Name: Carrot Ginger Dressing
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Salad
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled with a spoon and minced; 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (about 1 cup); 1 small green onion, light green and white portions, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons yellow or white miso*; 1 tablespoon honey or sugar; 1/4 cup rice vinegar; 1/3 cup neutral oil (like grapeseed, peanut, organic vegetable or organic canola oil); 2 tablespoons tahini; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

This zingy carrot ginger dressing is packed with zingy, savory, salty, and sweet flavor: perfect for salads and bowl meals!

Here’s a fresh, zingy drizzle for salads and bowl meals alike: Carrot Ginger Dressing! This vibrant sauce is packed with a punch of salty, savory, tangy, bright and sweet all at once. It incorporates Asian-inspired flavors like miso and rice vinegar, it’s got a twist: Mediterranean tahini brings in a creamy body to the dressing. Whip up a batch and you’ll love drizzling it on your meals all week long.

What’s in carrot ginger dressing?

There are several ways to make carrot ginger dressing: the most popular is riffing on the dressing you’ll often find at Japanese American restaurants on a crunchy green salad. This recipe is inspired by the flavors in a dressing in that style, but uses a twist: tahini!

Tahini is a Mediterranean sesame paste, but it adds a nice smooth creaminess and sesame flavor. It helps hold together the texture of carrot ginger dressing, which can lean on the grainy and loose side. The ingredients for this carrot ginger dressing are:

Ginger
Carrots
Green onion
Miso
Honey
Rice vinegar
Neutral oil like grapeseed, peanut, organic vegetable or organic canola oil
Tahini

All you have to do? Blend up these ingredients into a smooth dressing! It comes out smooth and creamy, with a beautiful orange color that makes you want to dive right into the jar.

A quick way to peel ginger

Here’s a quick tip on how to peel ginger before you whiz it up into this carrot ginger dressing. Instead of using a vegetable peeler, peel the ginger with a spoon! Ginger root is notoriously hard to peel with a vegetable peeler: the shape is knobby and the skin is tough and stringy. But sounds unbelievable until you try it: but a spoon is the perfect tool for the uneven surface of ginger root.

More about miso

The most important ingredient in this carrot ginger dressing, outside of the carrots and ginger, is the miso! What is it and where to find it? Here’s what to know:

Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste that’s full of nutrients and savory flavor. It’s known for its intense savory flavor, otherwise known as umami: the fifth flavor. Umami is the same flavor that makes meat and cheese taste so satisfying.
Look for miso near the Japanese ingredients. There are many different types of miso: and they all taste different.
White miso or yellow miso are best here. These are fermented less time than darker miso. White miso has a mild, more delicate flavor and less salt, and yellow has a mild, lightly sweet flavor.
Red or dark miso is less optimal. This variety is fermented longer and has a very strong flavor. It can overwhelm the flavors. If it’s all you can find, you can use it but start with half the quantity.

How to serve carrot ginger dressing

This carrot ginger dressing makes just about anything taste like gold! It’s a vegan salad dressing that pairs well with many types of meals. Here are a few ideas on how to serve it:

A simple salad: add iceberg lettuce or mixed greens, shredded carrots, green onion, radishes, and pepitas
Add to bowl meals like Easy Grain Bowl, Simple Salmon Bowl, Vegan Poke Bowl, or Roasted Veggie Buddha Bowl, Mango Quinoa Bowl or Avocado Quinoa Bowl

How are you planning to serve it? Let us know in the comments below!

Storage info

Store this carrot ginger dressing refrigerated for up to 10 days. This consistency holds up very well in the refrigerator: it seems to hold together even better after refrigeration.

Ginger dressing variations

This carrot ginger dressing is one of a few other variations on a theme. We bought too much ginger root, then went on a quest to discover ways to use it up! Here are two more tasty ginger dressings:

Ginger Dijon Dressing: This vinaigrette-style dressing uses ginger, Dijon and white wine vinegar for a bright and tangy dressing.
Sesame Ginger Dressing: This dressing has a creamy tahini base, complemented with soy sauce, rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil to heighten the sesame flavor.

More carrot recipes

Carrots are packed with nutrients and sweet, irresistible flavor. Here are a few more carrot recipes you’ll love:

Try Carrot Ginger Soup or Simple Carrot Soup
Go for Honey Glazed Carrots or Perfect Boiled Carrots
Make a batch of Carrot Fries
Whiz up a Carrot Smoothie or Carrot Juice

Carrot Ginger Soup

Honey Glazed Carrots

Perfect Boiled Carrots

Carrot Fries (Ranch Seasoned!)

This carrot ginger dressing recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.