15 Easy Japanese Salad Recipes (2024)

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Here’s a scrumptious selection of Japanese salad recipes you can make and enjoy year-round.

15 Easy Japanese Salad Recipes (1)

Regardless of the season, most Japanese meals are served with a salad to keep things in balance. A well-composed salad refreshes your palate, provides a pop of color, and its crisp flavors enhance everything else on the table.

So here are some popular Japanese salad recipes to complement your main dishes. I also included a few Western-style salads that are well-loved in Japan. Best of all, most of these recipes can be prepared in a short time.

With these 15 tasty, vibrant, healthy, easy-to-follow salad recipes, I hope you enjoy your vegetables all year round!

15 Easy Japanese Salad Recipes

1. Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing

This spinach salad is dressed in a nutty aromatic sauce where freshly ground sesame seeds are combined with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin for a mighty flavor. This easy salad not only compliments all Japanese foods, but also makes a healthy addition to your bento lunches!

2.Salad with Wafu Dressing

Wafu dressing simply refers to “Japanese-style salad dressing”, where the mixture consists of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and vegetable oil. There are plenty of variations of wafu dressing, but my recipe includes grated onion for extra zing and flavor. This popular Japanese dressing is so versatile that you can enjoy it with any combination of salad.

3.Japanese Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

If you dine out regularly at Japanese restaurants in the US, you’re probably familiar with salads that are served with Carrot Ginger Dressing. Made with fresh carrot purée, ginger, and miso, the sweet-tangy dressing is bright, refreshing, and healthy. Takes only 10 minutes to prepare, this salad dressing recipe is a sure keeper!

4. Japanese Kani Salad

Tossed in a bowl of crunchy lettuce, refreshing cucumber, sweet corn, and crab meat, this Japanese Crab Salad with Ponzu-Mayonnaise Dressing is delightful regardless of how you serve it.

5. Spicy Bean Sprout Salad

Love a crunchy ramen topping with a kick? You will have to give this Spicy Bean Sprout Salad a try. The peppery, spicy sesame taste from the sauce is going to wake up your palate. You can also serve this salad as an appetizer when you need a light touch of spice to complement your main meal.

6. Japanese Salad with Sesame Dressing

Sesame dressing is a classic Japanese dressing used in many salad recipes. Sesame seeds are gently toasted in a frying pan until fragrant and then whisked well with creamy mayo, rice vinegar, soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. The dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week, so go ahead and make a bigger batch and enjoy it with a simple salad anytime!

7. Spring Mix Salad with Sweet Miso Dressing

Miso adds a wonderful depth to the salad dressing. Here, I added avocado slices, fresh mint with the spring salad mix and draped it with Sweet Miso Dressing for a delicious pairing.

8. Japanese Potato Salad

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Japanese potato salad is a home-cooking staple dish in Japan. Slightly different from the US versions, the potatoes are roughly mashed and combined with all sorts of colorful ingredients, and then seasoned with Japanese mayonnaise and sometimes rice vinegar. If you have an Instant Pot, you can also prepare the potato salad following this recipe to save time.

9.

You can find this popular salad at most of the deli in department stores in Japan. It’s very easy to make at home too! Crisp cucumber, soft-boiled eggs, avocado, broccoli, and succulent pieces of shrimp all tossed together in a creamy dressing, this is all about texture and bite.

10. Broccolini Gomaae

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Another variation of gomaae– this time with broccolini. A cross between broccoli & Chinese broccoli, Broccolini not only has a great texture but is also highly nutritious. When dressed in the sesame sauce, Broccolini Gomaae literally goes well with everything. No broccolini? Try it with regular broccoli.

11. Harusame (Japanese Glass Noodle Salad)

Light noodles, crisp vegetables, and salty ham, all tossed in a tangy sesame soy vinaigrette. It makes a great stand-alone meal too!

12.Octopus Salad (Tako Su)

Do you know octopus tops the trendy food list in 2017? If you are able to find sashimi/ sushi-grade octopus in a Japanese grocery store, I highly recommend giving this Octopus Salad a try. Mixed with cucumber, wakame & roasted sesame seeds, this salad is lightly flavored for perfection.

13. Honey Sesame Shirataki Noodles Salad

Cold and refreshing Shirataki Noodles with Honey Sesame Dressing, which can be a main dish or salad! Top the noodles with shredded egg crepe, chicken, and cucumber. It’s a perfect guilt-free summer noodlethat islow in calories.

14. Japanese Macaroni Salad

Tossed in a creamy, tangy, and sweet dressing, this Japanese Macaroni Salad is the perfect side dish to serve at your next BBQ and cookout.

15. Apple Walnut Salad

This tart & tasty Apple Walnut Salad in a creamy Greek yogurt salad will get a big yes from kids! If you have Kewpie brand Japanese mayonnaise at home, you can also try my Japanese-style Apple Salad here.

More Salad Recipes You’ll Enjoy:

  • Warm Mushroom Salad with Sesame Dressing
  • Shabu Shabu Salad
  • Daikon Salad with Japanese Plum Dressing
  • Easy Carrot Salad

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15 Easy Japanese Salad Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is Japanese green salad made of? ›

Fresh greens and juicy orange slices are tossed on a creamy carrot ginger dressing to create this healthy and refreshing Japanese-inspired salad. If you go out to a Japanese restaurant for dinner and order a salad, it will probably look and taste something like this.

Are salads common in Japan? ›

Japanese cuisine is regarded as one of the healthiest in the world, and meals comprise a large proportion of salads and vegetable-based dishes.

What is the starter salad from Japanese restaurant called? ›

Kani salad or crab stick salad is a refreshing, easy salad that's full of crunchy texture and seafood flavor! It's typically served in Japanese-American restaurants or sushi restaurants as an appetizer or starter salad.

What is the healthiest green salad? ›

Best: Spinach or Kale Salad

They have the most nutrients. Case in point: Kale and spinach have over 10 times more immune-boosting vitamins A and C than iceberg lettuce. Not a fan of those? Turn over a new leaf: Boston, bibb, and romaine lettuces have a mild flavor, while arugula and watercress have a peppery bite.

What are the five types of salads? ›

salad, any of a wide variety of dishes that fall into the following principal categories: green salads; vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads.

What can I put in a salad to make it more interesting? ›

Add spices and flavours such as paprika, chilli flakes, curry powder, harissa or parmesan. Add acidity or sourness with vinegar, lemon juice or pomegranate molasses to transform your salad.

What is the most eaten meal in Japan? ›

Sushi is the most famous Japanese dish outside of Japan, and one of the most popular dishes inside Japan, as well.

What is Zen salad? ›

The perennial fan favorite features fried or grilled chicken tenders on a bed of freshly chopped mixed greens, red cabbage, carrots and crispy wonton strips, all topped with Asian slaw and drizzled with a honey sesame Teriyaki glaze, starting at $9.59.

What is Japanese lettuce called? ›

Mizuna (Brassica rapa var. nipposinica) is an Asian green associated with traditional Japanese cooking with a mild mustard-like peppery flavor. During these winter days, as you leaf through colorful catalogs and draw up your seed orders, consider trying a vegetable that you have never before grown.

What is kani salad made of? ›

This Kani Salad is light and refreshing using imitation crab together with cucumber, and mango in a creamy spicy mayonnaise dressing. A Kani Salad is a Japanese style salad made with crab and julienned thinly sliced ingredients with a creamy spicy mayonnaise dressing. It's very popular in American Japanese restaurants.

What is the Japanese green slimy vegetable? ›

Okura, or okra as it's often spelled in English, is a green slimy vegetable that you will find at the greengrocer's or at your supermarket. Okra is also available in frozen form making it easier to cook with.

What does green salad contain? ›

Easy Green Salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, Parmesan cheese, croutons, and a quick balsamic vinaigrette. This simple salad recipe is the perfect side dish for any meal.

What is Japanese seaweed salad made of? ›

Seaweed salad usually contains wakame, a highly nutritious seaweed that's low in calories and high in various nutrients. That said, most premade versions contain high amounts of salt, sugar, food colorings, and flavorings, and are therefore less nutritious.

What is the green stringy Japanese food? ›

Hijiki. Popular in certain Japanese and Korean dishes, hijiki is probably the most visually distinct seaweed of the ones we've mentioned so far. It comes in green-tinted dark brown strands or shorter stringy bits that could look at a glance like tea. You won't find yourself confusing hijiki with nori, needless to say.

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