This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for details. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If you enjoy the refreshing salads served at Japanese restaurants, this delicious Carrot Ginger Dressing recipe is for you. Made with carrot, ginger, and miso, the sweet-tangy dressing will zest up your salad. It’s light, refreshing & healthy too!
Many Japanese restaurants in the U.S. serve a salad with either Sesame Dressing or Carrot Ginger Dressing (にんじんドレッシング). While the sesame dressing is creamy and mild, this carrot ginger dressing is light and refreshing with a kick of ginger.
Why You’ll Love This Carrot Ginger Dressing
- It’s SUPER easy and quick to make. Ready in 10 minutes.
- Tastes just like the Japanese restaurant dressing you love. Maybe better!
- Homemade dressings are healthier than store-bought.
- Works great in any salad combination.
- Look at the color. It’s bright, refreshing, and zingy!
All You Need is 10 Pantry Ingredients!
If you cook a few Japanese dishes, you will have these ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator.
- Carrot
- Onion
- Ginger
- Rice vinegar
- Oil
- Sesame oil
- Miso (I use mellow and mild white miso)
- Sugar
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
That’s it, you can make the carrot ginger dressing right now! 🙂
For the authentic taste, use rice vinegar because it is much milder in flavor than other vinegar.
Watch How to Make Carrot Ginger Dressing
Made with carrot, ginger, and miso, the sweet-tangy Carrot Ginger Dressing will zest up your salad!
Use a Food Processor or Blender
Using a food processor makes it easier to create a smooth texture for the dressing.
I use my Cuisinart Food Processor that I have for years, but if you have a high-powered home blender such as Vitamix, it will work really nicely too.
How to Store Carrot Ginger Dressing
You can store this homemade dressing in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. I recommend pouring out the amount you use in another serving dish and put the rest of dressing back in the refrigerator right away. That way, you can keep it for up to 2 weeks. Shake well before you use it.
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Love the Carrot Ginger Dressing served at Japanese restaurants? Made with carrot, ginger, and miso, this sweet-tangy dressing will zest up your salad!
- 1 carrot (4.8 oz, 135 g)
- ¼ onion (2.5 oz, 70 g)
- 1 knob ginger (1", 2.5 cm; 0.6 oz, 17 g; preferably young/spring ginger for a milder taste)
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp miso (I use mild and mellow white miso)
- ¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt) (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (roasted)
- ½ cup rice vinegar (rice vinegar is mild; DO NOT substitute it with other vinegars as they are too acidic and strong)
- ¼ cup neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
-
Peel the carrot and chop it into ½ to 1 inch pieces.
-
Chop onion into 1-inch pieces.
-
Peel the ginger and slice into small pieces. Put all the chopped vegetables into the food processor.
-
Puree the veggies until fine and smooth.
-
Add sugar, miso, salt, and pepper.
-
Add sesame oil, rice vinegar, and oil.
-
Process until the dressing is completely smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust with salt. If it's too sour, add a bit more sugar. If you prefer the dressing to be lighter, add water to thin it (I don't add water so the dressing will last longer).
-
Shake well before you serve over a green salad (here I have iceberg lettuce, cucumber slices, and tomatoes). You can store the dressing in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 1 week. If you take out the portion you need and put the dressing back into the refrigerator right away, you can keep it for up to 2 weeks. You can store it in the freezer for up to a month.
Similar Recipes:
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Mar 23, 2014. The post has been updated with new images and step-by-step images in April 2020.
Thank you for the recipe for this awesome dressing. I could not unravel the ingredients and just came home from my favorite sushi restaurant with a quart of their carrot ginger dressing. I am going to be so happy to be able to make my own. We love the clean taste on veggies.
Devon
Hi Devon! Each restaurant makes it slightly different, but I hope this dressing is similar to the one you like! Thank you so much for the comment! 🙂
Hi Nami, can I just know the brand of the food processor that you used for this recipe? I currently have different blenders for various types of paste and they are definately taking up too much space in the kitchen. Yours looks like a all-in-one, which is awesome!
Anyways, this recipe taste great, tried it over a dinner and everyone loved it!
Thanks in advance~
Hi Jo! I’m happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for your kind feedback. My food processor/blender is from Cuisinart (http://amzn.to/1AQErk5). I am okay with it, but I am looking for a bigger food processor since this one is a bit too small for some of the food I make. 🙂 But I’ve been using this for the last 10 years! 🙂
Is the carrot cooked or raw?
It’s a raw carrot. If it’s cooked, it’ll be mushy. 🙂
Dear Nami, thank you so much for this awesome recipe! I’ve just made the first batch of your carrot ginger dressing and I’m already addicted to it! So fresh and balanced taste!
I want to say all your recipes are so beautiful and easy to follow and I’ve started to read back in your recipe archive and I enjoy your blog so much!
And also, as I’m learning japanese language, it is really fantastic to read all the background details of the japanese food and tradition, and to learn new japanese words, and last but not least, your incredible inspiring posts about japanese culture, history and all these beautiful places I hope I can visit someday, too… Your blog is really essential to me!!! Thank you so much!
Hi Genus! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this dressing! It’s simple and healthy dressing and we love it too! Thank you so much for taking your time to go through my archive posts! It’s wonderful that you are learning Japanese. Hope I can introduce more about Japan and its culture on my blog. Hope you get to visit Japan one day. Japan is waiting for you! 🙂
Thanks again for your kind feedback and sweet words about my blog!
Thank you Nami for sharing this recipe! I love this dressing and can’t wait to try it out at home 🙂 But if I omit the white miso, would it affect the taste of the dressing completely? And is there a substitute for it? Thanks!
Hi Anna! Miso is very important umami flavor here so excluding it definitely affects the final result. Miso is an unique ingredient so I can’t substitute with anything else. Hope this helps!
Just whipped this together and it’s EXACTLY what I was hoping for. My only carrot was a purple one, which yielded a a delightful pink color, like pickled gari! Thank you Nami!
Hi Ian! Aww I’m super happy to hear that! Haha I love the “purple” carrot dressing. I should surprise my kids with it. 😉 Thanks for your kind feedback! xo
Nami,
Is it totally blasphemous to substitute carrot for orange pepper? I have already prepared this(and nearly every other dish on your blog :^_^) with carrot and it was perfect.
Hi Mara! Hmmm you know, carrot has natural sweet taste to it while orange pepper is not the same kind of flavor. You could give it a try, but I’m afraid it won’t work (at least for my taste). 😀 Thank you for trying many of my recipes! 🙂
i like the look of the dressing
Thank you Keisis!
I followed the recipe exactly and this dressing came out perfect!
Hi Randi! Ohhh I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hi,
May I know can I puree the dressing using blender instead of food processor?
Hi Ben! Sure, you can do that. 🙂
Can I parboil the carros or shouldn’t I? Thank you
Hi Catarina! You don’t have you – if you boil it, it gets mushy…. 🙂
What is the 4th ingredient that you added? Before you added the sugar and after you added the ginger? It almost looks like peanut butter.
Hi Melissa! Oh, it is miso paste. 🙂
This looks super healthy, but I am supposed to stay away from sugar. Would you I substitute orange juice or maybe oranges for sugar?
Hi Alex! Sure you can do that. I have never tried it so I’m not sure how much do you need it… let us know how it goes! 🙂
I made this today and it came out great. I am very impressed with myself but I owe everything to you, Nami. This tasted just like the Japanese salad dressing I get when I have Japanese salads, which I love. Thank you so much for such a delicious recipe. Your recipes never disappoint. Sooooo gooood.
Hi Kazy! I’m glad to hear yours came out well! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and sweet words. I’m just happy that you now can make it at home! 🙂
Nami, thank you! I’ve always loved the dressing at japanese restaurants and had absolutely no clue what was in it and how to make it. I actually went and bought a food processor just so I can make this at home.
Hi Agnes! Wahh! You bought a food processor for this recipe! YESSS! FP is helpful, although I don’t use it often for cooking Japanese food. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
like your recipe but the ads are overwhelming.
Hi Gail! Thank you for your kind words. Are you using mobile or desktop? If any ads are intruding, please send me a screenshot so I can complain to the ad network. Thank you!
This is fantastic. I made it in a smoothie blender so it’s smooth. Thanks for giving measurements in grams. So much easier!
Hi Cindy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Thanks Nami…….just made it now….tastes great and better than the restaurants!!
It’ll go great with my green salad with grilled chilled snow peas and miso marinated Halibut.
Just what I was looking for.
Hi Gary! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
Made it tonight. Loved it! used romaine lettuce, shredded zucchini, chopped tomato, chopped cucumber,& roasted pine nuts. Salt & pepper in the grinder, perfect.
Hi Mary! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for the kind feedback. 🙂
The only time I buy ginger is to use in this recipe. (freezing works great for extra) I have made this multiple times now and the recipe never disappoints. The only modification I made to this recipe was not adding the sugar. After tasting it, I didn’t think it was necessary. Will continue making again in the future.
Hi Hillary! Awww I’m so happy to hear that you like this recipe! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. xo
Rice vinegar overpowering. I’d try halving amount or possibly ignoring it. Otherwise, spot on
Thank you for your feedback, Alex!
Some carrots are much sweeter than others. With super sweet carrots I use less sugar.
Did you know you can SMELL the sugar in carrots? It is harder when they are chilled, like in many supermarkets, but still possible. Conversely, some carrots are weirdly bitter, and you can smell that too. If you don’t mind the odd looks you will probably get 😊, try sniffing your carrots when you next buy some.
Hi Peggy,
Thank you very much for your input! We gonna try sniffing my carrots.😉
Hi Peggy,
Thank you very much for your input!
Looks so good. Ingredients look spot-on for the version at my fav restaurant, The only difference being they used soy sauce instead of the miso here.
Hi Li! You can definitely use soy sauce for this dressing too. Both miso and soy sauce makes nice versions. 🙂
It’s Excellent with Fried Rice too!!🤗🙌
Thank you Alyce!
Better than the local Japanese restaurant my mom and brother take me to when I go visit them in Los Angeles . Am addicted to this tasty dressing.
Hi Ray! One of my close friends told me this morning she loves this dressing and just made it over the weekend. Then I remembered that these dressing pictures need to be updated because they are so old and nobody would be interested in making this recipe. And here you are with the kindest comment! THANK YOU for trying this recipe and for leaving the sweet comment!
You are my absolute go to for everything delicious!!
Made this tonight. Totally awesome. I like a heavy heavy ginger flavor, so I just added more after I tasted the original recipe. The original is devine as is though! I kept all measurements and ingredients exact other than ginger and used a good scale measuring grams.
Fresh and authentic! Thank you as always. You’re a wonderful teacher.
Hi Kristie! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for trying this recipe and your kind feedback. I’m glad you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home! xo
This dressing is fabulous, so fresh and lively! I love this dressing on kale salad, too, massaged into the kale. This dressing is now part of my weekly rotation, and I am always looking for new ways to enjoy it.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi Tricia! Ohh kale and carrot ginger dressing are delicious. Both has a strong flavor and they don’t overpower each other. I’m really happy you enjoy the recipe. Thank you!
Love the dressings!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Lori! 🙂
So good and super easy! I just eyeballed all the ingredients and threw them in a blender. It turned out perfect!
Hi Yi-Nan! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe
I love the color , will try to make it.
I have try to look for this yellowish salad dressing color. I thought the yellow color is from mango.
Now l learn it from you, Sensei 😊
Hi Kui! I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Tasted a bit wonky. What miso did you use? What kind of onion? I used white as in photos but it might have been old. Will try again today with red onion and a new tub of miso.
Hi Jim! Thank you for trying this recipe! I used mellow and mild white miso (I added that info – thanks for letting me know) and yellow onion. 🙂
Thank you! How long will this keep in the fridge?
Hi Larry! I think I wrote up to 2 weeks in the recipe? 🙂
Thank you for posting this recipe! I will definitely try to make that tonight:)
Hi Tina! I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
My sister has been begging for salad but I can never understand her desire for dry leaves mixed with vegetables. Now I have a reason to make salad because I am in love with this dressing!! Made it today and have kept the rest in the fridge – I don’t think it will last long though 😉
As always, thanks Nami!
御馳走様でした!
Hi Julia! Aww I’m so happy to hear you enjoy the dressing recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! 😀
Made with a seaweed and mushroom miso soup and egg fu young. Excellent compliment on a simple salad side. Only complaint is the amount of time to prepare, otherwise I would have given it 5 stars
Hi Chanda! Haha yeah, I wish I can cut down on prep time. 😆 I already use the food processor to dump all ingredients in, so there’s not much I can do to cut down on time… 😅
I made this dressing for our side salad and it is amazing. I am pregnant so my taste buds are a little off. I followed step by step then decided since I live garlic I will add that and it was still really good. I stumbled across the recipe and Im glad I did. I will be looking at more of your recipes. Thanks for posting and updating.
Hi Ericka! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for your kind feedback and I hope you’ll find some recipes on my site that inspire you. 🙂
This recipe looks great, but I don’t have any Miso on hand. I DO have miso soup mix (the dry envelope that you add water to)—is there a way to utilize that and forego the salt?
Hi Jennifer! Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Use small amount first, and gradually add. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Can the dressing be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze it for up to a month. 🙂
Hi, just wondering how much salt we’re supposed to use? It says 1/4 but tsp or tbsp? Thank you!
Hi Amanda! OH! Thank you for catching it. It’s 1/4 tsp. 🙂
I’m a fan of your recipes, and can see from the comments that everyone loved this one, but it didn’t work out for me. I followed the recipe, but in the end all I could taste was the rice vinegar. Even when I was making it, I thought that one half cup of rice vinegar seemed like way too much. I mean I couldn’t taste the ginger or miso, literally just vinegar. I ended up adding more ginger and A LOT of sugar to balance it out, but maybe that affected the flavor. The final result was so-so. The texture also seemed heavy on a green salad. My family is Japanese, they ate it but didn’t love it. I have enough left over for another salad … wondering what to do with it.
Hi Lin! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your honest feedback. Just quick question, you said “one half cup.” Does it mean 1 1/2 cup or 1/2 cup. I think you mean half cup, right? I also assume you use regular Japanese rice vinegar… two major brands, but as long as you use one of them, it should be okay. What type of oil did you use? If you add everything and measured correctly, it probably comes down to one’s preference. Next time, try reducing the vinegar a little bit. Thanks again for giving this recipe a try!
I’ve been wanting to make this for so long but didn’t even know what it was called! So glad I stumbled upon your website. I made this today and it was perfect!
Hi Julie! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed this dressing. Thank you for your kind feedback, Julie!
love this recipe.
Hi Stacey! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami, this dressing is amazing! It definitely gave a brand new identity to my salad. As there weren’t sesame oil and rice vinegar in my kitchen I used tahini and apple vinegar instead. Now I have to go to grocery store to buy missing ingredients and make the original recipe! 🙂
Hi Anna! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! Glad substitutions worked! 🙂
Delicious! So happy I found this recipe. Maybe even better than restaurant dressing!
Hi Carly! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! So happy to hear you enjoyed it. 🙂
Nami, this turned out absolutely perfect!! My only regret is that it is for tomorrow night’s meal and I must stare longingly at it in the fridge. I don’t know how long I’ve fiddled around on the internet looking for exactly this recipe. Thanks so very much.
Hi Valerie! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thank you so much for your kind feedback. It meant so much to me! 🙂
This recipe has gotten my daughter to start eating salad so it is a family favorite. I’m wondering if it can be frozen so we can make big batches ahead of time and freeze in quantities we can eat within a few days?
Hi Cindy,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. We’re so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this dressing!
This dressing can be stored in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 1 week. If you take out the portion you need and put the dressing back into the refrigerator right away, you can keep it for up to 2 weeks. You can also store it in the freezer for up to a month as noted in the recipe under “To Serve and Store”
I hope this is helpful. 🙂
I do not have miso. Is there a substitute.
Hi Jo,
Unfortunately, there is no substitute for the flavor of miso. 😞
How about Wafu dressing? https://www.justonecookbook.com/wafu-dressing-japanese-salad-dressing/
Hi! I really want to make this recipe, but I only have red miso on hand. Can I use it or will it alter the flavor too much? Thanks!
Hi Darling,
The red miso usually has a more salty and strong bean taste compared to white miso. So you may want to adjust the salt and sugar amount. As for flavor, it will give you more miso taste in this dressing.
We hope this is helpful.
I just made this carrot dressing. It’s fantastic! So yum. Thank you
Hi Martine!
We are so happy to hear it was fantastic!
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
This recipe immediately became one of the standard dressings we eat at home. We love the bright, lively, balanced flavor and vivid color. The fact that it’s much lower fat than a European/American style dressing is a big bonus too, and we definitely don’t feel like it’s missing – the miso and pureed veggies give it plenty of body. The only change I make is adding half the amount of onion. Thanks so much!
Hi Mathan!
Awwwww…. Thank you very much!
We are so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this dressing.
Thank you for trying this recipe.☺️
I’m wondering if the proportion of oil to vinegar should be reversed — ¼ cup rice vinegar to ½ cup oil? As written, it makes an extremely acidic dressing, even when adjusting for salt and sugar.
Hi Debra! Thank you very much for trying this recipe. The recipe’s amounts are correct, and as you mentioned, it is more on the acidy dressing. Please make sure to use rice vinegar (other kinds of vinegar can be too acidic) and adjust the vinegar amount to your liking.🙂
I made the recipe exactly as listed, measuring everything in grams except liquid ingredients which I measured also as listed above. Unfortunately, this version is not to my taste. The background flavors are there, but the teaspoon of sesame oil absolutely over powers the other ingredients. I’m going to try it with no sesame oil at all, and perhaps with a quarter teaspoon or a half teaspoon, to see if I can get the right blend. Thanks for the recipe though!
Hi James! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your honest feedback! We hope you can adjust the sesame oil amount to your liking and enjoy this recipe.🙂