Carrot Ginger Dressing
This carrot-ginger salad dressing recipe tastes remarkably fresh, creamy and light. It would pair nicely with other recipes with Asian flavors. Delicious!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 27, 2024
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. 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 traction, 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.
Create a side salad using any combination of the ideas listed below. It’ll be the perfect accompaniment to main dishes with Asian flavors, and it’s spectacular on my Buddha Bowl recipe. The carrot-ginger combo might play nicely with many Indian entrées as well, although you may want to omit the sesame oil. It’s also great drizzled over cooked rice, tofu, steamed veggies, and more.
Watch How to Make Carrot Ginger Dressing
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
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
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This looks delicious, I like the combination of flavors.
I hope you try it!
I make a carrot ginger soup that I love… it’s high time I allow myself those flavors throughout the spring and summer too! THANKS for this! I can’t wait to try it.
Definitely! This is such a great compliment for fresh vegetables, perfect for spring and summer.
Do you think you could use lightly steamed carrots to make them easier to blend? I have a handheld immersion blender.
I don’t see why not, Monica! You might find it more watery, since the carrots would absorb some of the moisture in the steam.
hi kate! i’m super picky about sweetness in non-dessert food, especially salad dressings. sweet vegetables will always be weird to me :) is there a way to massively tone down the sweet on this? maybe take away the honey and add salt (or something salty)?
Monica- I SO agree with you- especially at a time when so many people just consume sweetness without thinking, as sugar is in almost everything that’s premade! I make my own food because that’s the last thing I want!
I was wondering about taking out the honey (because carrots have enough natural sweetness) and the salt, so that I could add a bit of miso- which would add back a bit of salt and yummy umami (and probably a bit of natural sweetness from the rice).
Monica/Readerrita, I have made a recipe very similar to this and yes, I used miso – it was incredibly delicious, absolutely worked.. I did use honey, but only about half of what the recipe called for – it’s really just a matter of preference. I’m looking forward to making it to go along with Kate’s colorful chopped salad!
I’m glad the miso worked out so well, Bonnie! I’ll have to try that suggestion.
Hi Monica, I’m sorry for the delayed response. I don’t enjoy sweet dressings, like raspberry vinaigrette—yuck. This dressing is not sweet as written. The ginger, vinegar and lime juice give it quite a kick. I added the honey to balance out the flavors a bit, but you could try omitting or reducing it.
I made this with no sweeteners and found it still yummy, and in fact,sweet! I’m making it today for a different version of Kate’s recent broccoli salad.
This looks so fresh and perfect for a spring salad =)
Exactly!
Yum, can’t wait to try this great combo!
Let me know if you do, Amber!
Would this be good on noodles? I am so into organic ramen right now and I’m always looking for a new flavor combination to toss the noodles in.
Ooh, I think it’d be great on a cold noodle salad. Let me know if you try it!
A question as I like to play around with salad dressings – how do you make it keep up to 2 weeks? I assumed the carrot and ginger would spoil. Are there specific vinegar/fresh produce ratios you use? Many thankst
Hi Sorcha, dressings are generally best when used within 1 week just because the flavors lose their intensity over time. I don’t have an exact vinegar ratio that I go by to avoid spoilage but generally vinaigrettes call for 1 part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil. I would assume that 1 part vinegar would be enough to prevent the dressing from going bad for a while.
I had the EXACT same experience last time I ordered sushi- utter surprise that this lumpy dressing contains so much flavour. Thanks for posting your creation! Can’t wait to try.
I hope you do!
can I make this in a food processor?
I don’t see why not, Craig! Report back on how it went.
I tried to make this in my Magimix Food Processor and it was way too lumpy. I transferred the mixture to my high speed blender and it was silky and without lumps. I’d stick to a blender for the best result.
Do you think this would keep well in the freezer? I LOVE this dressing at sushi restaurants and would love to make a big old stock of it to have around.
I think it would work fine, Lis! Let me know how it goes.
Re carrot and ginger dressing:
I think carrots have more nutrition if they are cooked rather than used raw. This could be done before pureeing this dressing to get the most out of the carrots. Plus stop the lumps and make it even creamier?What do you think?
I haven’t tried it, Marie, but if you do, let me know! I’d love to hear how it goes.
How have you never had carrot ginger dressing before? It’s the best! I’ve always had it chunky like you describe, but it looks like the Vitamix handles it well!
Yes, the Vitamix makes it extra-creamy! And I have no idea how I haven’t tried to replicate this until now– but better late than never!
I made this for my salad tonight, SO GOOD! Will definitely add this to my salad dressing rotation.
Awesome!
The ginger carrot salad is delicious. I made it tonight and tossed it on my garden arugula and red leaf lettuce that I just picked tonight from my vegetable harder. Magnificent! Lydia A.
Sounds super fresh and delicious, Lydia. Thanks!
Just made this for tonight’s salad. I want to eat it by the spoonful! It is so good! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Alison!
I’m pretty sure carrot-ginger dressing is one of the few dressings I could literally drink and not be sorry about it. SO GOOD. I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe and am so excited to try this!
I hope you do, Joanne! Lemme know how it goes. :)
I made this in the cuisinart, so it still had a little ‘texture’ but was still very good. I added a couple cloves of garlic, (because hey, I’m addicted to it) and a little water to thin it out some more. I would definitely make this again. It’s a really nice change from the ordinary.
Thanks, Mel! Your version sounds garlicky and delicious.
Made the carrot ginger dressing and served it with lightly seared ahi tuna. Delicious. Hope you come up with some tapas recipes from Spain. One in particular I am looking for is a salad we had in Madrid. It had pickled apples,brown mustard seed dressing, and pork pieces that were crispy served over greens. It was delicious.
That sounds delicious, Valerie! And tapas are a great suggestion– I’ve added them to my list of requests! Thanks.
Excellent dressing! If you want to emulate Japanese style dressing, then just add some white miso in place of the salt and add green onion! But it’s great as is. I give it a 5 star…but it won’t let me rate higher than 4
Thanks, Dana! I’ll have to try those swaps and see how I like it (it sounds delicious). And yes, I’ve gotten that comment a couple times today! I’ll look into it– thanks for the head’s up. :)
First off…congrats on the cookbook! What a feat (and eat?;).
Very glad to see this dressing. I’ve had it in Japanese restaurants too but haven’t had it for while, and am going to make it soon. I think it was mostly on iceberg lettuce. But it was still good.
Wouldn’t cooked carrots change the flavor slightly? They taste different/stronger to me than raw.
Thanks, Metalmom! I think the cooked carrots would give it a bit of a stronger, sweeter flavor as it will break down some of those natural sugars. Feel free to experiment!
This is better than eating ice cream! But blending in my old Waring, the finished product came out looking slightly curdled and perhaps a little thick. Maybe a reblend with a tad more oil would do it? Would love your thoughts. Your recipes are all so good. thank you!
So glad you like this, Nancy! I think some folks have tried to steam the carrots a bit before blending, and they’ve ended up with a smoother result. I think the oil, or maybe even a little more water, will thin it out for you, too.
I made this dressing for my weekday lunch this week, salad, exactly like yours but I added a hard boiled egg. Really really yummy! I drag the butter lettuce all around the bowl to get the last of the dressing. The only thing, yours looks creamy and smooth, mine didn’t look like that. It’s lumpy, not with carrots, it’s smooth, but chunky, not pourable. I think I could add water to thin next time, but not sure why mine was different. But still really fantastic! I think I’m having salads next week too so I can have the other jar of dressing.
I’m so glad you love this so much, Sherry!
The dressing was really yummy and even my 10 year old daughter asked for more and she wanted to take it to school for lunch today. Thank you so much for sharing, you have a really good collection of recipes.
Thank you, Preetha!
This dressing is delicious. Beautiful, fresh and so different from my usual homemade dressings. I’m going to make it again today and will try it with roasted vegetables.
Yum! That sounds so good, Marilyn.
Just made this and it is tasty! Did not add any sweetener since I am off added sugar but did cook the carrots for a few minutes. I think it will be a regular addition to the diet! Thanks!
Yes! Great idea– cooking the carrots a bit will help to break down those natural sugars in them. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I think I may have had a similar dressing at my local shushi place the other day. It was so delicious, I wanted to go back there and ask for the recipe. I’m pretty certain this is the dressing. Thanks for posting this, I’m going to try it and see if it’s the one I’m looking for.
I hope it is!
Hi, I’m on a citrus restricted diet. Can you recommend anything in lieu of lime juice? Maybe pineapple?? Thanks so much.
Pineapple could work, and you could also try different types of vinegars for the acidity. Let me know how it goes!
absolutely love the carrot/ginger dressing! Thank you!
Perfect!
This dressing is awesome. I absolutely love it! The dressing tastes just like the one they serve in a Japanese restaurant. Your re-creation is perfect!
Thank you, Diane! That’s what I was aiming for. :)
I am used to the basic vinaigrette so I was curious about a dressing that needed puréed carrots. This is delicious and it was so easy. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thank you, Lora! So glad you enjoyed it.
Hi guys, I made this salad dressing over the weekend and loved it! Thank you
Thanks, Josie! I’m happy you loved the dressing.
This was really good! I thought my food processor would be better than my blender, but it didn’t get it all the way smooth. I guess I just need a Vitamix :)
I think this is an *excellent* reason to get a Vitamix! Regardless, I’m glad you liked the flavor!
Thanks, Kate, just made this and loved it ! Served it on your chopped salad, with halibut and rice, and it somehow had me dabbing dressing on them too.
It may wind up on tomorrow mornings oatmeal !
I’m so glad! It’s such a versatile dressing, I hope you find more things to pair it with!
Delicious and pretty! Love the bright color! I made it for a potluck at work, serving with a veggie tray of mini peppers, sliced cucumbers, and jicama and celery sticks.
Yum! I might have to pick up some jicama today!
Hi Kate! I’m usually just a blog-stalker, I rarely ever comment. But I had to tell you I love your blog and I’ve pre-ordered your cookbook. Also, this dressing is addictive. I’ve been eating it on everything. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Thank you for the kind words, Pamela! I hope you love the book. :)
So, so, SOOO good! Delicious, thank you!
Thanks, Sidney!
This looks so delicious! I just started an intense diet and all ingredients except rice wine vinegar are okay. Any suggestions on what I could use to substitute the rice wine vinegar? Thanks!
Hi KAS, I’d just use extra lime juice in its place!
Yet again – another winner. I had shredded carrots and no Vitamix but microwaved the carrots for 2 minutes, added the rest of the ingredients and a quick whirl in my cuisinart —> amazing!
Great! I’m so glad that worked out, Terri.
Kate!!! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. For years I have been on the search for a dressing I can make at home that rivals my favorite sushi places dressing. I honestly think I’ve made every carrot dressing on the internet but never have I found success until today!! THIS IS IT!!!! I just made it and could literally drink it, it is that good. Gone are the credit charges for 11$ salads (sub par veggies but amazing dressing)!! Thank you so much!
Loved this recipe! I’ve been looking for a dressing that tastes like one of my favorite restaurants! I used rice vinegar, not sure if that’s the same thing, and used coconut sugar instead of the honey to make it vegan, and forgot to buy sesame oil so I just didn’t add that. But it came out amazing! I will be using this recipe over and over again! Thank you!!!
Thank you, Vanessa! I’m glad it was what you were looking for. Rice vinegar is a fine substitute.
Great dressing! We made a 1/2 batch since there is just 2 of us. It was so simple to make and adjust to your liking. I used lemon instead of lime and shredded carrots that I already had. I threw everything in our Nutribullet and it worked perfect and was nice and creamy. Thanks!!
You’re welcome, Eileen! Sounds great.
This dressing is amazing!
Hooray!
WOW, this dressing brings a summer salad to life! Not only for the amazing flavor but the color is beautiful. Friday Night Margarita Pizza and a green salad with this dressing is the BOMB! Thank you.
That sounds delicious, Mary Jo!
Hello Kate,
Do you think you could substitute avocado oil for the sesame oil?
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Hi, Elizabeth! Good question. I think you could, but you’d be missing that nuttiness/umami of the sesame oil in the dressing, which really helps to make this dressing special.
I would prefer to use tahini rather than the sesame oil. Think that would work?
This dressing seemed so yummy on paper but, unfortunately, it was quite sharp for my liking. I added a tablespoon of tahini to help it out. Next time I’d probably scale back on the vinegar a little bit. Thankfully, it tastes quite good once it is on a salad! I’m also curious to try this with a roasted carrot. I bet that would be extra sweet and creamy!
Hi Melanie, I kept it sharp because it does taste more mellow on salad. Do scale back on the vinegar next time, or balance it out with additional honey. Hope that your next batch turns out perfectly!
Hi Kate :)
Fabulous salad dressing. I had some salad in my fridge sitting there forever and then I found your recipe. Turns out my husband and I finished the whole salad… so good! Thank you.
Muriel
How would this stand up as a dip, say, ala Ranch dressing? My kids LOVE carrot ginger soup and I’m wondering if they would like this dressing as a dip for veggies or chips since the flavors seem to be the same.
Hi Jamie, sorry for the slow response! You could add a little extra carrot to make this more of a creamy dip. The only problem is that it will inevitably separate, so you’ll need to give it a stir from time to time.
Amazing!! Very yummy and love having a new dressing to add in the rotation. I love that I can always trust your recipes. Thanks for taking the time to get them right!