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Home ► Recipes ► Japanese (Modern)

Japanese Sesame Dressing

Updated: 11.26.24 | Marc Matsumoto | 8 Comments

4.50 from 2 votes
Making this thick and creamy Japanese Sesame Dressing is as easy as whisking a handful of ingredients together, and yet it makes for a delicious sauce and salad dressing for anything from fresh vegetables, to shabu shabu, to chilled noodles.
Recipe Video
This Japanese salad with an easy creamy sesame dressing (goma dressing) has a rainbow of colors, textures and tastes which makes it a great appetizer for any Japanese meal.

Creamy Sesame Dressing (ごまドレッシング)

Rich, tangy, and loaded with nutty sesame flavor, this Creamy Sesame Dressing Japanese restaurants often serve has become a modern classic worldwide. Here in Japan, sesame dressing is known as goma dressing (ごまドレッシング), and it's the most popular type of salad dressing. My easy recipe comes together in minutes and will keep in the fridge for weeks, so I hope you'll try this easy Japanese dressing the next time you crave a flavorful salad.

Jump to:
  • Creamy Sesame Dressing (ごまドレッシング)
  • Why This Recipe Works?
  • Ingredients for Creamy Sesame Dressing
  • How to Make Sesame Dressing
  • How to Make a Japanese Salad
  • What to Serve with Japanese Sesame Dressing
  • Other Japanese Salad Recipes
  • FAQ
  • 📖 Recipe
  • Comments

Why This Recipe Works?

  • Squeezing grated ginger to extract ginger juice is a technique used in Japanese cooking. It's an excellent way to add ginger flavor to dressings and sauces without adding fibrous pulp.
  • Using a combination of sesame paste and toasted sesame oil is a quick way to add loads of sesame flavor to the dressing without grinding your sesame seeds.
  • The balance of creamy ingredients like mayonnaise and sesame paste with tangy rice vinegar keeps the richness in check while making a creamy salad dressing that coats slippery vegetables like snap peas and cherry tomatoes.
  • The perfect blend of rich sesame and the tangy flavors of rice vinegar and ginger makes it a refreshing salad dressing.
A drizzle of creamy Japanese sesame dressing levels up any green salad.

Ingredients for Creamy Sesame Dressing

  • Sesame paste - I used Japanese neri-goma. You can find it in Asian grocery stores and online. It's similar to Middle Eastern tahini, but tahini is made by grinding just the inner kernel of the seed, while neri-goma is made by grinding the whole sesame seed, including the husk. Either one will work in this Japanese salad dressing, but neri-goma has a thicker consistency and more robust flavor. It's not a lot of work to grind sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle, coffee grinder, or food processor, so feel free to use this method if you're inclined.
  • Mayonnaise - Mayonnaise is what makes sesame dressing thick and creamy. If you can find it, I highly recommend using a Japanese mayo like Kewpie because it tastes tangier and richer in umami than its Western counterparts. Kewpie also makes an egg-free version if you want to make this vegan. If you can't find Japanese mayonnaise, you can use the mayonnaise you have available, but I would recommend adding an extra tablespoon of vinegar and an additional teaspoon of maple syrup.
  • Vinegar - Vinegar provides a balancing acidity that keeps this sesame vinaigrette from getting too rich. Rice vinegar (also labeled rice wine vinegar) is the best choice here, as it has a fairly neutral flavor and mellow tartness. Be sure to use unseasoned rice vinegar, as seasoned rice vinegar will throw off the balance of sweetness and salt. If you can't find it, other mild vinegar, like apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, will work.
  • Soy sauce - The soy sauce adds umami flavor and salt to the dressing. I recommend using a regular Japanese soy sauce such as Kikkoman.
  • Maple syrup - A little maple syrup helps round out the vinegar's tartness while adding a nice earthy flavor that complements the nutty sesame. You can also use a different sweetener, like granulated sugar, brown sugar, or honey, but keep in mind that each sweetener has a different level of sweetness, so you may need to adjust the amount you add.
  • Toasted sesame oil - Toasted sesame oil has a marvelous nutty aroma that gives this Japanese salad dressing more sesame flavor than sesame paste alone. If you don't have any, an equal amount of neutral vegetable oil, like canola oil, will work.
  • Ginger juice - Making ginger juice is as simple as grating fresh ginger and squeezing it to remove the fibrous pulp. I've added a relatively small amount in this recipe to focus on the sesame, but if you like a more ginger-forward sesame dressing, you can add more ginger juice.
  • Salt - Seasoning this Japanese salad dressing with soy sauce alone would make it dark brown. That's why I only use a small amount of soy sauce in the dressing and augment it with salt.  

How to Make Sesame Dressing

The first thing you'll want to do is make ginger juice by grating fresh ginger on a rasp or microplane. Then, you can gather up the pulp and squeeze it with your fingers to extract the juice.

Then you just need to add the ginger juice to a bowl along with the sesame paste, mayonnaise, rice vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, toasted sesame oil, and salt, and whisk the ingredients together until they form a smooth and creamy dressing. You can also add all ingredients to a bottle with a lid and shake the dressing together.

This Japanese salad dressing will last for a few weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. It's pretty thick, so I recommend keeping it in a plastic squeeze bottle to make it easy to dispense, but a glass jar will also work.

Japanese-style salad with creamy sesame dressing.

How to Make a Japanese Salad

Japanese cuisine has many different salads, but the side salads served alongside modern Japanese breakfasts and teishoku lunches have a few things in common.

The lettuce used is usually iceberg lettuce. This is because it tends to have the most crispy texture without the bitter taste of other lettuce varieties. The lettuce is chopped or torn into bite-sized pieces and soaked in cold water to get it extra crisp. Then, it's drained and dried before being used as the base of the salad. Romaine lettuce is another good alternative.

Another defining trait of Japanese salads is the variety of toppings. It's not uncommon to top the lettuce salad with five or six other vegetables, and the key is to include a variety of textures, tastes, and shapes. This makes it visually appealing while ensuring you're eating a variety of nutrients. I've used tomato wedges, sliced cucumbers, julienned carrots, broccoli sprouts, and a whole radish for the salad in these pictures. Red cabbage, spring herb mix, red peppers, onions, and fresh herbs like shiso, mitsuba, or cilantro would give your salad a pop of flavor and color.

Once your Japanese salad is assembled, you can drizzle it with this creamy sesame dressing to finish it off.

What to Serve with Japanese Sesame Dressing

A fresh, crisp Japanese salad with a mix of greens like iceberg lettuce and mizuna, combined with thinly sliced cucumbers, carrots, and cherry tomatoes, comes alive with a drizzle of this nutty, umami-rich dressing. It also makes for a delicious dipping sauce for chicken tempura, panko crusted chicken tenders, or coconut shrimp. Use it as a marinade for your favorite protein like boneless skin-on chicken thighs, pork chops, or salmon before grilling them. It also makes for a delicious sauce for an Asian noodle salad like Hiyashi Chuka or Soba Salad or somen noodles. 

Other Japanese Salad Recipes

  • Seaweed Salad
  • Kani Salad
  • Japanese Potato Salad
  • Sunomono (Cucumber Salad)

FAQ

What is Japanese Sesame Dressing?

In Japan, there are several similar sauces made with sesame. The most traditional sauce is used for boiled vegetables in a dish called Goma-ae, which is made from ground sesame seeds, dashi, soy sauce, and sugar. The sauce used for dipping shabu shabu is called Goma-dare. It's similar to the sauce for Goma-ae, but it includes sesame paste, which makes it more creamy. Finally, Goma Dressing (literally "sesame dressing") adds mayonnaise and uses vinegar instead of the dashi to make for a thick, creamy dressing that's perfect for Japanese Salads.

How do you pronounce Goma Dressing?

When voiced in  Japanese, Goma Dressing becomes a 7-syllable word and is pronounced as follows (read the italicized parts).

go like ghost
ma like mall
do like dome
re like the “re” sound does not exist in the English language, and the best way to make it is to say the word "rain" with the tip of your tongue at the front of your mouth.  
shi like sheet
n like night
gu like good

Is Japanese Sesame Dressing vegan?

If you use plant-based mayonnaise, this creamy sesame dressing recipe is vegan friendly. 

How to use Sesame Dressing?

The easiest way to use this Asian Sesame Dressing is to drizzle it on your favorite salad. Japanese salads typically include crisp iceberg lettuce and a rainbow of vegetables, such as shredded carrots, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, corn, etc. The key is to include a wide variety of colors, textures, and shapes. This dressing is also good drizzled on cooked vegetables, poured over silken tofu, or used as a dipping sauce for cold noodles or shabu shabu.

📖 Recipe

A drizzle of creamy Japanese sesame dressing levels up any green salad.

Creamy Sesame Dressing

By: Marc Matsumoto
4.50 from 2 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Yield 10 servings
YouTube video

Units

Ingredients 

  • 110 grams Japanese mayonnaise (~½ US cup)
  • 80 grams sesame paste (~⅓ US cup)
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon ginger juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Prepare 1 teaspoon ginger juice by grating fresh ginger and then squeezing 1 teaspoon ginger juice out of the pulp.
    Grating ginger into a bowl to make sesame dressing.
  • Whisk the 110 grams Japanese mayonnaise, 80 grams sesame paste, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon ginger juice, and 1 teaspoon salt together until it's smooth and creamy.
    Whisking dressing in a bowl.
  • Store the sesame dressing in a jar or squeeze bottle in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it on a Japanese salad.
    Store the sesame dressing in a bottle.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 142kcalCarbohydrates • 3gProtein • 2gFat • 14gSaturated Fat • 2gPolyunsaturated Fat • 7gMonounsaturated Fat • 4gTrans Fat • 0.02gCholesterol • 5mgSodium • 406mgPotassium • 47mgFiber • 0.4gSugar • 1gVitamin A • 13IUVitamin C • 0.3mgCalcium • 15mgIron • 0.4mg

Comments

    4.50 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Wyatt Hinolan says

    March 07, 2024 at 11:22 pm

    Hello, wanna ask which Nerigoma to use better. The Shiro or Kuro.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      March 10, 2024 at 10:21 am

      Hi Wyatt, sorry for the slow response. The difference between white and black nerigoma is like the difference between chicken stock and beef stock. They're similar in that they add flavor and richness, but the flavor is quite different. I usually use white for this sauce, but you could definitely change things up with black.

      Reply
  2. tei says

    June 02, 2022 at 12:34 am

    This is super delicious, even without the ginger (I was out of fresh ginger so I asked my hubby to buy some when coming home --- will add it later). Also, I did not need to add any salt (and I used tahini).

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      June 02, 2022 at 1:33 am

      Hi Tei, I'm glad to hear it worked out! Thanks for dropping by to let me know.

      Reply
  3. maxie razon says

    May 24, 2022 at 10:37 am

    hi, just curious,
    i have not seen sesame paste in any of the japanese grocery here. is there any substitute?

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      May 24, 2022 at 10:39 am

      Hi Maxie, it's called Nerigoma in Japanese you might try asking by that name. Otherwise Tahini will work.

      Reply
  4. Izzie says

    May 17, 2022 at 12:49 am

    This will be very useful in my vegetable prep for dinner or lunch or even some savoury breakfast fare that I sometimes do for my hubs, like today, I made a rolled turkey/tomato slice with American cheese slice on top of the three top halves of romaine leaves. It would have been nice if I saw your recipe first before I went downstairs to make breakfast for our kids and of course hubby. Never mind...tonight I will make one of your Japanese salads and add your Japanese sesame dressing on top...Keep up the good work. Your Teriyaki meats recipes is a regular in my menu every two weeks, too. Thank you for this salad.

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      May 17, 2022 at 1:16 pm

      You're welcome Izzie, thanks for your kind words! I'm happy to hear you've been getting good use out of my teriyaki recipes. I hope your family enjoys this as well😀

      Reply
Marc Matsumoto

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