This 2-Ingredient Creamy Sauce Packs An Umami Punch

If you're on the hunt for an umami-rich sauce, you need to know about this easy, two-ingredient concoction that comes together in minutes. The two ingredients in question? Miso paste and tahini.

Miso, a fermented soybean paste, is packed full of savory flavor — it has some saltiness and tanginess. Meanwhile, tahini is also plenty savory, with a nutty, earthy, slightly bitter taste. When blended, you'll have a sauce that is umami-rich with a blend of savory flavors and a creamy texture. As you may know, there are different types of miso — you can use whichever one you have on hand or whichever is your favorite for this sauce.

Feel free to experiment with the ratio of miso to tahini, but something to keep in mind is that a little bit of the very concentrated miso paste will go a long way. So, you may want to use less miso than tahini. Perhaps you start with 3 tablespoons of tahini and 1 tablespoons of miso paste and increase from there (depending on how much you need). Finally, to thin out the sauce and make it usable, you'll need to add about a quarter-cup of water and mix thoroughly; if the sauce is too thick, add a bit more water, if it's too thin, add a tablespoon more each of tahini and miso. Once you've discovered the best ratio of tahini to miso to water to match your taste preferences, it will be easier to double or triple the recipe.

If you've thinned out the sauce enough, it easily becomes a dressing perfect for salads when you want an extra savory touch. Maybe you use it to switch up a traditional chicken Caesar salad or as the finishing touch on an apple harvest salad. If you like your salad dressings to have a bit of sweetness, add a tablespoon of honey to the mix.

You can also drizzle it over a meat or fish dish for an extra punch of umami. It would pair well with a simple batch of pan-fried chicken thighs or to punch up the lemon-garlic baked salmon. You can even use it as a condiment in sandwiches or burgers, such as in a BLT or an easy smash burger. Or, experiment with a true classic and add a spread of the miso-tahini sauce to the inside of the ultimate grilled cheese (to make it even more ultimate).

And if you really love the taste of the two-ingredient sauce, you can use it as a dip. Pair it with everything from assorted veggies to homemade fries.