Japanese sesame sauce is so versatile! It's a delicious salad dressing, the perfect dipping sauce for dumplings, an amazing sauce for meats, fish, or vegetables, and great on chilled summer noodles too! It has a very addictive slightly sweet, nutty flavour. You can buy it at the store, but it's so easy to make - why expose yourself to all of those preservatives?
How to make Japanese sesame sauce
This sauce could not be much easier to make. Simply grind up the sesame seeds using a mortar and pestle or a food processor (see note below if you have neither), then whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl. It's that easy! Don't buy the pre-ground sesame seeds from the store - you won't get the same fresh flavour.
Use either of these:
Buy Now →
Buy Now →
The flavour of this salad dressing is so nice that it can make even the most simple salad super tasty. Pictured below, I just have it with butter lettuce, thinly sliced cucumbers and radishes (I used a Japanese mandolin to do the thin slices), and a few pinches of white sesame seeds sprinkled on top. It was delicious!
Check out this sauce featured in my tasty sesame cucumber hand rolls. Such a scrumptious snack! I was inspired by having the same dish at a local hand roll restaurant before it shut down. It's such a delicious combination.
Japanese Sesame Sauce (Goma Dare)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: Japanese
Description
A delicious and versatile Japanese sauce that has a slightly sweet, nutty flavour that you will love. Perfect as a salad dressing, a dipping sauce for dumplings, a sauce on meats, fish, or vegetables, and tossed into chilled summer noodles. And so easy to make!
Ingredients
4 tbsp white sesame seeds (not roasted)
2 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons white miso paste
1 ½ teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sake (see note for substitutions)
Instructions
Grind the sesame seeds using a food processor or mortar and pestle. If you have neither, see note below.
Add all ingredients to one bowl and whisk together.
It's that easy!
Notes
You could alternatively grind the sesame seeds by putting them into a zip bag on a cutting board, and smash them with a blunt object until the hulls are broken apart. A great way to vent some frustration 😉
Sake can be substituted with an equal amount of dry sherry. If you prefer to exclude alcohol, you can use a mixture of one part rice wine vinegar to three parts water.
Keywords: #japanesesesamesauce #sesamesauce #japanesefood
I had sesame dressing at a Japanese restaurant and had to try making it at home. This recipe was so good! Will make it again.
Yay! I'm happy you loved it. I do too.
This is great
Thanks!
Best.Dressing.Ever
Thanks!
Thanks for this. It's really good.
Thank you! 🙂
Sooo good on dumplings.
Thank you. Now I'm craving dumplings with sesame sauce!
So, so, so love the flavour of this sesame sauce on salad.
Thank you, I love it too!
This has got to be my favourite dressing yet.
Thank you!
Definitely keeping this gem in my recipe file. Thank you!
Thanks for the review!
Best homemade sesame sause I ever had. Made to go with dumplings. Saving this recipe.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
So easy to make. I love it.
Thank you!
Awesome. Love this sauce.
Thank you!
This sauce is amazingly good on chicken stir fry. Excited to try it in other dishes also.
Thanks Grace, yes it's so multipurpose that it's amazing!
I made this sauce for a chicken and pasta dish. Totally delicious.
Sounds great. Glad you liked it!
Yes, oh yes, I love this sauce.
Thanks!
Love this recipe for sesame sauce. Put it on chicken with pasta. Tastes amazing.
Thank you! That sounds like a delicious combo