This homemade Asian Salad Dressing Recipe is easy to make, healthy and so delicious! With rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic and ginger this sugar free recipe is a simple Asian Dressing with tons of flavor. Give it a try and you may never use store-bought dressing again!
There are so many things that I love about this time of year!
One of them is all the fresh produce that is available in the Spring and Summer.
I seriously get excited when my produce drawers are overflowing.
As excited as most girls do about shoes.
(Sad, but true. I had foot surgery in high school and have a bad relationship with shoes. You will most often find me in flip flops. I am sure you wanted to know that. :))
Confession: I often get a little overzealous in my purchasing of produce. I am working hard to reduce waste. It is a process.
One way I try to make sure what I buy gets eaten this time of year is to make sure that I have a salad every day without fail.
Sometimes I have a big one for lunch and a small one with dinner.
For years I ate almost the same salad every day, with the same Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.
When they were small, my boys referred to it as “Stinky Salad” and would run away at first sight.
It was always good for a few moments of alone time.
(Don’t judge – life was beyond crazy when I had two and three year old boys. I am sure I have blocked out much of that time, because life was so dang hard. It feels like I blinked and ten years had gone by.)
Years later, Skye would have the same response to my “stinky salad.”
I still love that salad, but these days I rarely make the same dressing twice in a row.
I much prefer the variety of mixing things up.
When Skye was a toddler, and I was on a cooking strike (that is a real thing, by the way), hubby got addicted to a bagged Asian Salad.
I must confess, it was so good.
But the dressing was loaded with sugar and soy, two things I try to avoid. (I am ok with small amounts of non-GMO soy and do eat sugar on special occasions.)
Once the strike ended (about the time Skye stopped getting up at night and also started sleeping past 5 am), I decided to re-create the Asian Salad Dressing Recipe at home.
The result was this Asian Dressing, and it is a huge favorite at our house.
If you are in a dressing rut like I used to be, this is one you must try.
This Asian Salad Dressing is versatile and one you are going to want to put in your regular rotation. Try it on my Asian Quinoa Salad or Asian Chicken Salad. I also like it on a green salad with oranges. I’ve even added in some nut butter and used it as a dip for chicken.
I have found that I am much more likely to throw a salad together if I’ve got homemade salad dressing in the fridge, so recipes like this are key to staying on track with healthy eating year around.
Frequently Asked Questions for Asian Salad Dressing Recipe:
How Do You Make Asian Sesame Dressing?
1. Combine the following in a blender:
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar unseasoned
- 1/4 cup gluten-free tamari
- 2 tablespoons lime juice fresh
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
- 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Swerve or other sweetener, to taste
2. Process until smooth.
3. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
What Can Be Used In Place of Sesame Oil?
- You can substitute any oil for sesame oil. However, the flavor will be different as sesame oil adds a nutty flavor to the dressing. While some people find toasted sesame oil to be harsh, I enjoy the flavor it adds to this recipe
Recommended Tools to Make This Asian Dressing:
Asian Salad Dressing Recipe
This homemade Asian Salad Dressing Recipe is easy to make and healthy! With rice vinegar and ginger, this no sugar recipe is a simple dressing that packs a lot of flavor. Once you learn how to make Asian Salad Dressing you will never want store bought again!
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar unseasoned
- 1/4 cup gluten free tamari
- 2 tablespoons lime juice fresh
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
- 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Swerve or other sweetener, to taste
Place rice wine vinegar, gluten free tamari, lime juice, minced ginger, garlic, sesame oil, olive oil and Swerve in a blender.
- Process until smooth.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until ready to serve.
May be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Variations for Asian Salad Dressing Recipe
- For a nutty kick, add in 2 tablespoons powdered peanut butter or 2 tablespoons peanut butter.
- For heat, add in 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper.
- Add in 3 tablespoons tahini and replace lime juice with lemon juice.
- For a fun variation, try adding in 2 drops of good quality orange essential oil.
- If you taste the dressing and it has too much "bite", try adding in a little more sweetener to balance the acidity.
Tip: I don't recommend using Seasoned Rice Vinegar. I made that mistake once and found the flavor to be too strong.
If You Like this Asian Salad Dressing You May Also Like:
Other Salad Dressing Recipes to Try:
- 50 Salad Dressings from Food Network
- Homemade Catalina from Diethood
- How to Make Salad Dressing from Hilah Cooking
We try to eat healthy all year long and making everything from scratch or homemade is always important. Using the best and freshest is always the way to go.
Your asian salad dressing looks so good and I bet it tastes just as good. I am glad that it does not have a lot of calories and that it does not have sugar in it.
Everything about this sounds delicious. I love the color of the dressing and it seems so very easy to make.
I have never tried an Asian salad dressing before, this looks very yummy and flavour some. It is definitely something new to try in the new year
Yes please! I love Asian Salad Dressing, and this one sounds scrumptious. I need to make some for my salads!
I get this type of dressing a lot when we eat at asian restaurants, and I would love to make it at home. The recipe sounds delicious!
This homemade Asian Salad Dressing sounds amazing! I would love to make this sometime soon for a grilled chicken salad, it would spice it right up!
Oh wow ginger on the salad dressings I’ve never had that before, But it sure looks colorful and yummy. I like eating salad very healthy and it makes you full.
I am for anything Asia so this falls right into my alley of favorites. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I would like to try making it.,
This salad dressing looks delicious. I’d love to try this at home for my next dinner party!
I am definitely bookmarking this recipe! I was just thinking the other day about how to make such a dressing! I don’t always want to buy this from a store, and I love making things from scratch, so this is so perfect!
Asian salad dressing is so delicious! I’ve never tried to make it before, but I’d definitely like to!
Your salad dressing sounds beyond delicious! Cannot wait to try!
This dressing sounds really good
But im courious what gives it that nice yellow? Is it the ginger? I thought it could be turmeric but theres none in the recipe.. would love to hear from you.. thanks!!
I think the yellow probably comes from the combo of the ginger and sesame oil. Turmeric would be a lovely addition here.
And I absolutely adore EVERYTHING about this recipe. EVERYTHING!
Sounds and looks yummy. Food that taste great with less calories is awesome. As eating unhealthy is not the way to go if you want to be healthy and successful in life!!!!!
Your Asian salad dressing looks and sounds so yummy! Would be perfect for my girls night dinner party!
What a great salad dressing! I have never tired making my own at home, but I want to with this recipe!