This simple, delicious Asian Salad dressing is made with just 6 pantry ingredients and ready in minutes. It also makes a great marinade or dipping sauce for appetizers!

Asian salad dressing being poured into a clear bowl with asian salad ingredients.

Recipe ingredients:

Asian salad dressing ingredients in various bowls.

Ingredient notes:

  • Canola oil. Or any neutral oil, like grapeseed oil.
  • Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same thing.
  • Hoisin sauce. Aka Chinese barbecue sauce. A sweet and salty popular ingredient sold by the bottle.
  • Ginger. Ground (powdered) ginger doesn’t have the same flavor and shouldn’t be used here.

Recipe instructions:

  1. In a blender or in a small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine all the ingredients and shake or process until smooth.

Asian salad dressing in a clear bowl.

Recipe tips and variations:

  • Use it as a marinade: In a glass baking dish or plastic zip-top bag, add the dressing to the raw protein of your choice. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
  • Leftovers: Store extra dressing covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Honey: For a sweeter dressing, add honey to taste.
  • Peanut butter: For a creamier dressing, add a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter.
  • Other mix-ins: Stir in minced fresh garlic, sesame seeds, minced fresh chives, or sliced scallions.
  • Hoisin sauce substitute:
    • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
    • 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
    • 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
    • ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
    • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
    • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

More delicious Asian recipes:

Asian salad dressing being poured into a clear bowl with asian salad ingredients.

Asian Salad Dressing

This simple, delicious Asian Salad dressing is made with just 6 pantry ingredients and ready in minutes. It also makes a great marinade or dipping sauce for appetizers!
5 from 23 votes
ReviewPrint
Cook Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Servings 6 servings
Course Pantry
Cuisine Asian
Calories 76

Ingredients 

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil (see note 1)
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar (see note 2)
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce (see note 3)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated (see note 4)
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Instructions 

  • In a medium bowl, or in small jar with a tight-fitting lid, add oil, vinegar, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil. Whisk or shake until combined.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Canola oil. Or any neutral oil, like grapeseed oil.
  2. Rice vinegar. Rice vinegar and rice wine vinegar are the same thing.
  3. Hoisin sauce. Aka Chinese barbecue sauce. A sweet and salty popular ingredient sold by the bottle.
  4. Ginger. Ground (powdered) ginger doesn't have the same flavor and shouldn't be used here. 
  5. Use it as a marinade: In a glass baking dish or plastic zip-top bag, add the dressing to the raw protein of your choice. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
  6. Leftovers: Store extra dressing covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  7. Honey: For a sweeter dressing, add honey to taste. 
  8. Peanut butter: For a creamier dressing, add a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter.
  9. Other mix-ins: Stir in minced fresh garlic, sesame seeds, minced fresh chives, or sliced scallions.
  10. Hoisin sauce substitute:
    • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
    • 1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
    • 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
    • ¼ teaspoon hot sauce
    • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
    • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

Nutrition

Calories: 76kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 1gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 437mgPotassium: 23mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gCalcium: 4mgIron: 1mg
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Meggan Hill

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Comments

  1. Megan. I made 5 different asian dressings as a test and yours came out the winner. You did say this was make ahead but I didn’t see how long you can keep it. I would like to keep it in the frig for a full week. Will it keep that long? Thank you.
    Clydette

    Reply

    1. Hi Clydette! I follow the CDC guidelines for refrigeration when I say how long something will last. The dressing could quite feasibly last a week or more in the refrigerator, but the CDC says 4 days so that’s what I say. The other thing is, even if you have a bunch of shelf-stable ingredients like oil and vinegar and soy sauce, once you combine them, things change. There is no chemical preservative or stabilizer to keep mixed Asian dressing ingredients safe, and I just don’t know enough about chemistry to know what would happen. So that’s why I say 4 days. It’s probably longer, but I don’t know how much longer, and I just say what I learned in my food safety program in culinary school (which is what the CDC says). I hope this helps! – Meggan

  2. Asian Salad dressing is our family’s ultmate favorite. Ofcourse, we make it extra special by using only the best products. Hoisin sauce from Lee Kum Kee, is absolutely delicious. I should thank Karman Foods for my easy and accessible Asian ingredients and sauces.5 stars

    Reply

  3. This is my go to salad dressing! I love it! I do add a little fresh pressed garlic and add a little extra hoisin. Its the best!

    Reply

  4. I made the Asian Salad dressing with the homemade hoisin sauce substitute. I like certain salad dressings sweet and/ spicy so with this particular recipe, I added 5 more tablespoons of honey and my salad consisted of baby book choy, carrot sticks, fresh mango slices, a sprinkling of chopped red onion and toasted white sesame seeds. For me, it was perfect! I5 stars

    Reply

  6. Thanks for the substitute for Hoisin sauce. I rarely have it on hand, and often do without. Greatly appreciated. I agree that ground ginger does not have the same flavor as fresh, but it is close enough. If one can approximate Hoisin sauce, one can approximate ginger. I try and keep a piece of ginger frozen in the freezer. It grate beautifully, with the skin just separating as grated. But sometimes I don’t have that, and ground works in a pinch. But good dressing. Just what I was looking for. thanks.

    Reply

    1. Judy, what a great idea to freeze ginger. For years I have had ginger drying out and molding because I didn’t use it quickly enough. I will start freezing my leftovers from now on. I now have a question for all of the readers and contributors: Can I make a large quantity of this hoisin dressing and freeze it ?5 stars

    1. Sorry, what do you mean? The recipe card clearly says 1/4 cup hoisin sauce. Were you referring to something else? Thanks. -Meggan

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