Many Japanese restaurants in the U.S. serve a salad with either Sesame Dressing or Carrot Ginger Dressing (にんじんドレッシング). While the sesame dressing is creamy and mild, this carrot ginger dressing is light and refreshing with a kick of ginger. My homemade recipe tastes just like the restaurant version. If you’re a fan of this dressing, I hope you give it a try!
Why You’ll Love Carrot Ginger Dressing
Easy and quick to make – It’s ready in just 10 minutes. Tastes just like Japanese restaurant dressing that you love. Maybe better! Healthier than store-bought – You can control the ingredients when you make it homemade. Versatile – Works great in any salad combination. Bright, refreshing, and zingy – Just look at the color!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Carrot Ginger Dressing
If you cook Japanese dishes, you will likely have these 10 ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator.
carrot onion fresh ginger Japanese rice vinegar – for an authentic taste, please use unseasoned rice vinegar because it is much milder in flavor than other vinegars; in a pinch, you can substitute diluted white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar mixed with some sugar neutral oil – includes avocado oil, untoasted sesame oil, rice bran oil, canola oil, refined safflower oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, refined olive oil, grapeseed oil or peanut oil toasted sesame oil miso – I use mellow and mild white miso sugar salt freshly ground black pepper
Blend It Fast In a Food Processor
Using a food processor to blend the ingredients makes it easier to create a smooth texture and cuts down on prep time and total time! Process until the dressing is completely smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning with salt. If it‘s too sour, add a bit more sugar. You can add water to thin it to your desired consistency. However, I don‘t add water so the dressing will keep longer. I use my Cuisinart Food Processor that I have had for years, but if you have a high-powered home blender such as Vitamix, it will work really nicely, too. Shake well and serve over a green salad. Here, I drizzle a tablespoon or two of this Japanese carrot ginger dressing over a salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumber slices, and tomatoes.
How to Store Carrot Ginger Dressing
You can store this homemade dressing in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. I recommend pouring out what you want to use in another serving dish and putting the rest of the ginger carrot dressing back in the refrigerator right away. That way, you can keep it for up to 2 weeks. Shake well before you use it.
More Delicious Japanese Salad Dressings
Miso Dressing Sesame Dressing Wafu Dressing (Japanese Salad Dressing) A Million-Dollar Japanese Onion Dressing
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Mar 23, 2014. The post has been updated with new images and step-by-step images in April 2020.
