This seaweed salad is colorful, delicious, and boldly flavored with sesame dressing. If you enjoy seaweed salads at Japanese restaurants, try this fun twist on the concept. Many prepared seaweed salads are colored with food dyes, but this one obtains its lively color from veggies. If you’re relatively new to seaweed, like I am, this salad offers a great introduction. It calls for arame, which has a more mild and sweet flavor compared to other seaweed varieties. The crisp textures of cabbage and bell pepper, combined with soy sauce and ginger, contrast beautifully with the seaweed.
This salad is the perfect way to incorporate nutritious seaweed into your diet. Seaweed’s nutritional benefits vary depending on the specific variety, but they are often a good source of fiber, iodine, potassium and magnesium, among others. I try to consume a wide variety of whole foods, so seaweed is a welcome addition.
Seaweed Salad Ingredients
Arame
Cabbage
Crisp strands of cabbage offer lots of colorful texture. I used green and purple varieties to make this recipe as bright as possible for photos, but either option will work well at home.
Bell Pepper
Sweet bell pepper is the perfect addition to this seaweed salad. Choose red, orange or yellow for this salad.
Cilantro and Green Onion
These herbs offer more fresh flavor. If you don’t like cilantro, you can skip it.
Avocado
Creamy avocado is the perfect counterpoint to the crisp textures. Wait to add avocado until you’re ready to serve each bowl.
Sesame Dressing
This homemade sesame dressing brings it all together! It’s made with tamari (soy sauce), toasted sesame oil, and fresh lime juice.
How to Make Seaweed Salad
Seaweed salad is surprisingly easy to make, and you’ll find the full recipe below. Arame requires a 5-to-10-minute soak in cool water. During that time, you can whisk together the dressing and chop the vegetables. Drain the arame, then squeeze out any excess water. Return it to the bowl, add the prepared vegetables, pour in the full batch of dressing, and stir it all together. How’s that for easy? Reserve the avocado until just before serving since it browns over time. The recipe keeps well in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Watch How to Make Seaweed Salad
How to Serve Seaweed Salad
This seaweed salad is a fun and nutritious side salad. Serve it with Japanese cuisine and beyond at any time of year. You can turn this salad into a complete meal by topping it with Crispy Baked Tofu or prepared fish or shrimp, perhaps on a bed of brown rice. You could even skip the sesame dressing and serve it in place of the kale in my Build-Your-Own Buddha Bowls. Here are a few more complementary serving options:
Blistered Shishito Peppers Colorful Veggie Lettuce Wraps Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce Veggie Sushi Bowls
Leftover cabbage?
This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cabbage, less than one full head. Leftover cabbage will keep well in the refrigerator, wrapped, for up to one week. Here are a few ways to use the remaining cabbage:
Extra Vegetable Fried Rice Easy Black Bean Tacos or Epic Vegetarian Tacos Perfect Roasted Cabbage Simple Healthy Slaw
Please let me know how your recipe turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you and hope you enjoy this salad.
