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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!
This Asian salad dressing is my condiment of choice for all Asian appetizers. Pot stickers, dumplings, lettuce wraps, homemade sushi, even crab rangoon: It’s absolutely delicious.
It’s also the star of my favorite Chinese Chicken Salad. Or, use it as a marinade for chicken, shrimp, or beef. The Hoisin sauce adds a lot of flavor here and can stand up to grilling or pan-frying. 6 ingredients, 2 minutes, tons of flavor.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Rice vinegar: It might also be labeled as “rice wine vinegar” (they are the same thing).
- Hoisin sauce: Also known as Chinese barbecue sauce, this popular sweet and salty ingredient is sold by the bottle in the Asian section of your grocery store.
- Canola oil: Or any neutral oil, like grapeseed oil or light olive oil.
- Fresh ginger: Do not substitute ground (powdered) ginger because it doesn’t have the same flavor.
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar, hoisin sauce, canola oil, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil until combined.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes just over ¾ cup dressing; it makes 14 tablespoons (7 ounces) or 7 servings, 2 tablespoons each.
- Storage: Store leftover 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.
- More mix-ins: Stir in minced fresh garlic, sesame seeds, or sliced scallions.
Recipe FAQs
You can make your own Hoisin sauce with common pantry ingredients.
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
To use this dressing 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. Cook protein as desired, discarding any extra marinade.
Great recipes for Asian dressing
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Appetizer Recipes
Pot Stickers
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Appetizer Recipes
Crab Rangoon
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Asian Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar (see note 1)
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce (see note 2)
- 2 tablespoons canola oil (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, whisk together vinegar, hoisin sauce, canola oil, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil until combined.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Rice vinegar: It might also be labeled as “rice wine vinegar” (they are the same thing).
- Hoisin sauce: Also known as Chinese barbecue sauce, this popular sweet and salty ingredient is sold by the bottle in the Asian section of your grocery store.
- Canola oil: Or any neutral oil, like grapeseed oil or light olive oil.
- Fresh ginger: Do not substitute ground (powdered) ginger because it doesn’t have the same flavor.
- Yield: This recipe makes just over ¾ cup dressing; it makes 14 tablespoons (7 ounces) or 7 servings, 2 tablespoons each.
- Storage: Store leftover dressing covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I had searched & searched and tried to make myself, for years (seriously) for an Asian salad dressing that I used to get on “Chinese Chicken Salad” at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. Time after time, no luck! What I wanted was not thick or overly sweet. Just so flavorful and GARLICKY.. ahh haa, GARLIC! That is the one additional ingredient i add to this recipe and lots of it!! I have finally found it! It’s perfect, once you add the garlic! So good I drink down what remains in the bowl after the salad is gone! : )
Hooray Christine! I’m so glad you found a recipe that is perfect for you! Thanks for sharing, this made my day! -Meggan
This is very acidic especially with 1/3 a cup of rice vinegar and only 2 Tbsp of oil. I added more oil and it was still way too strong. It is not good as a “salad dressing”. I had to throw everything out. Maybe it would be fine as a marinade.
Hi Sheryl, thank you for taking the time to write. I’m sorry you didn’t care for this dressing. I hope you’re able to adjust it to your liking next time or use it as a marinade. – Sorry again! – Meggan
This dressing is so good
I’m glad you loved it, Sharon! Take care! – Meggan
I grate a peeled piece of fresh ginger, separate it into tablespoon amounts and freeze it. Then when I need fresh ginger it’s available. It defrosts in a few minutes.
Hi Gail, thanks for sharing this tip! – Meggan
This dressing is delicious and I make it all the time!
Hi Ginny, thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you love it! – Meggan
Luv luv all your your recipes thanx
Pretty terrific. I love dabbling with Chinese recipes. Pork Su Char in the cast iron pan with a great marinade.
This makes a great dressing and I add Mandarin Oranges with a bit of the Juice added to the dressing..
UMMMM Ummmmm good.
So glad you love it Sharyn! Sounds delicious!
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
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
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.
Sounds great Mavee, thanks for the product tip! – Meggan
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!
Hi Stacy, thank you! That variation sounds great! -Meggan
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! I
So easy to make and tastes delicious!!!!!
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.
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 ?
Thank you. This is what I was looking for and you delivered. 🙌🏾
Can you provide the salad recipe to go with this delicious dressing? The picture looks amazing
Hi Margaret! Here it is: https://www.culinaryhill.com/chinese-chicken-salad/
Did not give the measurement for hoisin sause.
Sorry, what do you mean? The recipe card clearly says 1/4 cup hoisin sauce. Were you referring to something else? Thanks. -Meggan
Good alternative to French dressing and a nice change.
What cheese – if you wanted a little cheese on the salad with this dressing would you use? I realize asian food wouldn’t typically involve a cheese component. Thanks!
Hi Lesley! I think that depends on what cheese you like. For me, I would probably try some feta in an Asian salad. I’m not sure if that works at all, but I love feta, so it would probably be good? Or something mild like mozzarella. I think it’s worth trying! Thanks. -Meggan
I meant to halve the recipe but I think I forgot to halve the vinegar. It was so good but too much vinegar pow for my family. I used the rest of it to marinate some chicken breasts I grilled. That was THE BEST chicken breasts I’ve ever eaten. I’m printing this one and will be making it again soon! Thanks!
I am not a mayonnaise fan. You have wonderful salad dressing recipes – is there an equal substitute for the mayo? Thanks – I love your site.
Hi Jeri! You’re so nice, thank you. This dressing doesn’t have mayonnaise in it, but maybe you saw a different salad dressing on the site that has mayo. Do you know which one you were looking at? I’d love to help you out. Thanks! You can email me if you want – hello@culinaryhill.com 🙂 -Meggan
I don’t ever leave reviews for recipes I’ve tried (this is actually my first review) but this dressing was AMAZING! I forgot to add the canola oil and I didn’t realize it was supposed to sit for a bit and had to serve it right away…I could seriously drink this dressing! Ok, not really, but it was so good. I added about half a table spoon of peanut butter too and it was perfect. I’m making this all the time now. Thank you!
This was wonderful. Thank you. Do you have the nutrition information for the hoisin sauce itself?
Hi Pam, that would depend on which brand you used. Do you happen to know the brand or have the package? I can look it up for you. Thanks! -Meggan
Exactly the flavor I was looking for to top an ahi salad. Will definitely use on other inspired salads. Thanks!
Made last night for an Asian salad with a mix of field greens, romaine, green onions, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds, edamame and crispy noodles on top. SO good, loved it. Made half the recipe and used the exact recipe, didn’t have hoisin sauce so followed the substitute listed, worked great! Will keep this recipe, the salad would make an excellent summer entree with added grilled chicken. Also would be good on a salad with noodles. Thank you so much!
Sounds amazing! Glad you liked it! -Meggan
This dressing delivered as promised and it’s a quick and easy staple if you’re wanting to add an Asian salad dressing to your meal. We really like it, thank you Meggan!
That’s so great to hear. Thank you for your kind words Taylor! -Meggan
Thanks a bunch for this salad dressing recipe! My whole family loved it! It’s the perfect combination of tangy and sweet. Also, love the hint of freshly grated ginger!
Why do you even need any oil????
Hi Raj, you can leave the oil out. You don’t “need” it. But, oil gives the dressing a nicer texture, helps the dressing cling to the vegetables, and keeps it from tasting too acidic or astringent. In the case of sesame oil, it provides a lot of flavor too. Some oils help with emulsification. But you can leave the oil out, that’s your choice! Thanks – Meggan
Thanks for the great recipe, I love it!
I made this for a salad that I bought and really liked the salad dressing that came with the salad. But later I felt that I could find a better salad dressing and I came across this dressing. I had all the ingredients, whipped this up and loved it. I took it to work and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. I haven’t used this for a marinade yet, but I will. Really love this salad dressing!!!
I’m glad you liked it Kathy! Thank you! 😀
This is a delicious and crunchy salad. I personally love crunchy toppings,
but most importantly I enjoy a good salad dressing on any and every salad I eat.
A delish salad dressing is like a bright shiny bow on a present, yeah I wrote that. But what made this
Salad so good is the Asian salad dressing it’s so freaking good.!!
It’s now my fave dressing!
Thank you for this recipe.
Why does this last only 4 days in the refrigerator when all the ingredients last much longer than that?
Hey there, I follow the CDC guidelines for refrigeration when I say how long something will last. It’s true, 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). Sorry for the confusion that, I hope this is helpful. Thanks! -Meggan
I made it tonight and it was delicious! I didn’t have any fresh ginger so I omitted it. I can’t wait to make it again with all the ingredients. It was quick and easy to make and had a great flavor.
This is perfect timing. I’m on a chicken kick. FYI la Choy brand has always been gluten free and you can also find Kikkoman gluten free here and there. The coconut aminos is also a great alternative.
Omg i just used the recipe amd im eating salad right now! This dressing up is amazing!
I love the tangy taste of rice vinegar and hoisin. Makes a salad oh so yummy and memorable. Thanks for sharing.
I’m excited to try these recipies. They look delicious!