There is nothing better than a great salad dressing and this oriental dressing for a salad is near perfection! Applebee’s Oriental Salad Dressing is so creamy with a flavor that is indescribable.
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Make your own creamy oriental salad dressing at home
I love making homemade salad dressings. But making this Applebee’s Oriental Salad Dressing had me stumped for a long time. It’s perfectly sweet with an almost smoky flavor but coming up with the recipe for this oriental dressing for the salad wasn’t easy so I started experimenting.
I started with a vinaigrette then added some oil. I used regular sesame oil plus a touch of toasted sesame oil. And this recipe was born.
Difference Between Vinaigrette and Dressing
Most salad dressings are made with similar ingredients but there is a slight difference between a vinaigrette and a dressing.
Vinaigrettes are made with a mixture of oil, like olive oil, and something acidic like citrus juice, vinegar, balsamic, apple cider, rice vinegar, white or red wine vinegar, etc. Add some seasonings and dijon mustard and you have created a delicious vinaigrette.
Dressings, on the other hand, are thicker in consistency and usually start with a creamy base like mayonnaise, buttermilk, yogurt, etc. Oil & vinegar are still including in a dressing along with seasonings but it’s much thicker than a vinaigrette.
This salad dressing is a variation on a vinaigrette and dressing. It starts with vinaigrette ingredients but mayonnaise was added for the creaminess.
Stock Your Pantry with these Ingredients
Most salad dressings or vinaigrette recipes use the same ingredients. Here’s a list of ingredients you will need for most dressings and vinaigrettes including this recipe. Most of these ingredients you will already have.
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- White Wine Vinegar
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil (refined and toasted)
- Dijon Mustard
- Mayonnaise
- Buttermilk
- Yogurt
- Sour Cream
- Sugar
- Salt & Pepper
Oriental Salad Dressing Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this dressing:
- Sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Mayonnaise
- Refined sesame oil
- Toasted sesame oil
- Dijon mustard
How to Make Oriental Salad Dressing
- In a medium bowl, combine sugar and rice vinegar and mix until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the mayonnaise, both sesame oils, and the mustard. Stir until well blended.
Recipe Notes
- Refrigerate the salad dressing in a covered container for up to 1 week.
- Rice vinegar is carried in most grocery stores, be careful not to purchase the seasoned rice wine vinegar, as it is sweetened and makes the dressing way too sweet.
- Refined sesame oil can be found in the regular section of the oils in a grocery store. For the toasted sesame oil, look in the Asian section of your grocery store.
Ready to start cooking? Let us know what you think about this recipe in the comments below.
Love homemade salad dressings? Try these recipes!
- Best Blue Cheese Dressing
- Fuji Apple Salad Dressing
- Ginger Salad Dressing
- Hibachi Salad Dressing
- Homemade French Dressing
- Hot Bacon Dressing
- Olive Garden Italian Dressing Recipe
- Pesto Salad Dressing
- Russian Dressing
- Santa Fe Salad Dressing
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Applebee’s Oriental Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons refined sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine sugar and rice vinegar and mix until sugar is completely dissolved. Add the mayonnaise, both sesame oils, and the mustard and stir until well blended.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerate the salad dressing in a covered container for up to 1 week.
- Rice vinegar is carried in most grocery stores, be careful not to purchase the seasoned rice wine vinegar, as it is sweetened and makes the dressing way too sweet.
- The refined sesame oil can be found in the regular section of the oils in a grocery store. For the toasted sesame oil, look in the Asian section of your grocery store.
Tasty!
Soooooo good! Mine didn’t have the same consistancy as Applebee’s and the taste wasn’t exactly it but this is by far one of the best (and easiest) dressings I’ve had! I looove it. I’m keeping this, what a fast meal and better than other quick food choices. Thanks for sharing!
Stephanie Manley
The salad dressing you made was made without any stabilizers or thickeners, it is a little thinner, but for ingredients available in your grocery store, it was as close as I could get!
Azot629
Oh My Goodness! This dressing is absolutely wonderful!! What a super pleasant surprise!! Will be making this dressing again, and again, and again!!
Anonymous
I’m not stumped! I asked a waitress one day and she told me it was Marzetti oriental salad dressing. I use Tyson breaded chicken, salad, chow mein noodles, sliced almonds and Marzetti. Bam! thats it.
the boys
I can’t find Marzetti oriental salad dressing.
Marlene
I looked everywhere and could not find marzettis’s oriental salad dressing!
Lisa
It is usually in the produce section not in the salad dressing isle
Anonymous
I’m not stumped! I asked a waitress one day and she told me it was Marzetti oriental salad dressing. I use Tyson breaded chicken, salad, chow mein noodles, sliced almonds and Marzetti. Bam! thats it.
Laura C.
I just buy jarred coleslaw dressing. The kind from Marie’s or Litehouse brand. It is tasty. This had me stumped to as to what it was. It is the prefect tangy and sweet taste. Also, when the oriental chicken salad came out they used to put green onions in it because of a food poisoning scare. When the scare passed,the salad never got them again so at home I am able to add to it. 😀
Sue
I love the salad dressing at Lucy’s El Adobe in Los Angeles but can’t find the recipe anywhere.
Can anyone help?
Becky
Still looking for Ragazzi’s house dressing recipe . Anyone have a clue?
Stephanie
I am sorry I don’t have a recipe similar to Ragazzi’s.
Kathi
love it – what makes it takes like it has maple flavoring?
Stephanie
Kathi, I have no idea, I don’t taste maple, I taste nutty, and the toasted sesame oil takes care of that flavor.
Ellie
I made this today and it was off – until I added some maple syrup. And I had the Applebee’s dressing next to me to compare. There is TOTALLY maple in there IMO.
Olga Uy
hi!:) I used white wine vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar and it’s not as good.
Stephanie
White Vinegar just doesn’t have the seasoning the white rice wine vinegar has.
secret
The real oriental dressing is made from ground chicken and chicken stock. just FYI. been working at Applebees for 2 years now.
Llnelson02
their is no ground chicken in the oriental dressing at applebees? is their? I don’t see how that could be, it is a smooth dressing, couldn’t get any smoother…anyone know if this is true of if the marzetti oriental dressing it right?
IGMK
Don’t believe everything you hear. Use your common sense.
Deirdre
This dressing is delicous – I absolutely love it. Thank You!
Janis Holte-Pavlatos
Do you have a recipe for Top the Tater?
It’s a sour cream, chives, onion dip or potato topping (A Kemps product)
Thanks for your request, I will keep it in mind. I haven’t seen this product before. Sounds tasty though!
Dawne
Thank you for this! I’m so happy to have found this recipe.
One of my all-time favourite salad dressings is really a BBQ sauce – Bob Evan’s Wildlife BBQ Sauce. It’s part of a salad with breaded chicken strips. Now that I no longer live in the States I really miss it.
Pez
The first time I tasted the applebees oriental chicken salad dressing I could immediately tell that it contained Plum Sauce … that is the “oriental” sauce that is based on apricots.
If you decide to give the formula another try with plum sauce, please let me know of your results. Thanks.
You know I really didn’t detect any plum sauce in there, but if you would like to share your results, we would love to see them! ~Stephanie
Brianna
i cannot find rice wine vinegar at all in stores. so i used just rice vinegar and clearly it was not the same taste. so im wondering if there is a way to doctor the dressing if i use rice vinegar to get the same taste?
You know it is fairly common, I have found this at Wal Mart of all places. ~Stephanie
Lisa Morin Peterson
Look at her ingredients closely..It is just rice vinegar..No Wine listed. Also the “toasted” sesame oil just says sesame oil. I wish I would have noticed the images b4 scouring the store. Hope this is worth all of the ingredients I just purchased.
Randy Carl
There are two types of sesame oil.. regular and toasted and they are very different. This uses both
Jcloutz
Rice wine vinegar and rice vinegar are the same thing, fyi
Berni
Looking for the Sesame Thai dressing in the Nature’s Table Rice Bowl – will be trying this receipe in the hopes it comes close
I hope the dressing works out well for you. I haven’t tried the Sesame Thai dressing by Nature’s Table Rice Bowl.~Stephanie
Nancy
If I don’t want to buy a whole bottle of toasted sesame oil for just 1 tsp, could I use all sesame oil instead? I am trying to replicate a Thai salad dressing I had at a Thai restaurant and I know two of the ingredients were mustard and honey. I hope this recipe comes close even tho it has sugar instead of honey.
There are a couple of different things, I think the dressing works best with the combination of the toasted sesame oil and the regular. I can’t say the results will be the same. My suggestion would be to use a toasted sesame oil, and then use a very neutral oil like vegetable oil instead of the non toasted sesame oil, I recommend that if you don’t want to purchase two different bottles of oil. The toasted sesame oil is fairly inexpensive I think it was under 3 dollars.
Sugar – I used sugar because I couldn’t taste any honey in the dressing. My second guess was honey is an expensive ingredient, and my thinking is restaurants typically stay away from more expensive ingredients when others will work. I could be wrong on this particular case. Since I have’t tried your dressing from your Thai restaurant, I really can’t comment on how to prepare that recipe. Good luck on trying your recipe out!~stephanie
Ted Baida
Actually, the best salad dressings I’ve had, lately, have been BOTTLED from the store. Kraft Tuscan, Creamy Caesar and Caesar Vinagrette. VERY GOOD.
Thanks for sharing your favorite bottled salad dressings, it is always good to know about a tried and true product ~Stephanie
Fran
Ah, I wouldn’t have expected mustard, but it is an emulsifier in dressings so that makes sense. I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect dressing for Chinese Chicken Salad since having the one from Houstons over 25 years ago. I’ve come close too, but never spot on. I’m going to try this one might satisfy the craving!
Pez
Dressings can be made to look “creamy” (emulsified) by simply using 3 parts oil to one part vinegar and then shaking or whisking. Try this and add a spoon of something like orange marmalade etc … this produces an even thicker product. The use of mayonnaise (ie. egg yolks) produces a thicker dressing that will not re-separate quite as quickly … but this may not be what your target calls for anyway.
Not completely certain about the part of your comment that says “what your target calls for anyway…”. I don’t like to use raw egg products for salad dressings if it is avoidable. I like your suggestion of adding a marmalade to assist in the emulsification of the salad dressing. I never noticed chunks of fruit in this creamy and smooth salad dressing, so I ruled that out in this preparation. I will consider your suggestion for other salad dressing recipes going forward. ~Stephanie
Bruce Manley
Rafferty’s: Ranch & Catalina
Red Lobster: French