame Co. Whole Seed Squeezable Tahini

The Runner-Up: Joyva Sesame Tahini

Joyva’s flavor wasn’t what we expected in a plain sesame seed purée, but it was delicious and full of flavor. This tahini tasted salty and uncannily savory—some testers even thought they detected garlic. “It tastes salted, in a good way—almost like salted peanut butter,” one tester noted. Testers liked it, but agreed that it wasn’t a good all-purpose option, and wouldn’t be good in desserts. “This is good,” one taster noted, “but definitely for savory use only.” While this brand had noticeable separation when we first opened it, it didn’t take much stirring to get it to a smooth, even consistency.

Joyva Sesame Tahini

BRB, drizzling tahini over my noodles.

Photo by Joseph De Leo

What We Were Looking For

We set out to find the best-tasting all-purpose tahini, one that we’d gladly use in both sweet and savory dishes. The best tahini brands had a fresh-tasting roasted sesame flavor. They also had a pleasant bitterness that wasn’t too overpowering. Additionally, we considered each tahini’s texture and consistency, as well as how hard it was to stir.

How We Tested

All samples were blind-tasted by a panel of Epicurious editors and staff. Testers tasted each tahini plain, using grapes as palate cleansers. All jars were served at room temperature and stirred just before serving. No distinction was made between organic and non-organic products.

Other Tahinis We Tasted

  • 365 Everyday Organic
  • Achva Tahini
  • Al Wadi
  • Haddar
  • Har Bracha
  • Once Again Organic Tahini
  • Once Again Natural Tahini
  • Roland Tahini
  • Roland Organic Tahini
  • Soco Tahini
  • Soom Premium
  • Tarazi
  • Tarazi Organic
  • Thrive Organic Tahini
  • Villa Jerada
Looking for ways to put your tahini to work? Here are 61.