I’m slowly working my way through the veggie options at the sushi restaurant that opened near me. The other day, I ordered a side salad to accompany my sushi. I was intrigued by the dressing—carrot ginger. How had I not tasted carrot-ginger dressing? The dressing was a little more lumpy than smooth, but the flavor was amazing.
I added it to my list to recreate and I’ve enjoyed every rendition so far, but this final version is my favorite. It’s bright and zingy and fresh, and I want to drizzle it on everything. Homemade dressings always taste a million times better than store-bought.
It’s easy to whip up in a blender—my Vitamix (affiliate link) churns right through the carrots and ginger and I suspect that less expensive blenders are up for the job, too.
Since you’re going to the trouble of peeling and chopping veggies, and blenders require a certain level of volume to gain fracture, the full batch yields about 1 1/3 cups. It’s so good that I don’t think you’ll have trouble finishing it off within a week or two.
Make a side salad out of it with any combination of the ideas listed below. It’ll be the perfect accompaniment to main dishes with Asian flavors. The carrot-ginger combo might play nicely with many Indian entrées as well, although you might want to drop the sesame oil. It’s also great drizzled over cooked rice, tofu, steamed veggies, and so on.
Looking for more irresistible homemade salad dressings? Here are a few more for you:
- Basic Vinaigrette
- Fresh Mint Dressing
- Sunshine Salad Dressing (healthier honey-mustard)
- Creamy Tahini Dressing
- Green Goddess Dressing
Please let me know how you like this dressing in the comments! I’m always so eager to hear from you.
Carrot Ginger Dressing
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 ⅓ cups 1x
- Category: Salad dressing
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Asian
This salad dressing tastes remarkably fresh, creamy and light. It would pair nicely with other recipes with Asian flavors. Recipe yields about 1 ⅓ cups salad dressing.
Ingredients
Dressing
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar
- 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about ⅔ cup)
- 2 tablespoons peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt, more to taste
Suggested side salad components
- Fresh greens of choice
- Red onion
- Cucumber
- Carrot
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red cabbage
Instructions
- In a blender, combine all of the salad dressing ingredients as listed. Bend until completely smooth. Taste, and add additional salt if the dressing doesn’t make your eyes light up. If it’s too sour (it should have some zing to it), blend in a bit more honey.
- Serve over greens and any other ingredients you’d like (I offered a few more suggestions in the post). Recipe keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for 1 to 2 weeks.
Notes
Make it vegan: Substitute maple syrup or agave nectar for the honey.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
koropi
I was having a chinese night so I decided to make a salad side dish with this dressing. I am so glad that I did because the taste was amazing ! I got so many comments on how tasty ! Thank you for such a tasty recipe !
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you love it! I appreciate your comment and review.
karyn hall
Love the salads and special dressings, so delish! Yes adding a travel component to your blog is a great idea!! Keep up the awesome work.
★★★★★
Anne
Wow! What a fabulous, easy, tasty recipe. One that all the family love. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
Tae
I made my own buddha bowl with this dressing and felt like I was in a fancy organic vegan cafe! And the color was so beautiful that it really tied together my predominantly purple and green bowl.
I added a tiny bit more carrot (used baby carrots) and honey as it was a little too acidic for my personal preference.
★★★★★
Dgrif
This recipe is good; however, I used less honey and Less sesame oil by 1 tsp. Plus, I added 1 TBSP of low sodium soy sauce, and 1 TBSP of on mayo.
★★★
Anna B
Delicious and versatile dressing! I used coconut vinegar instead of rice vinegar, because that’s what I had and it was sooo yummy. I won’t have any trouble gobbling it up over everything in the next week.
★★★★★
Chelsea
Wow this was delicious! Because of the current situation we had to work with what we have, so I subbed ginger powder for the fresh ginger, red wine vinegar for the rice vinegar, and omitted the sesame oil. Even with all of those adjustments it’s still amazing. Thank you! I always look forward to making your recipes.
★★★★★
Yvonnevich
I never leave comments on recipes I’ve tried but I just made this dressing for the first time to use on my Buddha bowl (also your recipe) tonight and the flavor is incredible. I added some cilantro so the color is a bit off but the flavor is outstanding. I can’t wait to try it on some salads. Yum!!
★★★★★
Anu
The dressing was delicious!!
Mary
Absolutely delicious, and I haven’t even let the flavors meld yet. Made recipe as is but did not blend until completely smooth- I like it with bits still in it. I love that it is low salt (62 mg/2 TBlsp) but pairs well with Asian flavors- hard to find that!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m sorry this one didn’t blend smooth for you. Did you use a blender or food processor? I’m happy you still enjoyed the flavor!
darcey norrid
She likes it unblended, I am going to try it this way also as I like the boys in my dressing darc
Kristen
I had the same problem – just wouldn’t get smooth. Likely my blender. Luckily, I’m using it on buddha bowls so the family (hopefully) won’t notice the bits. But likely wouldn’t use it on a salad. Excellent flavor, though!
★★★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love the texture. But, I’m happy you were still able to enjoy it.
Smarvis
I’ve made this twice. The only change I made was to use grapeseed oil vs. olive oil. So, so good!
★★★★★
lori
This is delicious. The only thing I changed was to throw in a few cashews because I love the creaminess. We used it as a sauce for a Buddha bowl but I think it could be very versatile.
Connie
Can you make this oil free?
Kate
Hi Connie, You really need oil to make this one work. I’m not sure water or vinegar would get you the same thing.
Michael
Made this on spur of the moment for wife. She loved it! I added orange slices, matchstick carrots and pepitas to iceberg to jazz it up a little. Thank you for sharing this easy to follow recipe!
★★★★★
Cale
This dressing is close to drinkable as it’s so good! It’s become the star of my Buddha bowls and every Asian themed salad I throw together too. Seriously thanks a bunch for this winner Kate.
★★★★★
CeeCee
This carrot ginger dressing is superb! These are my pantry staple ingredients so it was easy throwing everything together. Eating it on a salad as I type this. Yum! Your recipes NEVER disappoint. Thank you!
★★★★★
Leigh
This was pure deliciousness! I had some left over so when I went to eat the rest of it the next day the dressing was super thick. I added a little water but I wished I had not done that after the fact. It did change it in texture and taste. Any suggestions for thinning this out the next day? Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Leigh! I’m glad you loved the flavor. You could add a little oil to your serving if you want it just a little more runny.
Justin
Came across this recipe on a whim, and it was DELICIOUS. Thanks for posting!
★★★★★
Suzanne
This recipe sounded good, but its actually delicious and so easy to make. A nice change from my usual vinaigrettes and already thinking of having my salad for lunch tomorrow! Definitely a keeper – thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Gayle
Kate – my son literally thought I bought this dressing from a Japanese restaurant! We loved it but mine can out really lumpy and yours looks smoother. It was a bit hard to incorporate into the salad (I made your chopped salad that uses this dressing). Any suggestions?
Kate
I love to hear that, Gayle! I’m sorry to hear you didn’t get it smooth. Did you use a high powered blender? You could try to thin it out a little bit with some more water.
Opfel
Hi, I love your dressing. Quick question: when you (and others) list “rice vinegar”, what is the default, “seasoned” or “non-seasoned” rice vinegar? Thanks!
Kate
Hi Opfel! It should just be plain rice vinegar, so no added seasonings. I hope this helps!
Vernita
It wasn’t creamy as pictured. It was more chunky, still good though!
★★★★
Kate
I’m sorry it wasn’t perfect, but glad you were still able to enjoy it. Maybe add a little water next time to help your consistency. I appreciate your feedback!
Heather
So good! I subbed out half of the rice vinegar for mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine for cooking), because I was concerned about acidity (sensitive stomach). This worked perfectly, and adds another flavor dimension as well.
★★★★★
Ronica Deshmukh
It tasted very good and was pretty easy to make but I did have to add more lime! Overall would make it again!
★★★★★
Nancy Blow
Hi, Kate, I find myself returning to your food site time and again, but you completely blew me away with the carrot ginger dressing. It is sooooo delicious. I’ve made it multiple times and doubt that I (or anyone I feed) will ever tire of it. Keep doing what you do, it’s fabulous!
★★★★★
Shemei
I am just about to share your recipe with a friend and came to this webpage to get the URL for her, but I realized that I should DEFINITELY leave a comment! This carrot ginger dressing has become a staple for my husband and myself, so much so that now buy Costco’s enormous bag of carrots and make these in large batches to freeze! Thanks so much for sharing this and your many other wonderful recipes :D Also, our family used to live in Kansas City too, but now we’re in LA! Anyway, keep doing what you’re doing, ’cause our taste buds and bellies have been quite happy! God bless!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m so glad you are sharing the recipe and that you felt that you needed to comment! Thanks you, Shemei.
Suerissa
This salad dressing has changed my attitude towards salads. Delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★
Mia
So good!! My husband and I have been making tons of Buddha Bowls and veggie stir fries, and I was looking for a sauce that was versatile enough for multiple uses while still pulling us out of our normal sauce rotation. This one fit the bill perfectly. Zippy, delicious, and a perfect way to use up some of our garden’s carrots.
★★★★★
Anna
Delicious!
★★★★★
Morgan
5 stars! You nailed it! Can’t wait to use this on buddha bowls tonight.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Morgan! I’m happy you loved it.
Georgia Thompson
Hey Kate! Could I use dates instead of honey? How many would you recommend?
Kate
Hi Georgia, I’m not sure dates would work here. It needs a liquid sweetener.
Preethi
Hi Kate!
I love your blog, all of the recipes are quick, healthy and so tasty!
I’m definitely going to try your carrot ginger salad dressing! I just want to add that South Indian cooking uses sesame oil as a staple in many many dishes. The oil will be great for all Indian style meals!
Marjorie Graham
Was very lumpy how ever much I blended, had to strain it to use then was runny. Will try cooked carrots next time. The flavour is amazing. Thanks
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love the texture. I appreciate your review.
Diane
We love your recipes, and this is one of our absolute favorites! A suggestion for people who have blenders that aren’t very powerful: shred the carrots and dice the ginger into tiny pieces before blending. Your dressing will come up nice and smooth.
★★★★★
Kate
I love it! I appreciate you sharing your experience, Diane.
justin
Very tasty dressing that you and your family can feel good about eating!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it, Justin!
Terry N
I LOVE ginger dressing. It is my go-to at every Japanese restaurant we go to. This recipe is phenomenal. Perfectly flavored, simple to assemble.
Well done, Kate! This is now my favorite recipe for this dressing!
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! I love that, Terry. Thank you for your review.
karen
Delicious as written! Only edit was that I used agave instead of honey to make it vegan. Loved this recipe! Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Karen! I’m happy you loved this dressing.
Gina Uranga
I made this yummy dressing and added a clove of fresh garlic ❤️
★★★★★
Jill Kennedy
This is my ,not so new, favorite go to!! I used to order this dressing in Japanese restaurants! I could drink this!!!! I always keep a bottle in my fridge!! I have an older bottle that used to have commercial Sesame/Ginger dressing. This recipe fits perfectly and is always all gone with in 2 weeks , usually much less!! I put it on noodles, rice, salad, avocados, basically you name it! Awesome recipe!! I used maple syrup instead of honey. Yummmm A+++
★★★★★
Kate
I love it! Thank you for taking the time to comment and review, Jill.
Mindy
Extremely tart. Even after adding additional honey.
★★★
Kate
I’m sorry you found it tart. How much lime juice did you add? You can scale back some next time if you are finding it too tart.
Lily
All the rave reviews had me excited to try this, but I was not ready for how fantastic this dressing is. Wow! Thank you for sharing this. I am not kidding when I say I could easily just drink this. I ended up making two batches. One batch followed the recipe exactly, but I wanted to try it with heat so I added a habanero to the second batch. Second batch was also delicious if you like heat. It added another element to the flavors and gave it some kick.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Cynthia McElhatten
I love this dressing! It is so flavorful! I want to put it on everything. I can’t get enough of it. It reminds of a sauce you would get in a Japanese restaurant. I do not buy bottled dressings so this has become my favorite dressing. Even over my special Italian dressing I have been loving for years!
★★★★★
Kate
It is pretty great on almost everything! Thank you for sharing, Cynthia.
JO
I’m excited by your recipes! I feel like I’ve had the light turned on and I can see all new sparkly things and ideas!
Will try this dressing today!
Thank you!
Lauren
Love it! Highly recommend!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you loved it, Lauren. Thank you for your review!