Here’s a scrumptious selection of Japanese salad recipes you can make and enjoy year-round.
Regardless of the season, most Japanese meals are served with a salad to keep things in balance. A well-composed salad refreshes your palate, provides a pop of color, and its crisp flavors enhance everything else on the table.
So here are some popular Japanese salad recipes to complement your main dishes. I also included a few Western-style salads that are well-loved in Japan. Best of all, most of these recipes can be prepared in a short time.
With these 15 tasty, vibrant, healthy, easy-to-follow salad recipes, I hope you enjoy your vegetables all year round!
15 Easy Japanese Salad Recipes
1. Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing
This spinach salad is dressed in a nutty aromatic sauce where freshly ground sesame seeds are combined with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin for a mighty flavor. This easy salad not only compliments all Japanese foods, but also makes a healthy addition to your bento lunches!
2. Salad with Wafu Dressing
Wafu dressing simply refers to “Japanese-style salad dressing”, where the mixture consists of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and vegetable oil. There are plenty of variations of wafu dressing, but my recipe includes grated onion for extra zing and flavor. This popular Japanese dressing is so versatile that you can enjoy it with any combination of salad.
3. Japanese Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
If you dine out regularly at Japanese restaurants in the US, you’re probably familiar with salads that are served with Carrot Ginger Dressing. Made with fresh carrot purée, ginger, and miso, the sweet-tangy dressing is bright, refreshing, and healthy. Takes only 10 minutes to prepare, this salad dressing recipe is a sure keeper!
4. Japanese Kani Salad
Tossed in a bowl of crunchy lettuce, refreshing cucumber, sweet corn, and crab meat, this Japanese Crab Salad with Ponzu-Mayonnaise Dressing is delightful regardless of how you serve it.
5. Spicy Bean Sprout Salad
Love a crunchy ramen topping with a kick? You will have to give this Spicy Bean Sprout Salad a try. The peppery, spicy sesame taste from the sauce is going to wake up your palate. You can also serve this salad as an appetizer when you need a light touch of spice to complement your main meal.
6. Japanese Salad with Sesame Dressing
Sesame dressing is a classic Japanese dressing used in many salad recipes. Sesame seeds are gently toasted in a frying pan until fragrant and then whisked well with creamy mayo, rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. The dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week, so go ahead and make a bigger batch and enjoy it with a simple salad anytime!
7. Spring Mix Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing
Miso adds a wonderful depth to the salad dressing. Here, I added avocado slices, fresh mint with the spring salad mix and draped it with Sweet Miso Dressing for a delicious pairing.
8. Japanese Potato Salad
Japanese potato salad is a home-cooking staple dish in Japan. Slightly different from the US versions, the potatoes are roughly mashed and combined with all sorts of colorful ingredients, and then seasoned with Japanese mayonnaise and sometimes rice vinegar. If you have an Instant Pot, you can also prepare the potato salad following this recipe to save time.
9. Avocado, Shrimp & Broccoli Salad
You can find this popular salad at most of the deli in department stores in Japan. It’s very easy to make at home too! Crisp cucumber, soft-boiled eggs, avocado, broccoli, and succulent pieces of shrimp all tossed together in a creamy dressing, this Japanese Avocado & Shrimp Salad is all about texture and bite.
10. Broccolini Gomaae
Another variation of gomaae – this time with broccolini. A cross between broccoli & Chinese broccoli, Broccolini not only has a great texture but is also highly nutritious. When dressed in the sesame sauce, Broccolini Gomaae literally goes well with everything. No broccolini? Try it with regular broccoli.
11. Harusame (Japanese Glass Noodle Salad)
Light noodles, crisp vegetables, and salty ham, all tossed in a tangy sesame soy vinaigrette. It makes a great stand-alone meal too!
12. Octopus Salad (Tako Su)
Do you know octopus tops the trendy food list in 2017? If you are able to find sashimi/ sushi-grade octopus in a Japanese grocery store, I highly recommend giving this Octopus Salad a try. Mixed with cucumber, wakame & roasted sesame seeds, this salad is lightly flavored for perfection.
13. Honey Sesame Shirataki Noodles Salad
Cold and refreshing Shirataki Noodles with Honey Sesame Dressing, which can be a main dish or salad! Top the noodles with shredded egg crepe, chicken, and cucumber. It’s a perfect guilt-free summer noodle that is low in calories.
14. Japanese Macaroni Salad
Tossed in a creamy, tangy, and sweet dressing, this Japanese Macaroni Salad is the perfect side dish to serve at your next BBQ and cookout.
15. Apple Walnut Salad
This tart & tasty Apple Walnut Salad in a creamy Greek yogurt salad will get a big yes from kids! If you have Kewpie brand Japanese mayonnaise at home, you can also try my Japanese-style Apple Salad here.
Hello Nami, Do you know of any dressings that are based with mayonnaise? I had on at a teriyaki restaurant that is no longer in business. Thank you in advance!!!
Hi, Steve! Thank you for reading Nami’s post!
Here are Nami’s mayonnaise-based dressing recipes.
We hope you enjoy them. 🤗
https://www.justonecookbook.com/crab-salad-with-ponzu-mayonnaise-dressing/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/spicy-mayo-recipe/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/gobo-salad-japanese-burdock-root-salad/
Family enjoyed the Japanese Macaroni salad as I made it for the first time. It was great with grilled teriyaki chicken.
We also enjoy the Japanese Potato salad which does not use much mayonnaise.
Hi discoverregina, We are glad to hear you enjoyed the Japanese Macaroni salad!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your experience with us.
would love to buy your cook book
Hi Suzette! Thank you very much for your interest in Nami’s cookbook!
Nami has an e-book and a print version that you can order here; https://www.justonecookbook.com/just-one-cookbook-essential-japanese-recipes/.
Vol 1: https://amzn.to/3yL6bx3
Vol 2: https://amzn.to/2UbFPoT
We hope you enjoy it!
Hello Nami, The amazing one!
Our favorite cook I am considered a cow so much that I eat.
I love salads everywhere or as a side dish or even main.
I am very anxious to know the oriental way of eating salad.
I’m waiting, brilliant idea !!!!
Syd!
Hi Syd!
Thank you for your kind feedback!
We have so many ways to enjoy vegetables. We’ll make sure to add more salad recipes to Nami’s list. Thanks for your request! 🙂
Family enjoyed the Japanese Macaroni salad as I made it for the first time. It was great with grilled teriyaki chicken.
We also enjoy the Japanese Potato salad which does not use much mayonnaise.
Hi Amy! I’m so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed the macaroni salad recipe! Yes, it goes really well with teriyaki chicken. You can adjust the amount of mayo on potato salad. I sometimes add more or less depending on the feeling and other dishes that I make (to make it more heavy or less). 🙂 Thanks so much fo your kind feedback!
Your photographer should be complemented as a great partner to your site. 5 stars to both of you for a great job done and a service to all cooks of any generation.
Hi Curtis! Aww thank you so much for your kind words. I started taking pictures of my food 9 years ago and it took a lot of trial and error to figure how how to take good and delicious pictures. 🙂
Your site and methods are the best I have read and watched both from a standpoint of a cultural research/cook and a progressive fusion non published writer (too many cooks/books by everyone). Your site is quick, to the point, clearly instructional and just down to earth for non cooks, uninformed and those too busy for whatever the reason THE BEST. Thank you for doing what I tried 50 yrs ago. —–JapoconFusion
Hi Curtis! Thank you so much for your kind words. They meant so much to me! I’ll work hard to keep up and create a better site! 🙂
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This is a great list! I really like the carrot ginger dressing. If I ever had left overs, I would sometimes put salads on toast for lunch or a super quick breakfast!
I haven’t tried the apple walnut salad but I love apples and walnuts so I will make sure to try!!
Hi Anna! I hope you enjoy the apple & walnut salad recipe! Thank you for your kind words!
I L O V E this post! I was thinking about gathering all sauce recipes from your blog but somehow didn’t make it. Thank you that’s so much easier, now I can bookmark this entry and come to it whenever I need an inspiration for my salads 🙂
Hi Janna! THANK YOU! I’m so happy to hear that. I hope I can add more recipes so that you can enjoy making salads!
Also this category “Salads” might be helpful?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/categories/recipes/salad/