Japanese Carrot Dressing
This Japanese carrot dressing is a spin on the popular Japanese carrot ginger dressing. It’s creamy, refreshing, and makes salads so addicting!
Why We Love This Japanese Carrot Dressing
- Quick and Easy to Prepare: Just blend everything with a blender, food processor, or immersion blender and you’re done!
- Delicious and Versatile: This dressing is salty and tangy with a subtle sweetness from the carrots. The onions may taste pungent at first, but their flavor mellows out over time as the dressing sits. Use this dressing in a variety of salads or as a dip for spring rolls!
- Gluten-Free, Plant-Based Whole30, and Oil-Free Options: You can use tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. For the fat component, I like to use tahini or toasted sesame seed butter.
Key Ingredients
- Carrot, Onion, and Garlic ⟶ The classic dressing served at Japanese restaurants uses carrots, onions, and ginger, but for mine I like to use garlic (or a mix of garlic and ginger). These add body, flavor, and the carrots of course add a beautiful color!
- Toasted Sesame Seeds ⟶ Make sure your sesame seeds are toasted, they have so much more flavor! You can buy pre-toasted sesame seeds or simply toast them in a pan on the stove (stir frequently to prevent burning).
- Tahini ⟶ Most recipes use oil, but I like to use tahini or another nut/seed butter for extra flavor and nutrients. It also makes the dressing a little creamy.
- Rice Vinegar ⟶ Some acidity balances out all the flavors. I love rice vinegar because it’s more mild/not too acidic and has a subtle sweetness.
- Soy Sauce ⟶ Soy sauce adds more depth and umami as opposed to just using salt. You can also use tamari or coconut aminos.
Tips for Success
Adjust as you go ⟶ I recommend first making the dressing as written, without the optional ingredients, and using the lesser amount of soy sauce. Then taste it and add additional ingredients as you like.
Blend smooth or chunky ⟶ You can blend this dressing to a fairly smooth consistency (it won’t be super smooth due to the raw carrots and onions) or leave it a little chunky. Either way is delicious!
Let the dressing sit for at least an hour ⟶ The onions will be quite pungent at first, so if you have time, place the dressing in the fridge for at least an hour to let the flavors marinate.
Japanese Carrot Dressing FAQ
More Delicious Salad Dressings
- Japanese Sesame Dressing
- Green Onion Sauce
- Lemony Vinaigrette from my Easy Vegan Pasta Salad
- Spiced Dressing from my Spiced Bean Salad
- Asian Vinaigrette from my Somen Noodle Salad
If you make this recipe, 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! ♡
Japanese Carrot Dressing (Oil-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 3 tbsp tahini1
- 2-4 tbsp soy sauce2 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
Save for later!
Just came across this recipe and your blog. I think I’ll have to try this dressing soon! In general, I’m not very fond of dressings, store-bought or homemade, but this sounds yummy and I love all the ingredients.
Thanks Tamara! I’ve been making this dressing for years and it’s still my favorite. Hope you try it with your next yummy salad and let me know how you like it! 🙂
I avoid oil as much as possible and love Asian cuisine. I made this dressing for some falafels I made and oh man so delicious can’t wait to try on my next salad.
ooh I’ve never thought of pairing them with falafels but I am totally trying that next!! thanks for the inspiration and I’m so happy you liked the dressing! 🙂
Love this dressing, makes my salads sing. Thanks
Thanks Sally, so happy you enjoyed it!! 🙂
I just made this, and it’s absolutely wonderful. The taste is spot-on! THANK YOU for creating the recipe without oil and for sharing it!
Hi Angie, thank you for your comment! I’m so happy you liked it, it’s one of my favorites too 🙂
Loved this salad dressing. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I added all the optional “add-ins” but for sweetness, I used 1 pitted date.
Hi Alice, thanks for your feedback! So happy you enjoyed the dressing 🙂 and love the addition of dates – I need to try that with my next batch!
Pursuing alternatives to use with my “salad sandwiches” & this will definitely fit beautifully.
Plus wraps, bowls, noodles…..
Thank you!
Hi Pamela, hope you enjoy the dressing! I’ve been using it solely for my morning salads but am sure it would be delicious on noodle bowls or Asian-inspired wraps as well!
I don’t have rice vinegar what other vinegar would you suggest or should I just wait until I have the vinegar
I think apple cider vinegar would be the best substitute.
Hi, I came to find your recipe through a google search as I was looking for an oil free asian style dressing but one of the ingredients is 3 Tbsp neutral oil. So is the recipe optionally oil free?
Hi, sorry for the confusion! I updated the recipe card to be clearer. The dressing is oil-free if you use tahini or another nut/seed butter. I had included a neutral oil option for those who can’t tolerate/access tahini, but I realize that’s confusing for a dressing that claims to be oil-free, so I omitted the oil. I always make the dressing with tahini and it’s delicious!
Hi. I see that this makes 6 servings but can you tell me what the serving size is?
Hi, sorry for the confusion! This recipe makes about 1 cup of dressing. So about 2-3 tbsp per serving.
ok. thank you.