Homemade Black Sesame Paste
Craft nutty, rich homemade black sesame paste in 10 minutes with our recipe. Perfect for lattes, ice cream, and savory dishes—an Asian culinary essential. (Yield: ½ to ⅔ cup - depending on how much honey or sesame oil added)
Servings: 10 tablespoons
Calories: 98kcal
Equipment
- food processor or high speed blender or mortar and pestle
Ingredients
Sweetened Black Sesame Paste
- 1 cup black sesame seeds unhulled and organic is best. Either toasted or raw.
- 5 Tablespoons honey or to desired consistency
Unsweetened Black Sesame Paste
- 1 cup black sesame seeds unhulled and organic is best. Either toasted or raw.
- 1-1.5 tablespoons sesame oil or to desired consistency
Instructions
- In a dry pan, sauté toasted black sesame seeds over low heat for approximately 5 minutes until aromatic and warmed. Stir frequently. If sesame seeds are raw, you will need between 8 to 10 minutes over low heat.
- While the sesame seeds are still warm, use a food processor, high-powered blender or a mortar and pestle and grind the seeds until it resembles a fine, sandy texture. Periodically pause the device 3 to 4 times and scrape down the sides to move the seeds down to the blades of the machine or center of the mortar. Continue to pulse and blend the black sesame seeds until they start to extract the oils from within the seeds and longer, if your blender or food processor allows it. (It looks and feels like wet packed sand) This process takes about 3 minutes.
SWEETENED:
- Add honey 1 tablespoon at a time for a total between 4-5 tablespoons or until the desired texture of thick but spreadable is achieved. The paste should be smooth, glossy, sticky and slowly flow from a spoon.
UNSWEETENED:
- The unsweetened version add 1 teaspoon at a time of sesame oil to approximately 1 to 1.5 tablespoons to the ground sesame seeds or until you achieve your desired texture of thick but spreadable is achieved. The paste should be smooth, glossy, sticky and slowly flow from a spoon.
STORAGE:
- Place homemade black sesame seed paste in a clean container with lid and store in the refrigerator for up to a month. For longer storage, you can freeze for up to 6 months in a freezer safe container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts are based on 1 tablespoon sweetened black sesame paste with honey.
Nutrition Facts for 1 unsweetened black sesame paste with sesame oil are as follows.
- calories - 98 kcal
- carbohydrates - 4 grams
- protein - 3 grams
- fat - 9 grams
- saturated fat - 1 gram
- sodium - 2 grams
- potassium - 70 mg
- fiber 2 grams
- sugar - 0.04 grams
- calcium - 146 mg
- iron - 2mg
- To make this recipe vegan exchange the honey 1:1 with maple syrup or agave.
- Sesame seeds have their own internal oil so start out with less honey or sesame oil and just add a little at a time. Start with one tablespoon of honey or 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and adjust according to your desired sweetness and consistency.
- If you have a powerful food processor or quality high-speed blender - you may not need to add any honey or sesame oil at all.
- Don’t overtax your blender or food processor so it does not overheat the machine.
- The more sesame oil or honey you add the thinner the black sesame paste will be.
- Optional: To measure honey, prime your tablespoon with a little oil or sesame oil before measuring so that it slides right off the spoon.
- When the sesame paste is refrigerated, it will thicken up almost to the texture of a sticky playdough. However, once you set it out for about 15 minutes at room temperature and gently stir, it will return to a more liquid state.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 98kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.04g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Calcium: 146mg | Iron: 2mg