If you enjoy the salad dressing served at Japanese restaurants, this delicious Carrot Ginger Dressing recipe is for you. Seasoned with miso, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, this sweet-tangy dressing will zest up your salad. It‘s a light and refreshing addition to any meal.
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.
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 had 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 putting the rest of the dressing back in the refrigerator right away. That way, you can keep it for up to 2 weeks. Shake well before you use it.
Similar Recipes:
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Carrot Ginger Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 carrot (4.8 oz, 135 g)
- ¼ onion (2.5 oz, 70 g)
- 1 knob ginger (1 inch, 2.5 cm; 0.6 oz, 17 g; use young/spring ginger for a milder taste, preferably)
- 1½ Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp miso (use white miso for a mild, mellow taste)
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ cup rice vinegar (unseasoned) (rice vinegar is mild; DO NOT substitute it with other vinegars as they are too acidic and strong)
- ¼ cup neutral oil
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Peel 1 carrot and chop it into ½- to 1-inch (1.25- to 2.5-cm) pieces.
- Chop ¼ onion into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
- Peel 1 knob ginger and slice into small pieces. Put all the chopped vegetables into a food processor.
- Purée until fine and smooth.
- To the food processor, add 1½ Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp miso, ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, ½ cup rice vinegar (unseasoned), and ¼ cup neutral oil.
- Process again until the dressing is completely smooth. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasoning 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 keep longer).
To Serve
- Shake well and serve over a green salad (here, I have iceberg lettuce, cucumber slices, and tomatoes).
To Store
- You can store the dressing in an airtight container or 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, it will keep for up to 2 weeks. Or, you can store it in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutrition
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.
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!
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! 🙂
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! 🙂
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. 🙂
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…. 🙂
Hi,
May I know can I puree the dressing using blender instead of food processor?
Hi Ben! Sure, you can do that. 🙂
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! 🙂
i like the look of the dressing
Thank you Keisis!
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! 🙂
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
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!
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!
Is the carrot cooked or raw?
It’s a raw carrot. If it’s cooked, it’ll be mushy. 🙂
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! 🙂
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! 🙂