Give your salads an Asian twist with this easy homemade Asian Sesame Ginger Dressing! It comes together in just 5 minutes (vegan, can be easily made gluten-free).
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About Sesame Ginger Dressing
Sesame Ginger Dressing is an easy, simple yet flavorful Asian-style salad dressing that will oomph up the taste of your boring salads immediately.
Its nutty, sweet, sour, and savory flavors surely add a refreshing taste that complements the crispy raw veggies very well!
Not only for salads, but you can use this versatile sesame ginger sauce for a million other recipes. I have mentioned a few ideas in the post below.
This vegan dressing contains some of the most interesting ingredients such as sriracha, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar, and gets a spicy kick from fresh ginger.
It comes together in under 5 minutes using simple ingredients.
Homemade sesame ginger salad dressing is highly customizable also. Feel free to change the proportion of the ingredients to suit your taste.
This recipe will give you approximately 1 cup of dressing. You can easily scale the recipe up or down.
Simple delicious dressings can really change the game of your boring salads. Try a few more of my favorites
- Lemon Pepper Dressing
- Green Goddess Salad Dressing
- Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing
- Mango Salad Dressing
- Italian Dressing
- Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing
- Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing
- Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
- Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients & Substitutes
Toasted Sesame Oil – It makes the base of this Asian dressing. Its nutty taste gives this dressing a great depth and taste and a very Asian flavor.
Use the best quality oil for the best taste. If toasted sesame oil is not available, then use regular sesame oil.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Add in a little EVOO to balance the flavors. You can replace it with avocado oil, canola oil, soybean oil, or any other neutral oil of your choice.
Rice Vinegar – Rice vinegar is made by fermenting rice and it has a very peculiar taste.
If it’s not available, then use regular white vinegar or white wine vinegar in its place.
Light Soy Sauce – It gives a rich flavor to this delicious dressing. You can also use dark soy sauce in its place.
Maple Syrup – It helps to cut down the acidity. You can replace it with brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar.
Lime Juice – It gives a lovely tang to the dressing. Make sure to use freshly squeezed lime juice and not the bottled one.
You can also use lemon juice in place of lime juice.
Ginger – Fresh ginger roots give a delicious spicy kick to this ginger dressing recipe.
Others – You will also need garlic, sriracha, and toasted sesame seeds.
Sriracha is a fermented Asian hot sauce and it has a very peculiar taste. If you are not a big fan, use any hot sauce in its place.
You can add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the dressing to stabilize it. Xanthan gum is a natural product that has no side effects. It stabilizes the dressing and prevents the oil from separating.
How To Make Sesame Ginger Salad Dressing
Preparation
Squeeze one lime, mince 1 clove of garlic and grate a small piece of ginger.
Gather the remaining ingredients
Make The Dressing
Combine
- ½ cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
in a mason jar.
Close the lid of the jar tightly and shake vigorously.
Check for salt and add some additional salt if the salt from soy sauce is not enough for your taste.
Note – You can also blend the ingredients in a blender instead of a mason jar.
Use the dressing as desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
For a gluten-free version, swap regular soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce, coconut aminos, or tamari. All the other ingredients used in this dressing are gluten-free.
To make this dressing creamy, add 2-3 tablespoon of cashew cream, peanut butter, or tahini to it.
Usage Suggestions
Use sesame ginger dressing chilled or at room temperature. Thin it out with some water if it’s too thick.
It is a very versatile dressing and can be used in many ways.
It is a great salad dressing. Pour a tablespoon of this dressing over your favorite salads and keep adding more until you reach the desired taste.
I love to drizzle it over my Asian cold noodle salads, greens salads, pasta salads, potato salads, crunchy cabbage salads, or raw veggies salads. I sometimes grab a packet of pre-shredded slaw and pour this dressing over it for a lovely Asian slaw salad.
Use this sesame ginger vinaigrette as a marinade for chicken breasts or thighs, chicken wings, tofu, salmon, shrimp, or veggies.
This ginger dressing can also be served as a dipping sauce with bread, egg rolls, or other appetizers.
You can also use this as a delicious stir fry sauce for simple stir-fry recipes, be it vegetable stir-fries or chicken stir-fry.
It even works great on fried rice or noodle dishes.
Add this Asian ginger salad dressing to rice bowls or Buddha bowls.
Top grilled chicken, roasted brussels sprouts, salmon, or other similar dishes with this flavorful dressing.
Storage Suggestions
Store this sesame ginger salad dressing in a non-reactive airtight container or a mason jar for not more than 2-3 days.
This dressing has garlic added to it and garlic has extremely low acidity. It may cause botulism, a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is not worth the risk.
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Recipe Card
Asian Sesame Ginger Salad Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (use regular white vinegar if rice vinegar is not available)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (you can replace it with dark soy sauce. Use tamari for gluten-free dressing)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (honey or agave nectar also works fine)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (or any hot sauce)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a mason jar.
- Close the lid of the jar tightly and shake vigorously.
- Check for salt. Add some additional salt if the salt from soy sauce is not enough for your taste.
- Use the dressing as desired.
Ali
Very tasty. Will definitely make this again but will use season rice vinegar.
Maureen Stanton
Needed to add tsp more rice vinegar, and Tbs more soy sauce (GF) for my taste. Yummy
Brenda
I made this a couple days ago, I use some alternative ideas that were given. I used 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, cause that’s what I had. Regular soy and already minced ginger in a small squeeze bottle.This was absolutely delicious!! I’m definitely keeping this recipe.