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The Best Homemade Black Sesame Paste — Rich, Nutty & Endlessly Versatile
If you’ve ever tasted black sesame paste in a bakery mochi or swirled into ice cream and wondered how to recreate that deep, toasty flavor at home, you’re in the right place. This homemade black sesame paste recipe delivers a rich, glossy, intensely nutty spread with just three simple ingredients: black sesame seeds, butter, and honey. No specialty equipment required beyond a standard food processor — and no fillers, preservatives, or mystery ingredients like in store-bought versions.
Black sesame paste (known as kuro goma paste in Japan) is a beloved staple in East Asian desserts, prized for its bold, slightly bitter, nutty depth and its gorgeous inky color. It’s the secret behind classic black sesame mochi, dango fillings, sesame ice cream, latte swirls, and even savory dressings. Once you make it from scratch, you’ll never go back to the jarred kind.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Just 3 ingredients — black sesame seeds, butter, and honey
- Customizable thickness — use honey for a thick mochi filling, or granulated sugar for a spreadable toast-friendly paste
- No tahini-style bitterness — toasting the seeds the right way brings out warmth, not harshness
- Naturally gluten-free and refined-sugar-optional
- Stores beautifully for weeks in the fridge
The Secret Is in the Toast
The biggest difference between flat, bitter sesame paste and a paste with deep, roasty character is how you toast the seeds. You’ll dry-toast 1 ½ cups of black sesame seeds in a pan for about 6 minutes until the seeds plump up. The telltale sign they’re ready? When you bite into one, it should burst between your teeth — almost like a tiny popcorn pop. That’s how you know the natural oils have been awakened and the seeds are primed for grinding.
Grinding Without Burning Out Your Food Processor
This is where patience pays off. After letting the toasted seeds cool for a few minutes, transfer them to a food processor (1 ½ cups is the minimum batch you should make if using an 8-cup food processor), since the seeds need to sit above the blades for proper grinding. Process on high for 1 minute, then stop, scrape down the sides, and let the machine rest for 1 to 2 minutes so the motor doesn’t overheat.
Repeat this cycle until the seeds transform from a dry meal into a thick, glossy paste. Total active processing time is about 10 minutes, but with the rest breaks built in, plan on around 25 minutes start to finish. The seeds release their oils slowly, and rushing this step will leave you with sandy meal instead of silky paste.
Adding the Honey & Butter
Once your paste has formed, melt butter and pour them into the food processor with some honey. Pulse just enough to incorporate — you don’t want to overwork it at this stage. The butter adds richness and a luxurious mouthfeel, while honey deepens the sweetness and gives the paste its signature thick, scoopable texture.
Honey vs. Sugar — Which Should You Use?
This is where you can customize the recipe to suit your end goal:
- Use honey if you want a thicker, denser paste — the perfect consistency for stuffing mochi, dango, or buns where a firm, scoopable filling is essential.
- Use granulated sugar if you want a looser, more spreadable paste — ideal for swirling into yogurt, drizzling over ice cream, or spreading thickly on warm buttered toast or swirling into brownie or cake batter.
Ways to Use Black Sesame Paste
- Filling for black sesame mochi and daifuku
- Stirred into lattes and warm milk
- Swirled into ice cream or oatmeal
- Spread on toast, pancakes, or waffles
- Folded into cookie or brownie batter
- A dramatic, savory base for noodle dressings
Love Black Sesame? We do too! Try our other Black Sesame recipes…
Black Sesame Filled Daifuku Mochi
Meet your new obsession: pillowy-soft Black Sesame Daifuku Mochi stuffed with creamy, nutty black sesame paste. No microwave gymnastics, no rolling-pin wrestling — just steam, cool, cut, fill, and pinch. These little chewy clouds stay soft for days (if they last that long, which… they won’t)
Black Sesame Brownies
Black sesame brownies are what happens when a classic fudgy brownie takes a trip to the toasted sesame side of the pantry. Black sesame powder whisked with milk becomes a paste, white chocolate creates a wonderful contrast in color and texture. The result is deeply nutty, gorgeously gray-black, and not too sweet. Sixteen squares, one very unexpected dessert.
Visual Step-by-Step Guide for Making Black Sesame Paste:
What’s in the black sesame paste
- black sesame seeds
- honey or sugar
- butter
Storage
Store your homemade black sesame paste in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. The oils may separate slightly — just give it a stir before using. For longer storage, freeze in small portions for up to 3 months.
PrintBlack Sesame Paste
A rich, nutty, 3-ingredient black sesame paste that comes together easily right in your food processor. Toast your seeds to release their aromatic oils, grind them into a luscious paste, and sweeten to your exact needs! Use honey for a wonderfully thick mochi filling, or swap in granulated sugar for a silky-smooth toast spread.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 31 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Dessert, Dressing/Dip/Condiment, Snack
- Method: Blending, Toasting
- Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Japanese
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups black sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons honey (for a more spreadable consistency use granulated sugar)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- In a large-ish dry pan, toast the sesame seeds if they are not already toasted. Add the seeds to a cool pan and set the heat to medium. Stir constantly and lower the heat to medium-low after 3 minutes. Watch closely as the seeds start to plump after 5 minutes. Taste test a few seeds and if they feel plump between your teeth and have a crunchy burst when you bite down in it, they are done. This should take about 6 minutes.
- Let the seeds cool for a few minutes before adding them to the food processor. Grind on high speed for 1 minute. Stop and let the food processor rest for 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat this until your total grinding time is 10 minutes. While cooling between seed grinding, remove the lid and scrape down the sides if necessary. This whole process should take about 25 minutes. The mixture will turn into a thick paste.
- Add honey and melted butter. Pulse on high for 30 seconds until everything is blended smooth. You should be able to form a ball with the mixture.
- Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
- Calories: 95 kcal
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 2 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 5 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 3 mg
❓ FAQ’s for Black Sesame Paste
Authentic black sesame paste is made from toasted black sesame seeds ground into a thick paste, often sweetened and enriched. This recipe uses just three ingredients: black sesame seeds, butter, and honey (or granulated sugar for a thinner version).
The seeds should plump up slightly after about 6 minutes in a dry pan. The best test: bite one — it should burst between your teeth with a slight pop. That means the oils are activated and ready to release during grinding.
Two common culprits: not enough seeds in the food processor, or not enough patience. You need at least 1 ½ cups of seeds in an 8-cup processor so the blades can engage them properly. And the seeds need multiple grinding cycles (with rest breaks) for the oils to release. If it still looks like meal after 5 minutes of total processing, keep going — the transformation happens suddenly.
Yes, but it takes serious effort. Traditionally it’s made with a suribachi (Japanese mortar and pestle). A high-powered blender can also work, though you’ll need to scrape down the sides frequently and add a touch of neutral oil to help it move.
Honey creates a thicker paste, perfect for mochi fillings and dense applications. Granulated sugar creates a smoother, more spreadable paste that’s ideal for toast, drizzling, and swirling.
Yes — for a vegan version, substitute the butter with a neutral oil like grapeseed, light sesame oil, walnut oil or melted coconut oil. The texture will be slightly less rich but still delicious.
Grinding seeds is hard work for the motor! That’s why this recipe builds in 1–2 minute rest breaks between each minute of processing. Total active time is about 10 minutes, but full recipe time is around 25 minutes.
Stored in an airtight jar in the fridge, it keeps well for up to 3 weeks. For longer storage, freeze in small portions for up to 3 months. Stir before using if the oils separate slightly.
No — tahini is made from hulled white sesame seeds and has a milder, slightly bitter flavor. Black sesame paste is made from whole black sesame seeds and has a much deeper, nuttier, almost smoky character with a gorgeous inky color.
It’s incredibly versatile! Use it as a filling for mochi and dango, a swirl in lattes and ice cream, a spread for toast or pancakes, a mix-in for cookie or brownie dough, or even as a base for savory noodle dressings.
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