I love a salad dressing that has unlimited potential. This Japanese Sesame Dressing (胡麻ドレッシング) has it all! It’s creamy, full of umami, nutty, tangy, and mildly sweet. You can use it on any combination of greens you like or as a sauce for a variety of foods. Best of all, it’s so, so easy. If you eat salads year-round like I do, you’ll want to keep a bottle of this homemade dressing in your fridge at all times.
How to Use Japanese Sesame Dressing
Japanese home cooks often serve a side of salad with yoshoku or Western-influenced Japanese dishes for dinner. This Japanese Sesame Dressing is a favorite choice because it’s creamy and full of flavor. While it pairs beautifully with simple green salads, it’s also delicious on cold noodles. This sesame dressing also makes for a terrific sauce on grilled meat, grilled bok choy, and tofu! For my typical salad, I use iceberg lettuce, sweet corn kernels, tomato wedges, and wakame, sometimes adding a boiled egg for extra protein. This dressing also goes so well on Asian Cabbage Salad or Cabbage Slaw with edamame (young soybeans) and shredded carrots. Feel free to switch up your ingredients since this versatile dressing and sauce goes with just about anything.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need simple pantry ingredients that are common in a Japanese kitchen and easy to find at Asian grocery stores:
toasted white sesame seeds — quickly re-toast in a frying pan to bring out the aroma and nutty flavor mayonnaise — I recommend Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie mayo) for its richer flavor; use store-bought or make the homemade recipe rice vinegar — for a mellow taste yet refreshing aroma soy sauce — lends savoriness to the dressing sugar — I use granulated sugar mirin — if you can’t find it, replace it with water toasted sesame oil — to bind the dressing and add an irreplaceable nutty fragrance
Substitutions and Variations
My husband likes this dressing on the tangy side, so I use a bit more rice vinegar. Always feel free to adjust the ratio of ingredients to suit your taste! Here are some ideas:
Try tahini sesame paste in place of the ground sesame seeds. Use your favorite sweetener. Try turbinado, raw cane sugar, or honey. Try a different acid like apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice diluted with a tablespoon or two of water. Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce. Replace the oil with extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, or another oil of your choice. Add grated ginger for an extra warmth and zest. Make a creamy sesame dressing by using more mayo.
How to Make Japanese Sesame Dressing
This sesame vinaigrette keeps well in an airtight container for up to a week, so make a big batch to use on your salads, vegetables, and grilled meats.
What to Serve with Sesame Dressing
If you plan on using this Asian salad dressing over a simple salad, here are some dishes that go well with it:
Baked Chicken Katsu Easy Fried Rice Yaki Onigiri Miso Salmon
But don’t let this stop you from trying the dressing on other dishes. Because it is so much more dynamic than you think!
Other Popular Japanese Salad Dressing Recipes
Wafu Dressing Carrot Ginger Dressing A Million-Dollar Japanese Onion Dressing Homemade Miso Dressing 4 Easy Japanese Salad Dressings
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