This delicious Ginger Dressing tastes just like the kind served on the salad at your favorite Japanese restaurant.
Jack and I are huge fans of sushi and other Asian cuisines. As much as we love the soups and entrees that we order as part of our meal, I always look forward to the simple iceberg lettuce, tomato and carrot salad that always comes served with a distinctive and delicious Ginger Dressing over the top.
After our last date night out at our favorite local sushi restaurant, I asked Jack, “Why don’t we try making this ginger dressing at home?” And Jack happily obliged.
I have to say, Jack totally nailed this recipe! This Ginger Dressing has that same fresh and refreshing flavor that totally transforms an otherwise simple salad into something delicious!
How do you make homemade Ginger Dressing?
This Ginger Dressing is blend of grated fresh ginger, carrots, celery, garlic and onion, plus rice vinegar, water, ketchup, soy sauce, agave nectar (for sweetness – feel free to substitute honey), lemon juice, peanut oil and seasonings – that all get mixed together in a food processor or strong blender.
We also decided to add a little white miso paste we had leftover from making this recipe. While not required – the miso really mellowed the sharpness of this Ginger Dressing and added a wonderful depth of flavor.
This super simple Ginger Dressing is fresh and fantastic – and it’s so good, it may inspire you to eat more salads, just so you can enjoy this dressing!
You may enjoy these other salad dressings and vinaigrettes:
- Asian Citrus Vinaigrette
- Everyday Asian Dressing
- Savory Citrus Dressing
- Catalina Dressing
- Favorite Vinaigrette
Ginger Dressing
This delicious Ginger Dressing tastes just like the kind served on the salad at your favorite Japanese restaurant.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: salad dressing
- Method: food processor
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
1 cup sweet onion, such as Vidalia, chopped
6 tablespoons grated fresh ginger *see tip in Notes below
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced
2/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon white miso paste, optional but recommended
1 cup good quality peanut oil
Instructions
- In a food processor place the onion, grated ginger, celery, carrots and garlic and puree until the vegetables are fine and grainy but not pureed.
- Add the vinegar, water, ketchup, soy sauce, agave, lemon juice, salt, pepper and optional miso paste. Pulse a few times to mix the ingredients.
- With the processor running, add the oil in a steady stream then stop. The mixture should be loose but be a bit grainy.
- Enjoy over a simple iceberg and tomato salad.
Notes
- Honey can be substituted for the agave in this dressing recipe. But we like using the agave because it is sweet with a mild flavor. Honey has a unique taste and may alter the finished flavor.
- Grate the ginger before adding to the food processor to get the exact measurement of six packed tablespoons.
- The miso paste cuts the acid a bit and rounds out the flavor. The dressing is good without it, but it helps smooth out the flavors.
Absolutely loved this dressing…Didn’t have agave, so I did use honey. Also, didn’t have peanut oil so I used a light vegetable oil and also didn’t have miso, so I used tahini paste. Still taste Great! Thank you
Glad you were able to adapt the recipe to suit your ingredients on hand Judy!
Do you use seasoned or unseasoned rice vinegar?
Hi Lisa – Unseasoned (although in a pinch we’ve also used seasoned because it’s what we have on hand and the difference in taste was not very noticeable).
How long can you keep this in the fridge?
Hi Madison – There are no preservatives in this dressing so I’d suggest 3 or 4 days at the most.
I’m allergic to peanut oil. What replacement do you reccomend?
Hi Lindsay – I’d swap in vegetable or grapeseed oil. (You will miss out on some of the flavor that the peanut oil gives to the dressing…)
This recipe is AWESOME. It tasted just like at the restaurant!
Thanks Irina – glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How many days can this be made ahead and not be compromised? Thank you!
Hi Linda – There are no preservatives in this dressing so I’d suggest 3 or 4 days at the most. However, we think it is best freshly made.
Do you by chance know the calories in this this
Hi Kathy – I just added the nutritional information to the bottom of the recipe card.
This looks delicious. But how long will it keep?
Thanks Candyce – There are no preservatives in this dressing so I’d suggest 3 or 4 days at the most.
Delish the only thing I did different was to add sesame oil
Great idea Lori! Glad you enjoyed the dressing!
Hi. I am so excited to try this recipe!! As for shelf life, again, would it freeze well?
Thanks!!
Hi Terry – We’ve never tried it ourselves but I think you probably could. I do worry that the intensity of flavors might diminish however.