Japanese Sesame Dressing 胡麻ドレッシング

This delicious and versatile Japanese Sesame Dressing is perfect for salads, marinades, and dipping sauces. Learn how to make this creamy, nutty, and tangy sauce at home with my easy recipe.

I love a salad dressing that has unlimited potential. This Japanese Sesame Dressing (胡麻ドレッシング) has it all! It’s creamy, full of umami, nutty, tangy, and mildly sweet. You can use it on any combination of greens you like or as a sauce for a variety of foods.

Best of all, it’s so, so easy. If you eat salads year-round like I do, you’ll want to keep a bottle of this homemade dressing in your fridge at all times.

How to Use Japanese Sesame Dressing

Japanese home cooks often serve a side of salad with yoshoku or Western-influenced Japanese dishes for dinner. This Japanese Sesame Dressing is a favorite choice because it’s creamy and full of flavor.

While it pairs beautifully with simple green salads, it’s also delicious on cold noodles. This sesame dressing also makes for a terrific sauce on grilled meat, grilled bok choy, and tofu!

For my typical salad, I use iceberg lettuce, sweet corn kernels, tomato wedges, and wakame, sometimes adding a boiled egg for extra protein. This dressing also goes so well on Asian Cabbage Salad or Cabbage Slaw with edamame (young soybeans) and shredded carrots. Feel free to switch up your ingredients since this versatile dressing and sauce goes with just about anything.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You’ll need simple pantry ingredients that are common in a Japanese kitchen and easy to find at Asian grocery stores:

• toasted white sesame seeds — quickly re-toast in a frying pan to bring out the aroma and nutty flavor
• mayonnaise — I recommend Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie mayo) for its richer flavor; use store-bought or make the homemade recipe
• rice vinegar — for a mellow taste yet refreshing aroma
• soy sauce — lends savoriness to the dressing
• sugar — I use granulated sugar
• mirin — if you can’t find it, replace it with water
• toasted sesame oil — to bind the dressing and add an irreplaceable nutty fragrance

Substitutions and Variations

My husband likes this dressing on the tangy side, so I use a bit more rice vinegar. Always feel free to adjust the ratio of ingredients to suit your taste! Here are some ideas:

• Try tahini sesame paste in place of the ground sesame seeds.
• Use your favorite sweetener. Try turbinado, raw cane sugar, or honey.
• Try a different acid like apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice diluted with a tablespoon or two of water.
• Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce instead of regular soy sauce.
• Replace the oil with extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, or another oil of your choice.
• Add grated ginger for an extra warmth and zest.
• Make a creamy sesame dressing by using more mayo.

How to Make Japanese Sesame Dressing

This sesame vinaigrette keeps well in an airtight container for up to a week, so make a big batch to use on your salads, vegetables, and grilled meats.

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan over low heat, shaking the pan constantly. Remove when two or three seeds begin to pop.
2. Grind using a mortar and pestle until smooth.
3. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. You can also add it to a jar an shake well or mix in a food processor.

What to Serve with Sesame Dressing

If you plan on using this Asian salad dressing over a simple salad, here are some dishes that go well with it:

• Baked Chicken Katsu
• Easy Fried Rice
• Yaki Onigiri
• Miso Salmon

But don’t let this stop you from trying the dressing on other dishes. Because it is so much more dynamic than you think!

Other Popular Japanese Salad Dressing Recipes

• Wafu Dressing
• Carrot Ginger Dressing
• A Million-Dollar Japanese Onion Dressing
• Homemade Miso Dressing
• 4 Easy Japanese Salad Dressings

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Japanese Sesame Dressing

4.40 from 325 votes

Creamy and nutty, this homemade Japanese Sesame Dressing is made from ground roasted sesame seeds, mayo, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. It's easy and so delicious with your green salad!

Print Pin

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 15 minutes mins

Servings: 3

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
• ▢ 2 Tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
• ▢ 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
• ▢ 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tsp sugar
• ▢ ½ tsp mirin
• ▢ ½ tsp toasted sesame oil

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Put sesame seeds in a frying pan and toast them on low heat. When 2-3 sesame seeds start popping, remove from the heat.
  
• Grind the toasted sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle until smooth.
  
  
• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk everything together.
  
• Drizzle on top of a simple salad of iceberg lettuce topped with tomatoes, boiled eggs, wakame, and corn.
  

To Store

• You can keep the dressing in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Nutrition

Calories: 132 kcal · Carbohydrates: 4 g · Protein: 2 g · Fat: 12 g · Saturated Fat: 2 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 6 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 4 mg · Sodium: 540 mg · Potassium: 40 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 2 g · Vitamin A: 7 IU · Calcium: 79 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Condiments

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: japanese mayonnaise, sesame seed

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Update: Photos updated in November 2013