This sweet soy ginger dressing is delicious as a poke bowl sauce, as a dipping sauce for veggie sushi, as an oil-free Asian salad dressing, noodles or rice bowls. Soy sauce (soy-free options given, too), rice vinegar and sweetener combine with ginger, wasabi and toasted sesame seeds to make this flavorful dressing.

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You'll love this simple sweet and tangy asian-inspired sauce for dressing up your noodles, poke bowls, salads, rice bowls or using as a marinade for tofu, tempeh or vegetables.
We lovingly just call this "poke bowl sauce" in our house. It adds a tremendous amount of flavor to sushi rice, cucumber and grated carrot.
🧄 Ingredient notes
- Rice vinegar - Look for the plain rice vinegar, not the one that says "seasoned". It shouldn't have any salt or sugar already in it.
- Honey - We make this with honey most often. If you don't eat honey, use an alternative sweetener.
- Toasted sesame seeds - We buy toasted sesame seeds in bulk at H-Mart. If you can only find plain sesame seeds, that's fine, but you'll need to toast them first.
- Ginger - Using dry ground ginger powder means this dressing will last for 2 months in the refrigerator. Fresh, crushed ginger will give a stronger, brighter flavor but you'll need to use the dressing within 1-2 weeks.
- Wasabi - You can use wasabi powder or wasabi paste to give the dressing a little heat.
- Toasted sesame oil - Should have a dark amber color. Adds lovely flavor and aroma to the dressing. Use the small amount called for in the recipe if you can, but skip it if you need this to be completely 100% oil-free. (Sesame oil that hasn't been made with toasted sesame seeds is lighter in color, neutral tasting and shouldn't be substituted.)
- Simply Asia sweet garlic ginger seasoning - We used to be able to find Simply Asia sweet garlic ginger mixed seasoning at Costco regularly and would add it to this dressing for even extra flavor. But, we can't find it anymore, so we now make it without. If you have it, use it. If you don't, no worries at all.
📋 Substitutions and variations
Here are some substitutions you could try:
- Honey: Use sugar, agave nectar or maple syrup. Use honey for non-vegans.
- Soy sauce: Use tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy-free.
- Toasted sesame seeds: If you don't have toasted sesame seeds, but instead raw sesame seeds, then just dry roast them a couple minutes in a dry skillet until they are fragrant and starting to brown. Alternatively, you can use ½ teaspoon of toasted sesame oil for the flavor.
- Ginger: If you use dried ground ginger, the dressing will last 1-2 months in the refrigerator. (fresh ginger is stronger and fresher tasting, but only lasts a week, refrigerated.)
Try one of these delicious variations:
- Make it spicy!
- Double or triple the wasabi powder or wasabi paste in the recipe
- Add 1-3 teaspoons of sriracha
- Add 1-3 teaspoons of chili garlic sauce
- Add ½ teaspoon of nanami togarashi seasoning
- Make it creamy ginger soy sesame dressing
- Whisk in 2 tablespoons of tahini or mayo
- Orange ginger dressing
- Substitute half of the sweetener and half of the vinegar for fresh orange juice
- Use a flavored vinegar
- Use a flavored vinegar instead of plain rice vinegar, to alter the taste
- Lime ginger dressing
- Substitute the vinegar for fresh lime juice
🔪 Instructions
- Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a measuring cup, mason jar or bowl. (If using sugar instead of agave or honey, combine it with the soy sauce and vinegar, then heat it up for 30-60 seconds in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Then, add the remaining ingredients.)
- Step 2: Stir well with fork or whisk.
👨👩👦👦 Serving suggestions
This sweet soy ginger dressing is delicious as a:
- vegan poke bowl sauce
- sushi dipping sauce
- marinade for tofu or vegan watermelon "spicy tuna" (add 1-3 teaspoons sriracha to use it for this type of marinade)
- oil-free Asian salad dressing
- oil-free cold noodle salad dressing
- sweet and tangy stir-fry noodle sauce
- meal prep asian dressing for rice bowls all week long (as seen below)
💜 More recipes you'll love
If you love this oil-free Asian dressing recipe, check out these other plant-based oil-free dressings, sauces and condiment recipes!
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Soy Ginger Asian Dressing (oil-free)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup rice vinegar unseasoned, unflavored, plain
- ¼ cup honey or sugar or agave nectar (honey is not vegan)
- ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free, coconut aminos for soy free
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- ¼ teaspoon dried ground ginger or 1 teaspoon fresh crushed ginger
- ¼ teaspoon wasabi powder/paste more, if you like it spicy
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil optional, omit for oil-free
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a mason jar or bowl and stir well with fork or whisk. If using sugar instead of agave or honey, combine it with the soy sauce and vinegar, then heat it up for 30-60 seconds in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Then, add the remaining ingredients.¼ cup rice vinegar, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, ¼ teaspoon dried ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon wasabi powder/paste, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- Store in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (if using fresh ginger). If you use dry ground ginger, it will last in the refrigerator for 2 months.
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