Try my simple and refreshing Japanese-style vinaigrette called Wafu Dressing. It’s a versatile and delicious homemade Japanese salad dressing that pairs well with any type of salad combo. You can make it at home in just 10 minutes!
Today, I’m sharing a reader recipe request for my Japanese salad dressing called Wafu Dressing. Wafu (和風) means Japanese-style. You might have heard another Japanese food term that starts with “wa” and that is wagyu (和牛), which means Japanese beef. Washoku (和食) means a Japanese meal and wagashi (和菓子) means a Japanese confectionery.
Table of Contents
What is Wafu Dressing?
Generally, wafu dressing (和風ドレッシング) is a Japanese-style salad dressing made with vegetable oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Japanese home cooks each have their own recipe for it. I add grated onion to my version to make it extra flavorful.
I drizzle this vinaigrette on a simple wafu salad of hand-torn iceberg lettuce topped with tomatoes, boiled egg, wakame (seaweed), cucumbers, and red radishes. You also could try it on any cooked or raw salad, a noodle salad with soba noodles, or your favorite mix of lettuces.
There are so many kinds of wafu dressing choices available in Japanese supermarkets. In my opinion, dressing made from scratch is superior because it has no MSG or preservatives. Also, I love that you can adjust the taste as you wish. The ingredients and condiments are very typical for a Japanese kitchen, so I hope you will give this recipe a try!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This Japanese dressing comes together in just 10 minutes. Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl or mason jar and whisk:
- grated onion — my special ingredient for extra flavor!
- neutral oil — for a variation, you can replace with olive oil or your favorite type; replace some of it with sesame oil to make Chinese-style dressing called chuka dressing (中華ドレッシング)
- Japanese soy sauce
- Japanese rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- sugar — I use granulated sugar; feel free to experiment with other sweeteners like brown sugar
- freshly ground black pepper
- toasted white sesame seeds
This versatile salad dressing keeps for 7–10 days in the refrigerator. Make a big batch in a blender and use it in your menu throughout the week!
More Homemade Salad Dressings You’ll Love
- 4 Japanese Salad Dressings
- Sesame Dressing
- Carrot Ginger Dressing
- Miso Dressing
- A Million-Dollar Japanese Onion Dressing
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Wafu Dressing (Japanese Salad Dressing)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp grated onion (I use a ceramic grater)
- 3 Tbsp neutral oil
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or mason jar and whisk everything together. Drizzle on top of a simple salad. Here, I prepared hand-torn iceberg lettuce topped with tomatoes, boiled egg, wakame, cucumber, and red radish.
To Store
- Keep the dressing in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 7–10 days.
Nutrition
Update: The post was originally published on October 14, 2011. The photos are updated in November 2013.
Greets from an American in Japan ! Found this recipe this evening and just prepared it . Yummy !
Hello, John! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Nami’s dressing recipe!☺️
Nami, another delicious recipe! Poured this over lettuce, carrot, red capsicum, snow peas, cherry tomatoes and spring onion and served with Honey soy chicken kebabs.
Hi Sarah! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s dressing recipe!
Nami and JOC team are so happy to hear you enjoyed it.😊 Thank you for your kind feedback.
Hi Nami, can I substitute avocado oil for the oils that you listed on your recipe or would that not be light enough and mess up the taste?
Hi Karen, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe!
We have never tried this recipe with Avocado oil, and not sure how it will turn out. Let us know how it goes!
This is a great recipe. If you want to make it a creamier dressing (for poke bowls) add a tablespoon or two of light sour cream (or mayo). Delicious!
Hi Kim, Thank you very much for your kind feedback and for sharing your tip with us!🙂
Thank you for ongoing recipes.Love it.
Hi Noel! We are glad to hear you enjoyed many recipes! Thank you for your kind feedback.
Made it many times. So yum.
Hi Bia!
Yay! Thank you very much for trying this recipe many times and for your kind feedback!☺️
I’ve made this dressing multiple times – I absolutely love it! The recipe makes quite a lot (we use it on a side salad for 2 people), so I divide it into 3 small plastic containers and freeze 2 of them to enjoy later 😁👏 don’t want to waste a drop it’s so good!
Hi Jo! I’m super happy to hear you like this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂 xo
Great recipe Nami! I love all your recipes. I substituted some Yuzu Ponzu for part of the soy sauce as I had it on hand and wanted a little citrus hit. So easy and tasty.
Hi Ann! That sounds really good! Thank you for trying my recipe and for your kind feedback!
This is sooo good! Definitely worth the watering eyes while grating the onion. My local Japanese restaurant serves this salad as a complimentary starter, but I never knew what it was called. I knew it had onion in the dressing and have searched for years to find a recipe to make it at home. I’m so glad I found this recipe – now I can have it whenever I want 😁 Thank you!!!
Hi Jo! I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback, Jo!
This is one of my absolute favorite salad dressings! A lovely combination of richness from the sesame with sour, sweet, and salty. I also recently used some leftover dressing as a sauce for lettuce wraps with chicken, and it was delicious there too! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Hi Cameron! I do use this recipe often for my weekly salads too! It’s pretty basic that goes with Japanese food! 🙂
Very simple but very tasty! The toasted sesame seeds give it an extra hint of nutty flavor. I’ll have to make a bigger batch next time because I don’t think this will last more than a day or two!
Hi Bryce! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. 🙂
Soooo delicious! I love that it takes only a handful of ingredients to make. I used it over salad for a couple of nights and the family LOVED it so much. One night we had broiled salmon and I love to eat it cold as leftovers with steamed rice. This time I cut up cucumbers and added the salmon and poured wafu dressing over it alongside a bowl of rice and my gosh it’s amazing!! I’m having the rest of the dressing right now with what I described above. I drink every last drop!!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Hoping you and your family are protected & staying healthy during these trying times.
Much love from Idaho.
Hi Gina! Hahaha! I love that you enjoyed this dressing till the last drop! 😀 Thank you so much for your kind feedback. It made me so happy! I hope you and your family stay safe and healthy, too. It seems like you eat healthy and well. It’s very important at this difficult time… Take good care! 🙂
Sugoi! So easy, tasty and versatile – would go with most salad ingredients (we actually used leftover to flavour our home made popcorn :)- yum!!!)
Hi Robyn! Arigato! I’m glad you liked it and thanks for your kind feedback too! Wow, you drizzled on homemade popcorn?! That’s something new. I’ll definitely try it next time!
Greetings Nami, How long can this dressing be stored in fridge for future use? TQ!
Hi Polly! I would use it within a week. 🙂
YUM! This is so delicious and simple. My favorite salad dressing now.
If you have a chance to try it with avocado oil, you will not regret it!
Hi Lion! I’m so happy to hear that you liked this recipe! I do have avocado oil – I’ll definitely use it for this recipe! 🙂