Give your salads a Japanese twist with this popular Japanese "goma" sesame dressing. Delicious, creamy and nutty, this dressing is perfect for drizzling over salad or using as a dipping sauce. You only need a few simple ingredients and it's ready in minutes!
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Japanese Salad Dressing
When it comes to salad dressings in Japan, sesame dressing is the most popular by far! Not only is it delicious, but it's also versatile and can be used on all kinds of salads. It can even be used on noodles or as a dipping sauce.
Sesame Dressing
Sesame dressing is called "goma" dressing (ごまドレッシング) in Japanese and when it comes to flavour, it basically ticks every box. It's creamy, nutty, slightly tangy and packed with umami!
Even though the bottles of sauce are cheap and easy to find in Japanese supermarkets, I noticed that it's pretty expensive abroad. Fortunately, it's cheap to make and home, and it's super easy too!
Ingredients
Sesame
Sesame dressing has a strong sesame taste, and we achieve that flavour by doing the following things:
- Toasting the sesame seeds (for extra flavour)
- Grinding the seeds
- Adding sesame oil
You can toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan, it only takes a few minutes and makes the world of difference! You can also use sesame seeds that have already been toasted and grinded. In Japanese, ground sesame seeds are called surigoma (すりごま).
When using whole sesame seeds, I usually grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle, you can also use a food processor or coffee grinder if you're making a large batch.
Other ingredients
Here are the other ingredients used to make the delicious and complex taste of Japanese sesame dressing:
- Japanese Mayonnaise for creaminess (I use Japanese brand, Kewpie.)
- Rice vinegar adds a subtle tanginess (I use Marukan rice vinegar)
- Sugar for sweetness
- Soy sauce for saltiness and umami (I use Kikkoman)
And that's it! With these ingredients, this delicious dressing will be ready to enjoy in less than 10 minutes!
Watch the video!
Storing
Once made, store your sesame dressing in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend using it up in 1-2 weeks.
Print
Japanese Sesame Dressing (ごまドレッシング)
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: for 1 salad 1x
Description
How to make creamy, nutty and delicious Japanese style "goma" sesame dressing. Perfect for any salad, noodles or as a dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp white toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Start with a medium size frying pan and add the sesame seeds.
- Turn the heat on to medium high and toast the seeds in the dry pan for a few minutes until fragrant. Make sure to shake the pan off the heat and move constantly to prevent burning.
- Take the sesame seeds off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Add the sesame seeds to a mortar and pestle and grind until you have a fine powder. (You can also use a food processor or coffee grinder if you're making a larger batch.)
- Once fine, pour the ground sesame into a container and add 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 ½ tsp sugar, 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil.
- Mix well and enjoy on your favourite salad!
Notes
Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
This recipe is enough for 1 salad.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Category: Sauces
- Method: Toasting / Mixing
- Cuisine: Japanese
Keywords: sesame dressing, how to make sesame dressing, sesame dressing recipe, asian sesame dressing, kewpie sesame dressing, Japanese sesame dressing, Japanese salad dressing, goma dressing, asian sesame salad dressing, toasted sesame dressing, creamy sesame dressing
Paula
This was amazing! I made a big batch and enjoyed it on a chicken salad and later in the week on a cabbage and carrot salad. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe
★★★★★
Yuto Omura
Hi Paula.
Thank you for your kind words and generous rating, I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂