Chinese Sesame Paste substitute

Best substitute

Tahini Plus Toasted Sesame Oil

1 cup tahini plus 1 to 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, used 1:1

Best for dan dan noodles

Close match

The best quick fix is tahini plus toasted sesame oil: one cup of tahini stirred with one to two teaspoons of toasted sesame oil and a pinch of sugar gets you most of the way there. Tahini on its own works 1:1 but tastes paler and greener and the sauce comes out flatter. Natural peanut butter is a legitimate swap used in real Chinese home kitchens, thinned with water and a splash of sesame oil, though dan dan noodles made that way lean towards satay. What this paste is doing is carrying deep roasted aroma in nut fat, and acting as the emulsifier that makes a dipping sauce cling to a noodle instead of sliding off, so any swap needs to be an oily paste rather than a thin liquid.

Other chinese sesame paste substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Homemade Toasted Sesame Paste
Close match
Use the same amount
Toast white sesame seeds in a dry pan until they are properly brown and smell strongly nutty, cool slightly, then grind in a food processor with a teaspoon of neutral oil per half cup until smooth.
What changes
This is the actual ingredient.
Best for
dan dan noodles, hot pot dipping sauce, cold sesame noodles, sauces, dressings
Roast level is everything here. Take the seeds well past golden, to a real brown, stopping just before any hint of scorch. It takes five to ten minutes of grinding and looks like wet sand for most of that. Grinding while the seeds are still warm speeds it up a lot.
3Tahini Alone
Different taste
Use the same amount
Perfectly usable, and what most people end up doing.
What changes
Same texture, same emulsifying behaviour, same fat, but noticeably paler and with a green, slightly raw bitterness where the Chinese paste is dark and roasted.
Best for
cold noodle sauce, dressings, dipping sauce, sesame spinach
The sauce will taste flatter and thinner in flavour rather than in texture. Compensate with an extra half teaspoon of soy sauce and a quarter teaspoon of sugar per two tablespoons of tahini, which pushes it towards the savoury-sweet balance Chinese sesame sauces expect.
4Natural Peanut Butter
Different taste
Use the same amount thinned with water
Not a compromise so much as a variant, since peanut butter genuinely appears in Chinese hot pot dipping sauces.
What changes
Thicker and sweeter than sesame paste, and unmistakably peanut.
Best for
hot pot dipping sauce, cold noodle sauce, dumpling dipping sauce
Use the unsweetened natural kind, not a sugary spread. Thin it with warm water to a pourable consistency and add a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to bring the sesame note back. Dan dan noodles made this way taste closer to a satay noodle, which many people like but is a different dish.
5Half Tahini, Half Peanut Butter, Plus Sesame Oil
Close match
Use the same amount for the paste
Probably the best supermarket-only answer.
What changes
The tahini keeps the sesame identity, the peanut butter adds the rich, slightly sweet body that Chinese sesame paste has and tahini lacks.
Best for
dan dan noodles, hot pot dipping sauce, cold sesame noodles, sauces
Add a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil per half cup of the blend. This is the version worth making if you cook Chinese noodles often and cannot get to an Asian grocer.
6Black Sesame Paste
Different taste
Use the same amount
Made from unhulled black sesame roasted just as hard, so the roast intensity is right and the aroma is arguably even stronger.
What changes
Best for
dipping sauce, cold noodles, dressings
It turns the sauce grey and tastes distinctly more bitter and mineral because of the seed hulls. Fine in a dark dipping sauce with chilli oil, visually odd in a pale sesame dressing. Sweetened dessert versions are wrong here, so check the label for sugar.
7Sunflower Seed Butter
Different taste
Use the same amount thinned
The option to reach for if you are cooking around a sesame allergy.
What changes
Right thickness, right emulsifying behaviour, mild enough to disappear under chilli oil and soy.
Best for
allergy-friendly noodle sauce, dipping sauce
Be honest with yourself about this one: it tastes green and vegetal rather than roasted and nutty, so the sauce loses its centre. Lean harder on chilli oil, black vinegar and soy to give it somewhere to go.

What is Chinese Sesame Paste?

Chinese Sesame Paste is Chinese sesame paste, or zhi ma jiang, is a thick dark paste ground from sesame seeds that have been roasted almost to coffee colour, which makes it far more aromatic and less bitter-raw than Middle Eastern tahini.

Cooking tips

The jar separates hard and the paste at the bottom sets like cement. Stand the jar upside down for an hour, then stir it right down to the base with a chopstick or the handle of a spoon before you measure. Skimming the oil off the top will ruin the rest of the jar.
Loosen it with warm liquid a spoonful at a time. It will seize and look curdled and broken at first, which alarms everyone the first time. Keep adding liquid in small amounts and stirring and it goes glossy and smooth.
Stir it into a hot pot dipping sauce off the heat. Boiling it dulls the roasted aroma that is the entire reason you bought it rather than tahini.
For dan dan noodles, whisk the paste with a little of the hot noodle water rather than plain water. The starch in the water helps the sauce cling to the noodles instead of pooling in the bottom of the bowl.
Do not confuse it with pure toasted sesame oil, which is a seasoning oil rather than a paste. If a recipe asks for sesame paste and you add sesame oil, the sauce will have the aroma but none of the body, and it will not coat anything.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chinese sesame paste the same as tahini?

No, and this is the substitution most worth understanding. Both are ground sesame, but tahini is made from raw or barely toasted seeds, so it is pale, thin and carries a fresh, slightly bitter edge. Chinese sesame paste is made from seeds roasted nearly to coffee colour, so it is dark brown, thick and intensely aromatic. You can use tahini in place of it, but add a teaspoon or two of toasted sesame oil per cup to make up the roasted flavour you are missing.

Can I use peanut butter instead of Chinese sesame paste?

Yes, and it is more authentic than people assume, since peanut butter or ground peanut turns up in plenty of Chinese dipping sauces. Use unsweetened natural peanut butter, thin it with warm water, and add a splash of toasted sesame oil. The sauce will be sweeter, thicker and clearly peanutty, so a dan dan noodle made this way tastes more like satay. Blending it half and half with tahini is the better compromise.

Can I leave the sesame paste out of dan dan noodles?

Not really, because it is the backbone of the sauce rather than a seasoning in it. Without it you have chilli oil, soy and vinegar with nothing to bind them, so the sauce stays thin, tastes sharp and slides straight off the noodles. If you have none of the substitutes above, a spoonful of any smooth unsweetened nut or seed butter is better than nothing.

Why did my sesame sauce turn thick and grainy when I added water?

That is normal and it is temporary. Sesame paste seizes when it first meets liquid, because the water forces the fat out of suspension. Keep adding liquid a small spoonful at a time and stirring firmly, and it will pass through the ugly stage and come back together smooth and glossy. Adding all the water at once is what makes it stay broken.

Is toasted sesame paste the same as Asian sesame paste?

Yes. Zhi ma jiang, Chinese sesame paste, toasted sesame paste and Asian sesame paste all describe the same product: sesame seeds roasted dark and ground smooth. Japanese neri goma is very close, sold in both white and black versions, and works 1:1.

Related substitutes

More nuts & seeds substitutes

Chinese Sesame Paste substitute

Other chinese sesame paste substitutes

2Homemade Toasted Sesame Paste

3Tahini Alone

4Natural Peanut Butter

5Half Tahini, Half Peanut Butter, Plus Sesame Oil

6Black Sesame Paste

7Sunflower Seed Butter