Asian Style Salad Dressing

Creamy & refreshing, this dressing pairs perfectly with fresh greens and makes them taste so amazing, you’ll go through an entire box of lettuce in one sitting.

I’ve been eating tons of salads this summer, especially with the heat we’ve had in socal. It’s just too hot to want to turn on the oven or stand by the stove melting away while stir-frying vegetables every day. Not to mention the profuse amount of sweating that occurs while eating piping hot stir-fries.

But eating a salad everyday can get boring — especially if you don’t have an easy and delicious dressing recipe up your sleeve nudge nudge. My tip for keeping your salads interesting is to switch things up! Salads can be so much more than just lettuce — try throwing in different veggies, raw or cooked, like carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, beets, corn, zucchini, bell peppers, etc. — plus having a few different yummy dressings also helps stave off the salad boredom. (Keep your eyes peeled for future salad dressing recipes. 😉

What’s In It

This recipe is super simple, with just 7 ingredients and minimal prep work. It comes together in about 5 minutes — just 5 minutes required for a super delicious and healthy dressing! Unlike some dressings that are loaded with oils and salt, this dressing uses fresh ingredients like carrots, onion, and garlic and doesn’t require any oil! It gets its addictive fatty flavor from tahini and sesame seeds, but you can use oil if you prefer! Just make sure to use a neutral flavored oil like canola, grapeseed, avocado, or vegetable oil — don’t use olive oil.

Once you’ve peeled your veggies, just roughly chop up the carrot and onion and then add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor, and voila~! Pour it on your salad and then save the rest in a jar in the fridge. Because there are no preservatives in this dressing, it won’t last as long as ones bought off the store shelves. BUT it’s so good that it’ll be gone way before it could go bad. It’ll be a little chunky after blending (from the carrots and onions) but that’s totally normal. You can also add a little pepper to it if you want a bit more spice, or if you’re out of rice vinegar you can try lemon/lime juice for a more citrus-y flavor. I hope you love this dressing as much as I do!! 🙂

Still Hungry?

Try swapping the dressing in any of these salads!

• Tofu and Green Onion Salad
• Vermicelli Noodle Salad with Soy-Lime Tofu
• Tofu Banh Mi Salad
• Somen Noodle Salad

If you make this Asian Salad Dressing, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking! I love seeing all of your tasty recreations 🙂 Happy cooking! ♡

Asian-Style Salad Dressing (Vegan, Oil-Free)

Creamy & refreshing, this dressing pairs perfectly with fresh greens and makes them taste so amazing, you’ll go through an entire box of lettuce in one sitting. Just 7 ingredients, 1 blender, and 5 minutes is all you need! 

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Dressing/Sauce

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp tahini**¹
• 2-4 tbsp soy sauce, adjust to taste
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• water, as needed to thin

Optional Add-ins

• 1 tbsp date paste, maple syrup, or other sweetener
• 1/2 inch knob of ginger
• 1 tsp white miso
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• pinch of black pepper

Instructions

 

• Add all ingredients to a blender and blend to your desired consistency. Add water, 1 Tbsp at a time, to thin out the dressing if desired.
• Taste and add any of the optional add-ins as desired.
• Store covered in the fridge for up to 7-10 days.

**Notes

1) If you don’t have tahini, you can try another nut/seed butter you like. Chinese sesame paste, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or peanut butter would probably be tasty.

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