If you are craving the fresh and bright flavors of the ginger salad dressing recipe served at your favorite Japanese steakhouses and hibachi restaurants, you have come to the right place.
I love the great flavors from fresh ginger, sweet carrots, and umami soy sauce. It feels like there is something secret about this ginger salad dressing recipe, but I promise you can make it at home. And you will like it so much, you won't have to spend a fortune out at expensive Japanese restaurants anymore.
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What To Expect From This Recipe
After several recipe attempts and tweaks, I feel like I finally figured out what makes the best ginger dressing. I worked on ingredients and found the right combination of fresh ginger flavor with a little bit of sweetness, tang, and most of all- texture! These are simple ingredients but the chopped vegetables create a dressing with a good hold for salad greens. Now, it's of my favorite things to make because if it's fresh and bright flavor.
Ginger Dressing Ingredients
- yellow onion
- peanut oil
- rice vinegar
- water
- fresh ginger root
- celery
- carrots
- soy sauce
- tomato paste
- white sugar
- lemon juice
- salt
- black pepper
Hibachi Salad Ingredients
To make the side salad that is usually served with this Japanese salad dressing at your favorite hibachi restaurant, you will need:
- iceberg lettuce
- shredded carrots
- shredded red cabbage
- cheery tomatoes or grape tomatoes
- cucumber is optional
Helpful Equipment For Making Dressing At Home
- knife and cutting board
- food processor or small smoothie blender
- measuring cup and measuring spoons
- glass jar or glassware container for storage
We really don't need anything fancy. Just prepare, measure, and blend.
How To Make The Dressing
The best part of this salad dressing recipe, it that the whole recipe can be made in a mini food processor or blender. After the ingredients have been measured, combine everything in the bowl of your blender or food processor. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until the desired consistency is achieved.
Transfer your homemade dressing to a storage container like a mason jar with an airtight lid. Let it hang out in the refrigerator for about 2 hours before serving. This will allow the ginger and onion flavor to really work through the other dressing ingredients. When you are ready to serve, just give the mason jar a good shake because the oil will separate from the rest of the dressing.
How to Assemble a Hibachi Salad
After your homemade ginger salad dressing has had a chance to chill out in the fridge, we can assemble our simple green salad. Start by chopping the iceberg lettuce into small bite size pieces. The best way to serve the salad is dressing the iceberg lettuce first, then topping it with the shredded carrots, thin strips of red cabbage, and any other veggies you want. I finish the salad with a small amount of dressing on top. That's the perfect way to make sure the lettuce is evenly coated with out delicious dressing.
Garnish your salad with sliced green onions and sesame seeds is desired.
Recipe Modifications
Let's talk about the oil used for this salad dressing. I found the oil really makes a difference with the flavor and traditional hibachi restaurants use peanut oil. However, if you want to use another neutral oil such as olive oil, canola oil, or avocado oil, you certainly can.
If you are avoiding soy and soy sauce, you can swap it out for liquid aminos or coconut aminos.
For more sesame flavor, you can add ½ teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to increase that Asian flavor profile.
Saving Leftover Salad Dressing
Any airtight container such as a mason jar or glass snap ware is great for storing leftover dressing. A mason jar is especially great because you can shake the dressing up before pouring it over your salad.
This is a great go-to for a simple salad at lunch the next day topped with leftover hibachi chicken.
Because we are using all fresh ingredients, for food safety, I only keep leftovers of this dressing for 4 days in the refrigerator. If you want to save it longer than that, freeze it in an ice cube tray and transfer the cubes to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Not sure why it would ever last that long though.
More Homemade Hibachi Recipes
- Hibachi Chicken and Shrimp
- Hibachi Garlic Butter
- Mustard Dipping Sauce
- Ginger Dipping Sauce
- Hibachi Steak
- Hibachi Vegetables
Ginger Salad Dressing Recipe Card
Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing
Equipment
- blender
- cutting board and knife
- measuring cup and measuring spoons
Ingredients
Ginger Salad Dressing Ingredients
- ½ cup peanut oil
- ½ cup yellow onion
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon ginger
- 2 tablespoon carrots
- 2 tablespoon celery
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon water
- 3 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Salad Ingredients
- 6 cups iceberg lettuce
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup shredded red cabbage
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes
Instructions
Make the Salad Dressing
- Prepare the onion, ginger, carrot, and celery by washing, peeling, and giving them a rough chop.
- Measure all of the other ingredients and add them to a blender.
- Blend for 1 minute or until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Transfer your homemade dressing to a storage container like a mason jar with an airtight lid. Let it hang out in the refrigerator for about 2 hours before serving.
- When you are ready to serve, just give the mason jar a good shake because the oil will separate from the rest of the dressing.
Make the Salad
- To assemble the salad, start with the iceberg lettuce. Cut a head of iceberg in half and remove the core. Dice the wedges of iceberg into bite size pieces. Wash and dry with a salad spinner or use paper towels.
- Prepare the carrots by washing, peeling, and cutting into julienne strips. You can also by the pre-shredded bag at the grocery store.
- For the red cabbage, cut a wedge of the cabbage and remove the core. Remove the outer layers
- Dress the iceberg lettuce with the ginger dressing first. Then top with the other vegetables. Serve.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Tag me on Instagram @fancy_apron 🙂 or leave a comment below.
Guy Nearing says
How long this suppose to last in the frig?
Alexis says
4 Days
Tori says
I think I would use a neutral oil next time. The dressing is very peanut-y.
Amber Hollister says
My recipe is similar to this one and I use extra virgin olive oil not peanut oil, it definitely tastes better
Jai says
I used this recipe as a guide and used 3 large carrots, 2” of ginger, 1 medium yellow onion, ketchup instead of tomato paste and a neutral oil. I blended it thoroughly and it yields 32oz. Not sure how 1 cup is possible! Tastes great.
Ashley says
It seemed too heavy on the soy sauce in the end. The flavor was too strong and it turned out a brown color instead of orangey like shown. I may try halving the amount.
Lacy says
Hi! My son and I are making this tonight! 🙌🏻 How much dressing does it yield?
Alexis says
Hi Lacy! This yields about a cup and a half. I hope you liked it!
Tillie says
Excellent recipe; no modifications needed!
Alexis says
Thank you so much!
Sarah says
Delicious! Just like at the restaurant!
Alexis says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!