There’s nothing better than a great salad dressing, and this oriental dressing is near perfection! After countless visits to Applebee’s, I became obsessed with recreating their creamy oriental salad dressing with its wonderful sesame flavor. The journey wasn’t easy – I was stumped for a long time trying to capture that perfectly sweet, almost smoky flavor that makes their dressing so special.
I started with a basic vinaigrette approach and then realized that mayonnaise and the right balance of oils were needed for the creaminess. The breakthrough came when I combined regular sesame oil with a touch of toasted sesame oil—and this copycat recipe was born. Now, you can enjoy this restaurant favorite at home anytime!
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
- Versatile – great on salads, as a marinade, or even as a dipping sauce
- The perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess mimics Applebee’s signature dressing
- Two types of sesame oil create the authentic depth of flavor you can’t get from just one
- Quick preparation – ready in just 5 minutes with simple whisking
- Stores beautifully in the refrigerator for up to a week
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this dressing:
- Sugar – Provides sweetness that balances the tangy vinegar perfectly
- Rice vinegar – Creates the tangy base that gives the dressing its bright flavor
- Mayonnaise – Adds creaminess and helps emulsify the dressing
- Refined sesame oil – Contributes mild sesame flavor without overwhelming the dressing
- Toasted sesame oil – Delivers the distinctive smoky, nutty flavor that makes this dressing special
- Dijon mustard – Acts as an emulsifier and adds subtle complexity to the flavor profile
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.
Copycat Applebee’s Oriental Salad Dressing
A perfectly creamy homemade version of Applebee's famous oriental dressing with the ideal balance of sweetness and sesame flavor. Ready in just 5 minutes!
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Servings: 12
Calories: 64kcal
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
- Combine the sugar and rice vinegar in a medium bowl and stir until the 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.
Nutrition
Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 0.002mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.02mg
Recipe Tips & Notes
Storage Information
- Store the dressing in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Give it a good shake or stir before each use as separation may occur.
Ingredient Notes
- Rice vinegar: Be careful not to purchase seasoned rice wine vinegar, as it is already sweetened and will make the dressing far too sweet.
- Sesame oils: Refined sesame oil can be found in the regular cooking oil section of most grocery stores. Look for toasted sesame oil in the Asian foods section – it comes in a smaller bottle and has a darker color.
- Consistency: If you prefer a thinner dressing, add a small amount of water (1 teaspoon at a time) until you reach your desired consistency.
Ways to Use This Dressing
- Toss with a simple salad of romaine lettuce, sliced almonds, chow mein noodles, and mandarin oranges for an Applebee’s-style Oriental Chicken Salad
- Use as a marinade for chicken or shrimp
- Drizzle over rice bowls or stir-fries
- Serve as a dipping sauce for potstickers or spring rolls
- Dress a cold noodle salad with vegetables
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
More Applebee’s Copycat Recipes
Find lots more salad dressing recipes and the best restaurant copycat recipes here on CopyKat!
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!
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!
Oh My Goodness! This dressing is absolutely wonderful!! What a super pleasant surprise!! Will be making this dressing again, and again, and again!!
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.
I can’t find Marzetti oriental salad dressing.
I looked everywhere and could not find marzettis’s oriental salad dressing!
It is usually in the produce section not in the salad dressing isle
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.
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. 😀
I love the salad dressing at Lucy’s El Adobe in Los Angeles but can’t find the recipe anywhere.
Can anyone help?
Still looking for Ragazzi’s house dressing recipe . Anyone have a clue?
I am sorry I don’t have a recipe similar to Ragazzi’s.
love it – what makes it takes like it has maple flavoring?
Kathi, I have no idea, I don’t taste maple, I taste nutty, and the toasted sesame oil takes care of that flavor.
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.
hi!:) I used white wine vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar and it’s not as good.
White Vinegar just doesn’t have the seasoning the white rice wine vinegar has.
The real oriental dressing is made from ground chicken and chicken stock. just FYI. been working at Applebees for 2 years now.
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?
Don’t believe everything you hear. Use your common sense.
This dressing is delicous – I absolutely love it. Thank You!
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!
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.
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
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
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.
There are two types of sesame oil.. regular and toasted and they are very different. This uses both
Rice wine vinegar and rice vinegar are the same thing, fyi
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
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
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
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!
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
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