Mom’s "Muhammara" — Walnut & Tahini Pepper Spread (Annemin Muhammarası)

original blog post by @orhan_atabay,  August 9, 2025

Estimated reading time: 2-3 minutes

A muhammara from my mom — nutty, slightly tangy, and comforting. This version uses walnuts and tahini for a rich, creamy texture and Turkish red pepper paste for colour and depth. Makes a great meze, spread for bread, or part of a breakfast table.

Ingredients

250 g walnuts — about 2 cups chopped (≈ 250 g).

Tip: chop finely or pulse briefly in a food processor; don't grind to a powder. It’s nice if tiny walnut pieces roughly the size of a match-head remain.

3 tbsp good-quality red pepper paste (biber salçası) — sweet or hot to taste; I recommend the sweet (tatlı) variety.

Juice of 2 lemons — about 60 mL / ¼ cup.

1 medium onion, grated (kuru soğan rendesi) — about 100 g, grated.

≈ 2 slices of regular bread, crumb only, grated — about 60 g (≈ 2 oz).

If the slice is small, the muhammara will be moister; if it’s a large amount of bread, it will be drier.

½ Turkish cup extra-virgin olive oil — about 100 mL / ≈ 7 tbsp (≈ 0.42 US cup).

A pinch of salt — about 1 tsp (the original says “1 fiske” and notes ~1 teaspoon).

A pinch of sugar — about 1 tsp.

Plenty of ground cumin — about 1 tsp (or to taste).

250 g tahini (sesame paste) — about 1 cup.

Method

If using whole walnuts, chop them very finely or pulse briefly in a food processor — leave some tiny pieces for texture (match-head–sized is ideal).

In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, red pepper paste, lemon juice, grated onion, grated bread crumbs, olive oil, salt, sugar, cumin and tahini.

Stir very thoroughly with a spoon until everything is evenly combined and smooth-ish. The mixture is fairly thick; keep stirring until it’s homogenous.

Taste and adjust: add a little more salt, lemon, or pepper paste if you want more brightness or heat.

For the best flavour, cover and let rest. The lemon, onion and spices become more pronounced after a day or two.

That’s it — spoon and serve.

Notes & Serving

Double the recipe for larger groups. The quantities above are enough for a normal gathering.

Muhammara is rich and fairly caloric because of the oil and tahini — people usually eat it in small amounts.

It’s delicious for breakfast, as a meze with bread or crackers, or as an appetizer — it stimulates the appetite.

The seasoning may seem mild at first; flavours deepen after 1–2 days, so waiting improves the taste. If you want a stronger flavour right away, increase the salt, lemon, or pepper paste to taste.

This article was translated by ChatGPT. 🌱