This Japanese sesame spinach salad is nutty, flavourful and a delicious way to enjoy spinach! Ready in 5 minutes, this healthy Japanese side dish is great for meal prep, too.
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Japanese Spinach Salad with Sesame Dressing
Description
This Japanese sesame spinach salad is nutty, flavourful and a delicious way to enjoy spinach! Ready in 5 minutes, this healthy Japanese side dish is great for meal prep, too.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of spinach (225-250g)
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 tsp sugar
- 4–5 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sake or mirin
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and place spinach in stem side first. Cook the spinach for 30 seconds and then immediently strain and rinse with cold water.
- Squeeze out excess moisture and water. Gather the spinach and roughly chop the spinach 3-4 times and then place it into a bowl.
- Add the toasted sesame seeds to a suribachi (motor / grinding bowl) and grind with surikogi (pestal / wooden stick) and roughly grind the sesame seeds (does not have to all be grinded). Add the sugar, soy sauce and sake/mirin and mix together.
- Pour the dressing over the spinach and toss together. Serve and enjoy!
- Leftovers can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
Notes
- If using raw sesame seeds, toast them over low heat until it starts to smell nutty and some of the seeds begin to ‘pop’.
- Helpful Equipment: suribachi set (Japanese motor and pestal)
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
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Can you make this with frozen spinach?
I haven’t tried but I think it could work if you use whole frozen spinach and not the chopped!
Super delicious, it tastes just like the dish I ate in Tokyo! I also tried it with kale (without the stems), and it is as tasty as with spinach. Thank you!
This is a great salad! I love the sesame flavor.
Ate Horenso gomae almost daily my 8 yrs in Japan. Make it at home but could never get all the water out of the spinach so it’s not mushy. Found my Mom’s potato ricer and it’s perfect for squishing the water out of the spinach. Thank you for recipe!
Huhu this was the best accompaniment for rush making bentos 🥲
Usually craving for this until i found your recipe and tried it !
Serving it cold even tastes better 🤤
Thank you so much Lisa ! Hehe
So easy to make, yet so good! Best way to get your greens in 😉
I never had this before but I made it because it sounded good. It is better than good, it’s delicious, and easy to make. Thank you for sharing such a easy delicious recipe. I will be making this again and again!
Such a quick and easy side dish with amazing flavour! I made enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day, a delicious recipe that helps us get more greens in 😋
Super easy and packed with flavor!
I love to try new recipes and love to explore other (food) cultures!
Your recipes are amazing! This one included 💚❤️
Keep going your great work, pls🙏
Addictive! The perfect use for all the organic spinach I’ve been getting in my CSA share. I am a huge fan of savory dishes like this. It’s so yummy. Nothing beats the flavor of toasted sesame seeds and soy sauce.
If making this with baby spinach, would that change the amount of spinach in grams needed for this amount of sauce?
no as long as it’s still the same amount! 🙂
super easy and delicious way to get some greens in! so simple but YUMMM. would eat this everyday!
Tastes just like sushi restaurants! So simple and delicious 😋
Delicious salad, easy to make and very flavorful.
Easy and delicious! The perfect side dish to add to any Japanese meal, especially sushi.
Made this with stevia instead of sugar. It was sooo amazing. I drizzled some sesame oil on top but that’s just personal preference.
So yummy! Very easy and quick to make. I love that it can keep in the fridge too so it can be made in advance. We normally have spinach left over in the fridge that goes to waste. Thanks to Lisa’s recipes, that will never happen again. X
So simple, quick and easy with great taste!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe 😊
I fell in love with Gomae from a local Izakaya restaurant and never been able to really re-create it that well UP UNTIL NOW. This recipe is so fresh and nice… perfect for the summer season soon approaching! The key is truly the toasted sesame seeds. It is so easy and SO DELICIOUS. Made it with 2 pounds of spinach and it didn’t last on the dinner table for long!
So I tried many recipes already for this kind of spinach but yours is definitely my favorite. I’ve been doing this every week lately we are obsessed at home !!
My new favorite way to cook spinach! I love throwing together an array of Lisa’s sides for a quick, easy, and healthy meal for me and my parents.
I want to eat this everyday!
OMG let me tell yall! pair this with steamed fish or eat this by itself, its the perfect side to snack on! thanks so much Lisa!!!
This magical sauce transforms spinach and kale into a delicious side dish like nothing else!
Once you try this recipe, you cannot go back. I love making this when I need to have extra greens, with a delicious twist!
I added this to a bowl with rice and edamame, it’s so quick, healthy and tasty I want to eat this all day 😍
Such a tasty and quick n easy recipe, I loved it so much!
So glad I found your page. 🤍
I used to always order this at sushi restaurants and all along thought the nuttiness came from peanut butter! Toasting the sesame seeds really elevates this dish so much, and I just used my coffee grinder to grind them up. Super easy and quick to throw together, love this recipe!
This was so quick and easy to make, and I love how full of nutrients it is!
simple & healthy, but delicious & flavorful! an easy side dish to any meal that will impress.
Such a yummy side dish! Tried it for the first time a week ago and have made it just about every day since!
It was pretty good!
Reminds me of my mom ❤
Simple, tasty, healthy, and tastes great chilled the next day.
New favorite way to cook spinach !
Absolutely delicious!
I’ve been trying to find a way to get in my greens and this is perfect, its sweet and soooo yummy 10/10. I omitted the sake since i don’t have any on hand and it still tasted amazing. 🙂
so simple & easy but so good!