Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing (Japanese Restaurant-Style!)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Japanese carrot-ginger dressing is vibrant, versatile, and delicious. Just blend a few ingredients in your blender for a fresh, zesty dressing you can drizzle over any salad. It’s easy to make, and it’s ready in under 5 minutes!
This carrot ginger dressing is my take on that irresistible bright orange dressing you get at Japanese restaurants — the one that somehow makes even a simple salad exciting. It’s sweet, tangy, creamy, and packed with bold ginger flavor, with that signature vibrant color that’s instantly recognizable.
I drizzle it over salads, roasted vegetables, grain bowls, and just about anything that needs a little lift. The carrots add subtle sweetness and create the beautiful orange hue, while fresh ginger brings brightness and warmth. Soy sauce, rice vinegar, onion, and sesame oil layer in a savory, tangy flavor that makes the dressing taste surprisingly complex for something made with such simple ingredients.
What I love most is how easy it is to make with pantry and fridge staples. A quick blitz in the blender and you’ve got a vibrant Japanese-style salad dressing that completely wakes up whatever you pour it over.
Is this Japanese salad dressing authentic?
I never had this exact dressing while traveling in Japan, but I did enjoy dressings with a similar sweet, tangy, savory flavor profile in restaurants there. This bright orange carrot ginger version is especially popular in Japanese-American restaurants, where it’s often served over crisp iceberg lettuce with carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
How to use this carrot ginger dressing
This Japanese carrot ginger salad dressing tastes delicious on all sorts of side salads, from simple crunchy greens to Asian-style salads. It’s really versatile so you can also use it as a sauce for salmon, drizzle it over a grain bowl, spread it on a sandwich or wrap, or use it as a dip for fresh spring rolls.
If you’re looking for another Japanese dip to serve beside it, try our ponzu sauce recipe!
Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing (Japanese Restaurant-Style!)
Ingredients
- ½ lb carrots (3 medium, coarsely chopped)
- ½ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup peeled (chopped fresh ginger)
- ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.½ lb carrots, ½ cup avocado oil, ¼ cup peeled, ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons chopped onion, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Add more oil or water if you like a thinner salad dressing.
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
More salad dressing recipes
For more inspiration, check out all of my salad recipes!
This is so good!!!! I ate half of the recipe dipping raw veggies into it. I saved this recipe because I know I will make it again!
Thank you so much
Delicious recipe! Thank you so much!
This is a ridiculously delicious dressing-summer in a jar!
I hate to say this but this recipe was very bland. Nothing like what I’ve had in a Japanese restaurant. No kick whatsoever. It needed more rice vinegar for me possibly because I use natural rice vinegar not the seasoned? But more than that it needed way more onions plus some sweetener to cut the vinegar while still tasting the tang. I also added some miso paste to it, which helped it get it closer to a a restaurant flavor I am use to and closer to my other Carrot Ginger Dressing recipes that I’ve made in the past. I like to try other people’s versions of the same recipe and I am sorry to say this was disappointing. I know everyone’s taste is different as I can see from all the positive reviews, but this just didn’t cut it for me without all the tweaks I did to it
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t love it as much as we do!
Amazing dressing-thank you. Most of the ones I have made have sugar as one of the ingredients. I know seasoned vinegar has a little sugar in it, but I love the taste of this without the additional sugar. I followed the recipe to the tee, but may actually add a little more ginger next time.
Perfect! One of my beefs with eating salad (heh) is that I don’t have a good recipe for dressing, and the commercial dressings are all so bad. This is just delicious, everyone loves it. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re very welcome! If you’d like to try more homemade salad dressing recipes, we have TONS here: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/recipes/salad-dressing/ 🙂
Oh my goodness super delicious!!
I’m Japanese by the way, thank you for sharing it 😉
You’re very welcome!!
This tastes exactly like the dressing from my favorite sushi spot. Thank you for figuring out how they make it!
Wow. So good. Thank you.
I’m so happy to hear it turned out well!
Thanks so much for helping me find this recipe Kristin! When I first moved to Chicago in the late 80’s I worked part time as a waitress in a Japanese restaurant. Besides the wonderful employee meals they provided at the beginning and end of the shifts, the staff was also allowed to have as much miso soup, rice and salad as we wanted which included this wonderful dressing. Curiously, in so many years since, I have never tried making this dressing myself, but it has now become one of my staples with your wonderful recipe. As I am writing this to you, I am finishing off the bottom of my first beautiful jar of this dressing, straight from the bottle with a spoon ❤?Thank you for posting this recipe!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for coming back to share your story and tell us how much you love the dressing!
Perfection!
I am so glad I misplaced the recipe I previously used and found this.
Really appreciate the nutrition facts too!
I’m so happy to hear the recipe was a hit!
What other oils can be used in place of the avocado oil ?
Any neutral flavored oil will work well. 🙂
Delicious! I have now figured out a way to get my daughter to eat salad!
Fantastic!
Should the carrots be cooked to soften before blending?
I blend them raw but if you don’t have a high powered blender then cooking them might help to blend them smooth. 🙂
What is the shelf life of this dressing?
5-6 days in the fridge. 🙂
Oh man. This stuff is SO good. I could eat this stuff with a spoon. Okay, okay. I did eat it with a spoon. Thank you for this recipe. I will be eating this on a regular basis going forward.
Ha ha I’ve totally done the same! So happy to hear you love the recipe!