Carrot Ginger Salad Dressing (Japanese Restaurant-Style!)
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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 any salad exciting. It’s sweet, tangy, and creamy, with that signature color that’s instantly recognizable.
I drizzle it over salads, roasted vegetables, and just about anything that needs a little lift. It’s bold, vibrant, and one of those sauces that brings everything on the plate to life.
Is this Japanese salad dressing authentic?
It’s unlikely you’d find this salad dressing in Japan, but it is a familiar staple in Japanese-American restaurants. It’s typically served over some crisp iceberg lettuce with maybe chopped carrots, tomatoes, or cucumbers. Yum! 🥗
Ingredients notes
This zesty carrot ginger dressing uses a simple combination of ingredients, and you’re likely to have most of them on hand!
- Carrots: humble carrots add subtle sweetness and give this dressing its bright orange color. Plus, most of us have a bag of carrots hanging out in our fridge, right?
- Soy sauce: we use regular gluten-free soy sauce but you can use low-sodium soy sauce, gluten-free soy sauce, or tamari.
- Avocado oil: avocado oil or any other neutral oil work in this dressing.
Other ingredients you need are fresh ginger, seasoned rice vinegar, onion, and sesame oil.
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.
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!
Recipe FAQs
How long does this dressing keep in the fridge?
You can store this Japanese salad dressing in a sealed jar or container in the fridge for up to a week.
How much dressing does this recipe make?
This recipe yields just over a cup of dressing. It will likely make more than you need, so you will have leftovers you can use throughout the week on another salad, as a dip, or drizzled over steamed veggies.
Why does the dressing separate?
This ginger carrot dressing does not emulsify, so the ingredients will naturally separate when left to sit. Give it a shake or stir to recombine before serving.
More salad dressing recipes
For more inspiration, check out all of my salad recipes!
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. 🙂
That’s so great to hear!
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!
Hi Jocelyn,
This is a great one to start with since it is so easy. Hope you love it!