Toasted Sesame Soy Dressing

This really is the best ever Toasted Sesame Soy Dressing. If you’ve been looking for a versatile dressing that combines savory, nutty, and slightly sweet flavors, then your search is over. 

We’ve been using the Toasted Sesame Dressing from Trader Joe’s for years, and while we’ve loved it, there’s something about making your own salad dressing that is just so satisfying. This dressing is a dead ringer for the one at Trader Joe’s, only we think it’s better because we know what goes into it and we can adjust the seasoning to our liking. Ours is also vegan, whereas theirs is not. 

This recipe makes about a cup of dressing. Use it as a dressing for big salads, such as our Bleu Cheese, Walnut, & Pear Salad, or marinate tofu or chicken with it for a protein-filled main dish! 

Ingredients for the Toasted Sesame Soy Dressing

To make this delicious dressing, you’ll need a few ingredients. Most of these are things that should already be in your pantry or fridge (seriously, we use spicy brown mustard a lot, so stock up!), which is another reason why we love this dressing so much. There isn’t a lot of extra filler here, just simple, tasty ingredients. 

Here are the main ingredients that make this dressing so good:

• Sesame seeds – adding these to the dressing at the end provides a little texture and lets everyone know exactly what kind of dressing this is.
• Low-sodium soy sauce – if all you have is regular sodium soy sauce instead, you may want to add a little more water to mellow it out so that it’s not too strong on this particular flavor.
• Toasted sesame oil – this adds a really nice nutty flavor. Make sure you use toasted sesame oil and not regular sesame oil, which won’t taste as good. 
• Brown sugar – this helps sweeten the dressing and gives a rich molasses undertone to the flavor.
• White vinegar – as with all dressings, you need a little acid, and white vinegar works perfectly.
• Spicy brown mustard – as with almost all of our dressings, we use spicy brown mustard for flavor and emulsification.

Making the Dressing

Making this dressing is pretty straightforward. It’s best to use an immersion blender, but if you don’t have one, you can add the ingredients to a regular blender or even a food processor and blend it that way. 

To make the dressing, place all the ingredients except sesame seeds into a high-sided container. Blend it with an immersion blender until fully emulsified. Taste for seasoning, and if needed, add a small pinch of salt. Stir in the sesame seeds and serve with your favorite salad or use it as a marinade for your preferred protein!