This Asian Sesame Dressing is one of my all time most-used salad dressings, because it keeps for weeks and it’s so easy to make – just soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, vinegar and sugar.
Use this Asian dressing for leafy green salads, Asian slaws, noodle salads and chopped salads. It’s also a terrific dressing to make steamed vegetables so much tastier. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh sesame seeds and sliced greens onions!
Instant Asian Sesame Dressing
This Asian Sesame Dressing is one of eight ready-to-use salad dressing recipes that I shared in this post: Ready To Use Salad Dressings. I’ve been wanting to share a bunch of long shelf life salad dressings for ages and was so glad to finally have an excuse to!
This Asian Sesame Dressing is fantastic. It was originally off the back of a packet that I’ve adapted slightly to my taste. The reason it’s one of my most used dressings is because it literally takes 30 seconds to make – grab a few bottles, eye ball the measurements, shake and you’re done.
No need to mince garlic, grate ginger of chop fresh herbs. This Sesame Dressing is simple and it’s perfect just as it is. However, you can of course doll it up as you wish! It’s a fantastic base recipe. 🙂
I literally use this dressing for all things Asian and Asian-esque. But one of my favourite ways to use this dressing is with shredded cabbage and carrots. So an Asian slaw, if you will. 🙂 Especially if you grab a bag of pre shredded cabbage, as I did for these photos (I used a Crunchy Slaw pre cut mix from David Jones, I ❤️the DJ’s Food Hall!!).
The other thing I use it for is sashimi salads. Leafy greens, cherry tomatoes and some store bought fresh sashimi, topped with crunchy fried shallots and this dressing. It’s a 1 minute dinner assembly!
Because this Asian Sesame Dressing doesn’t use any fresh ingredients that go off, it has a very long shelf life. I keep it for 3 weeks. I like to keep it in the fridge, just to be safe (and also because I keep my soy sauce refrigerated, and this has soy sauce in it).
SUCH a fantastic standby dressing! Nagi xx
PS Pictured below is an Asian Slaw made using the David Jones Crunchy Slaw mix (green and red cabbage, carrots), a sprinkle of store bought fried shallots, tossed with this Asian Sesame Dressing.
PPS In the recipe below, I’ve shared a big batch (1 cup) to make and keep, and single batch too (i.e. enough for one side salad for 3-4 people).
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Asian Sesame Dressing
Ingredients
Big batch to keep (makes 1 cup)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 cup white vinegar (adjust to taste for sharpness)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp sugar (any type) or 1 1/2 tbsp honey
Single serving batch
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil (Note 1)
- 1 tsp sugar (any type) or 1 1/2 tsp honey
Instructions
- Place ingredients in a jar and shake well until sugar is dissolved. Adjust saltiness with salt and sweetness with sugar to taste.
- Keep for up to 3 weeks, in the fridge (to be safe). Bring to room temp and shake well before use.
- Single serving batch is enough for 3 - 4 cups of shredded cabbage / leafy greens i.e. a side salad for 4 people.
- Big batch - my rule of thumb for how much dressing to use is generally 1 tbsp of dressing per 1 packed cup of shredded vegetables and 2 tsp per handful of leafy greens.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Don’t miss all the other Ready To Use Dressings I shared! These all last for 2+ weeks, most for 3 weeks.Find them all here.
I really can’t stand any vinegar, do you think this dressing could still work without it? Maybe with lemon or lime juice as a possible substitute?
Hi Dani, I would sum lime instead – you do need the acidity to balance the flavours. N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I use Kikkoman tamari soy sauce and plain sesame oil for this recipe?
Thanks
Sure can Lisa! Enjoy! N x
Hi Mari,
Can I use Kikkoman tamari soy sauce and plain sesame oil for this recipe?
Thanks
Can this recipe be used for Chinese chicken salad?
Yes 100% Dianna!!! Enjoy! N x
All of your recipes are so great! I had this dressing yesterday on a salad and it was perfect. Thank you 🙂
Threw in a generous helping of fresh ginger. Excellent!
This was perfect! I switched out the sugar for honey, rice wine vinegar for white vinegar, and the soy sauce for coconut aminos to make it whole30 approved. Also added some toasted sesame seeds. It was delicious!
Hi Nagi,
What do you mean with the soy sauce? The light soy sauce or all purpose?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards from The Netherlands!
Hi Roxanne, this recipe uses regular/all purpose soy. N x
This was exactly what I was looking for. So good and easy to make. Now I’m going to check out your other salad dressings!
Thanks!
Enjoy David! N x
Yum! I made it with raw orange blossom honey instead of sugar and replaced olive oil with avocado oil. It’s delicious 🙂
Sounds amazing Tracy! N x
A tip I was given by a family friend with regards to the oil: apparently it preserves better in the fridge when you put it in the blender along with the other ingredients.
Hi Cynthia, you could definitely blend if you prefer 🙂 N x
Yum! Quick, easy & good. I didn’t have sesame oil so I dumped in furikake which has a lot of sesame seeds, garlic powder, ginger powder and some extra sugar. Turned out great!
Is toasted sesame oil different from sesame oil please.
Hi Angela, yes as it’s toasted. If you cannot find it, regular sesame oil will be fine. N x
From previous brands that I have tried for this dressing, especially the Wafu one, I am used to a slightly creamier texture where the color of the sauce is a light beige. Therefore, I was just wondering how you would feel about the use of sesame paste (the Lebanese tahini) instead of oil. Have you ever tried, and if so what were your thoughts on it?
Hi Cynthia, you could use sesame paste however the flavour isn’t as concentrate as the oil so will be more subtle 🙂
Pier o
World market has it. So do a lot of the largest supermarkets nowdays. Look for the Asian section and you can save time looking by asking where the Asian section of the store is located. hope this helps!
Hi Nagi, sorry if you’ve been asked this before – can you tell me where you get your toasted sesame oil as I can only seem to find regular sesame oil at all places I try. Thanks
Hi Bron, I buy mine from the local Asian supermarket, but you can use untoasted – it will be fine!
Hi Nagi,
Recipe calls for white vinegar… Is this white wine vinegar or just regular vinegar?? Want to be sure before I poison my date, cheers
Hi Eoin, just regular white vinegar – although you could use white wine/apple cider or even rice wine vinegar 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Nagi, as yet I haven’t tried any of the recipes, but the ease of putting together ingredients etc had me hooked! Photography & presentation of course plays a part, but I am a big fan of Vietnamese food, so I will have no hesitation in trying some of these recipes. Plus, your cheerful face is so very inviting….it’s hard to go past your website! Lyn
Followed the recipe. Loved it !
Excellent Cuci!
GREAT dressing! Guests loved my cabbage, napa cabbage, red cabbage, carrot, celery, cilantro, green onion salad with white&black sesame seeds, cashews and almonds.
Thanks!!!