Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing
This ginger dressing is a homemade take on the classic salad dressing you know and love from Japanese restaurants! It’s gluten and soy-free.
If you frequent Japanese restaurants, you’ll know the exact ginger salad dressing I’m talking about! It’s a bright orange dressing that’s creamy, slightly spicy from the ginger, and is the perfect pair to a crunchy starter salad before a meal.
The ginger salad dressing that they serve at Japanese restaurants was one of my absolute favorite things! I used to wait tables at a Hibachi restaurant in college, which inspired me to make recipes like my Homemade Hibachi Chicken and Vegetables, and I was obsessed with this dressing. The owner let the staff have free salad, soup, etc., and I was always eating the salad just so I could have the dressing
This restaurant-style Japanese ginger dressing tastes like the real deal, and it’s so easy to make at home!
Why you’ll love this Ginger Dressing
- It’s so easy to make! Zero cooking required! Just blend and serve.
- This dressing is soy and gluten-free. Soy sauce is featured in the restaurant version of this dressing, making it a non-gluten-free option for diners. Making it with coconut aminos instead keeps the flavor without the soy or gluten.
- It’s veggie-packed. This dressing is packed with a variety of veggies like carrots, celery, and more!
Recipe Ingredients
- Carrots, celery, and yellow onion
- Fresh ginger. Make sure you use fresh ginger! You definitely don’t want to use powdered ginger here and miss out on the fresh flavor.
- Avocado oil, coconut aminos and rice vinegar. Or use olive oil and apple cider vinegar. It won’t change the flavor that much as the ginger is really the star here!
How to Make Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender
Step two. Blend until fully incorporated. The dressing should be thick. Season further to taste as desired.
What can you serve this dressing with?
This dressing is usually served with a salad of iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and shredded carrots. Of course, that’s a great option, but you can serve it over any Asian style salad of your choice! I also really like topping rice and chicken with this dressing. It’s super versatile!
How long can you store it in the fridge?
This will easily keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also try freezing it to keep it longer.
More Gluten-Free Asian Inspired Recipes to Try
- Easy Tom Kha Soup
- Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
- Japanese Ginger Dressing Pasta Salad
- PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
If you tried this Japanese Ginger Dressing or any other recipe on my blog please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Japanese Ginger Dressing
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- ¼ yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger, peeled and chopped (see notes)
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp avocado oil
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar, sub apple cider vinegar for AIP
- 2 tsp coconut sugar, omit for whole30
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper, omit for AIP
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until fully incorporated. The dressing should be thick and fully cominbed.
- Season further to taste as desired.
- Store in the fridge and serve over a salad of romaine or iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, and more ingredients as desired.
Is it rice wine vinegar? Or white wine vinegar?
I use rice vinegar, but if you cannot tolerate that, I recommend subbing apple cider vinegar.
This is so dang delish & it has quickly become a staple in our fridge! Can you please suggest best way to thin it out a bit? Sometimes it’s a tad too thick. Thanks!
If you want to thin it out, I’d recommend adding a bit more avocado oil. You could also add more coconut aminos and that will thin and sweeten it a bit.
Oh I love that dressing, constantly searching for one to use at home. If I wanted to use soy sauce instead of the coconut aminos, since that’s what I have, is it the same quantity?
It should work, but it will be saltier than with coconut aminos, so may want to adjust the salt added!
I can’t believe how good this is. I needed a different dressing than the boring ones I’ve been eating over and over and this is so AIP amazing!!! You should win an award for this one❤️
Thank you so much!!
Mine did not turn out thick. It is delicious but runny.
Hmm mine is usually pretty thick!! You can try to strain it a bit if it is too runny
I love it it’s perfect thank you
I am so excited to try these delicious sounding recipes. Happy 2024! You have me excited about the new year with my new recipes. Thank you
Thank you so much!!
Love the ginger dressing recipe!!
Thank you so much!!
We LOVE LOVE LOVE this delish dressing! Freezes easily, too. I make a batch, pour in a cookie sheet, then break up into small chunks when frozen. Thaw with some hot water and voila! Table ready dressing.
My everyday dressing is oil and vinegar, but this is a favorite when I want something special to top my salad. I store my yearly ginger harvest from my patio pot in the freezer, and it’s easy to grate straight from the freezer for this dressing. Thanks, Michelle!
WOW this is so good!!!! It takes me back to the days when I used to order a ginger salad at my favorite sushi restaurant growing up. I’m on a really strict diet right now and THIS just made my lunches 1000x better. I omitted the coconut sugar and didn’t even miss it. Thank you!!
Yay, so glad it hit the spot!!
Legit! Exactly what I was craving!
thank you so much!!
Delicious! Can you tell me how long this dressing will last in the fridge?
This will easily keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also try freezing it to keep it longer.
Looking forward to making the ginger style dressing!
Hope you love it!!
This looks amazing. I was wondering if it freezes well?
This will easily keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze it to keep it longer!