Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing
Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing is an amazingly flavorful salad that’s a perfect side dish with Asian food any time of year. And this amazing year-round salad recipe is easy to make and very low in carbs!
PIN Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing to try it later!
I like salads of every kind, and that’s why there’s such a huge category for Salad Recipes on this blog. But every so often a salad comes along that really knocks my socks off, and this amazing Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing is a salad that has so many things going for it.
Romaine lettuce and baby greens are tossed together with a simple but profound dressing with Asian flavors. Then the salad is arranged on a plate and topped with sliced sugar-snap peas, matchstick carrots, and thin strips of cucumber. Drizzle a little more dressing over those veggies and then toasted sesame seeds are the finishing touch.
That’s all there is to it for this salad, and quite seriously I think this perfect salad is something your family is going to ask to have on repeat if they like these flavors. And this is a wonderful side dish for any meal that has a main dish with Asian flavors!
What ingredients do you need for this Asian Green Salad?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- soy sauce, use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed
- Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (affiliate link)
- Peanut Oil (affiliate link), or any neutral-flavored oil
- sesame oil (affiliate link)
- Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) or sweetener of your choice
- Romaine lettuce
- baby greens
- sugar-snap peas
- matchstick carrots
- cucumber
- toasted Sesame Seeds (affiliate link)
What gives this Asian green salad the Asian flavors?
It’s the Soy-Sesame Dressing with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame seed oil that gives this salad such amazing flavors. And this is such a flavorful combination that I bet you’ll want to eat it in so many different salads.
What veggies can you use for the Asian Green Salad?
We used sugar snap peas, carrots, and celery for the vegetables, but experiment to see which veggies your family likes best. I think most any vegetable that’s used in Asian food and that tastes good raw would be great for this salad.
Is this Asian salad low in carbs?
This salad originally had tomatoes, but through the years I made it often without them, and when we updated the photos we decided to switch the tomatoes in the recipe for sugar snap peas. That made the recipe lower in carbs, and if you make six side dish servings as the recipe recommends, each serving has only 4 net carbs.
Can you prep ingredients for this salad ahead?
This recipe is perfect for Weekend Food Prep; make the dressing and cut lettuce, cucumber, and sugar-snap peas and keep them in the fridge to make salads later in the week! (The oil in the dressing will thicken in the fridge, but just let it come to room temperature.)
Where did the Asian Green Salad recipe come from?
The amazing salad recipe was adapted from a recipe I spotted in Food to Live By (affiliate link), a great cookbook written by one of the owners of Earthbound Farms, and it’s a recipe they got from Flying Fish Grill.
How to Make Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Combine soy sauce, unseasoned rice vinegar, neutral-flavored oil, sesame oil, and sweetener of your choice. Be sure to use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed. (We whisked it together but you can also add all ingredients to a small jar and shake it.)
- We used purchased matchstick carrots, small slices of cucumbers, and sugar-snap peas sliced into small pieces.
- Tear apart one large heart of Romaine lettuce and wash and dry in a salad spinner (or by hand.)
- Combine the Romaine with 5 oz. baby greens and toss with enough dressing to coat the lettuce.
- Arrange the dressed lettuce on a plate or in a salad bowl, top each serving with a few vegetables, drizzle with a little more dressing if desired, and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
- This Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing will be devoured by everyone you serve it to!
Make it a Low-Carb Meal:
I’d love a big bowl of this Asian Green Salad for a light lunch. But it would be fabulous to serve as a side salad for dinner with Chicken with Peanut Sauce, Korean Salmon with Dipping Sauce, Asian Chicken and Green Beans Sheet Pan Meal, Baked Teriyaki Chicken, or Sesame Chicken and Broccoli Sheet Pan Meal.
More Green Salads You’ll Love:
- Purslane Salad with Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Mint
- Ottolenghi’s Perfect Lettuce Salad
- Peperoncini Salad with Romaine, Peppers, and Feta
- American Greek Salad
- Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing
Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing is a delicious combination of flavors and this is a perfect side dish salad with any main dish that has Asian flavors.
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (see notes)
- 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar (see notes)
- 1/4 cup peanut oil (see notes)
- 1 T sesame seed oil
- 1/4 cup Monkfruit Sweetener
Salad Ingredients:
- I large heart of Romaine lettuce, torn apart, washed, and dried
- 5 oz. baby greens
- 1/2 cup sliced sugar-snap peas
- 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
- 1/2 cup small slices of cucumber
- 1 T toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut oil, sesame oil, and sweetener of your choice, or you can also shake ingredients together in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Tear apart the Romaine heart, wash, and spin dry in salad spinner or dry with paper towels.
- Cut cucumber into short thin strips, use pre-cut matchstick carrots or cut carrots into thin strips, and slice sugar-snap peas into short pieces. You need about 1/2 cup of each.
- Toast sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes, just until they start to smell toasted. (Or buy pre-toasted sesame seeds and you can use them right from the jar.)
- Put the washed Romaine and baby greens into a medium sized bowl and toss with enough dressing to coat all the greens (about 2-3 tablespoons dressing.)
- Arrange the dressed greens on individual salad plates or in bowls.
- Top each salad with some sugar-snap peas, carrots, and cucumber, drizzle with a little more dressing as desired and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Serve immediately.
- The dressing will stay good in the fridge for more than a week, but the oil will thicken so you'll need to let it come to room temperature.
Notes
Be sure to use Gluten-Free Soy Sauce (affiliate link) if needed.
Be sure not to use seasoned rice vinegar which contains sugar.
If you can't use peanut oil or don't have any, use any neutral-flavored oil.
I would use Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) for this recipe.
This recipe was adapted from Flying Fish Salad in Food to Live By (affiliate link).
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 149Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 0mgSodium 597mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 3gSugar 2gProtein 3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
As long as you use an approved sweetener for the dressing, this Asian Green Salad is very low in carbs and a great choice for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes for more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This amazing green salad with Asian flavors was first posted in 2011. The recipe was updated with better photos, a few changes to reduce the carbs, and more information in 2023.
36 Comments on “Asian Green Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing”
Sue your version sounds great, especially the black sesame seeds. So glad it was a winner for you.
I made this salad dressing yesterday, although I can't remember whether I used sweetener or not! If I did, I just squezed a few drops of a carb-free liquid sweetener (no Splenda in Switzerland). I like that the recipe for this dressing can easily be remembered – this is certainly a plus!
For the salad I just used what I had on hand: iceberg lettuce, red bell pepper, bean sprouts, spring onions and I used black sesame seeds for more contrast.
I served the salad as a side to gingery beef pie and after having a first bite of the salad my boyfriend proclaimed: "This is good!". I guess that means I'll make it again!
Josephine, there is gluten free soy sauce like this one. I am assuming that's what people would have in their fridge if they need it.
uh..soy sauce isn't gluten free
I'm surprised you found it that sweet, as there are equal amounts of soy sauce, vinegar, oil, and sweetener but definitely use less next time. I buy Grapeseed oil at Costco, where it's very reasonable. There are a few other recipes on the blog using it, and more to come!
It took me a few days to get all my ingredients tog. I followed as directed. I really love the salad,and will make again.However I must make this one comment in regards to the amount of sweetener. I used the yellow package stuff,and measured it out to equal the recipe. For me it was way too sweet. The second day I added some additional vinegar to offset that,but it was still too sweet. I marked on the recipe to reduce the sweetness to at least 1/2. Love the concept,and will work at this again. I was shocked at the price of the oil,one store it was $11.plus. Certainly not in my budget, I did find some however for $6. which is still high. Hope Kalyn can help me use this in other dishes.;o)
Margaret, so glad you enjoyed it.
So yummy — cannot count the number of times my hubby said, in many different ways, how delicious it was!
Mimi, glad you liked it. And duh, I think we used low-sodium soy sauce so I will change that in the directions, Thanks!!
Made this last night for dinner. OMGoodness, it is WONDERFUL!!! I used grape tomatoes, cut in half, but otherwise followed the recipe to a tee. The only thing I might do differently next time (and there will be a next and a next and a next…) would be to use 2 T low-sodium soy sauce and 2 T regular soy sauce. It was a tad bit salty and I love salt. Thanks for a great recipe! Oh, and I served it with Pan Seared Scallops with Sesame Sauce. Yummmmm
Yin&Yang and Jeanette, just had it again last night for dinner!
That sounds like a salad I could enjoy everyday too. The ingredients are similar to a salad dressing I used to buy at the Asian grocery store.
The salad looks delicious! More importantly, the ingredients are easy to get and can be put together in matter of minutes. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Emily, so glad you like the sound of it. Still eating it here!
Jamie, I try to eat salad every day too and have a lot of dressing ideas really does help. This one is a keeper!
Beautiful! We eat salad every day and changing the flavors always makes it more interesting. We love Asian-inspired and flavored dressings best!
What a recipe! Can't wait to try this one…I looove salads! It's nearing lunch time at work and this one's making me real hungry. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kelly. My tomatoes are about done for the year too, but I am trying to hang on to them as long as I can!
Gorgeous salad, Kalyn. I've got to try this dressing. I'm in a rut when it comes to salad right now. Time to kick it in gear. Jealous of your green tomatoes. Had to finally pull all my plants.
Katherine, I'd say you're lucky. Some guys won't eat anything green!
Donna, I cut the carrot and cucumber into thin lengthwise slices and then slice those pieces crosswise. It helps if you work with shorter pieces, not the whole cucumber or carrot too.
Kalyn – love this recipe, as I do all of yours!! Give us a hint on how you chop the matchstick carrots, etc. so good!! Mine are always a mess!!
Love this! We're big salad fans – I would go so far as to say salad is my husband's number one favorite food (I know!). And I think I have all the ingredients for this fabulous dressing on hand! Thanks.
Lydia, I loved the rice vinegar flavor in this. Just enough tang to make it interesting with the sesame-soy flavors.
I adore salads with rice vinegar as one of the main flavorings. We tend to bury it on the Asian shelf of our pantries, but it's really an all-purpose mild vinegar with great flavor.
Jan, so glad to hear I'm not the only one who thought the dressing was really spectacular. I think it would taste good on just about anything.
I made this salad today and I hope I don't "drink" the rest of the dressing today!! I love it. I even forgot the sesame seeds and I had them ready to go into the salad. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
So glad people are liking this and I think there are endless variations that would be good for salad ingredients with this dressing.
What a gorgeous salad. Love the dressing Kalyn.
Your Soy-Sesame Dressing sounds amazing!
I love anything with Asian flavors and this sounds fantastic!
I'm asian, and this is my standard salad dressing. You know, the one I eat every day and never get tired of. It's even better with almonds (along the toasted sesame seeds, of course) sprinkled right before serving, or a squeeze of lemon juice. I've found it to be very versatile.
Tom, not sure why I got your comment after I had replied to the others. Just Comcast being weird. I did love the Green Zebra tomatoes in this!
Miss T, the Green Zebras are sweet and delicious. They've been my favorite for a few years now.
Joanne, the dressing is so tasty. I can see adding a lot of different things to this.
Pam, that's funny! I keep my sesame seeds in the freezer so they stay good longer. I have black, white, and toasted ones right now!
The green zebra tomatoes were really the perfect addition to this salad scape!
I just realized that I have 3 big jars of sesame seeds in my pantry. Apparently everytime a recipe called for them, I bought them, in bulk!!
I'm usually not the biggest salad lover, but with a fun dressing like this…I could be converted.
Those tomatoes look amazing! are they bitter? wow. Yum dish 10/10
T x