Creamy Sesame-Ginger Dressing
Updated June 26, 2025
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar, plus more as needed
5 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 fresh jalapeño, stemmed (seeded if desired) and sliced
½ cup neutral oil
Kosher salt
Nutritional analysis per serving
24 grams carbs; 469 calories; 25 grams monosaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 41 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 1060 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 14 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, miso, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and chile, and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. With the immersion blender running, add the neutral oil in a thin stream. (Alternatively, you can use a countertop blender.) Taste and adjust with salt, lemon juice and vinegar as needed.
- Step 2
Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week.
To make a crunchy cabbage slaw, combine ½ head thinly sliced cabbage, 2 coarsely grated carrots, ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro, 2 scallions thinly sliced on sharp bias, 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds and 1 cup salted roasted peanuts in a large bowl. Toss with a generous amount of dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
For those concerned about raw garlic bite, here's a tip from Cook's Illustrated I use all the time in dressings: Place unpeeled garlic cloves in a small bowl and microwave for about 15 seconds or until cloves are warm to the touch but not cooked. It prevents allicin from forming - which is what gives raw garlic its bite. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/6583-taking-the-bite-out-of-garlic
@Maggie South River Miso makes a chickpea and an azuki bean miso neither have soy in them. Also, San-J makes a no soy tamari sauce that is soy free. I hope this helps!
Six cloves of raw garlic can’t be tolerated by many people in such a small volume of dressing. There is no easy sub I do use powdered garlic in small amounts it is gentler on the system.
Love the dressing, but when I dress cabbage with it and then refrigerate as suggested, the cabbage leaches water and then the dressing ends up watered down and not as tasty. Any advice for what to do to avoid this? I love the idea of a salad that holds up in the fridge like Samin suggests in her video about this dressing
Excellent recipe, easy and delicious. I couldn’t find white miso in our southern town so I used half the amount of red miso. No additional salt or lemon/vinegar needed.
I was dubious about the 6 cloves of garlic too, but just sipped it from the spoon after finishing blending. It is not too much garlic. It’s well balanced. It’s very good.
@Pam yup, delish.