Sesame Tomato Salad

Updated Oct. 12, 2023

Sesame Tomato Salad
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
Total Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Rating
4(461)
Notes
Read community notes

This simple yet stunning salad celebrates the beauty of summer tomatoes and highlights their sweetness with a rich, tangy sesame vinaigrette. A mild, buttery California-style olive oil will meld well with soy sauce and sesame oil, so avoid using a spicier olive oil that may be bitter. The dressing and tomatoes can both be prepared separately a few hours ahead and kept refrigerated. The tomatoes will release juices as they sit, which can dilute the dressing, so serve the salad with extra dressing on the side for a fresh hit of umami. Leftover dressing can be refrigerated for up to one week and is delicious drizzled over rice, roasted chicken and green salads.

Featured in: Kick Off Summer With These 5 Breezy Make-Ahead Salads

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2tablespoons distilled white vinegar
  • 2tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1teaspoon granulated sugar, plus more to taste
  • 3pounds mixed tomatoes, large tomatoes chopped or sliced and small tomatoes halved
  • Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
  • ¼cup chopped basil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

223 calories; 18 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 870 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and sugar; whisk to combine.

  2. Step 2

    Arrange the tomatoes on a serving platter and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with half of the dressing and top with basil. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.

Ratings

4 out of 5
461 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I love practically every Kay Chun recipe, and I can't wait to make this one in mid-summer with home-grown or farmer's market tomatoes. My only disagreement with this recipe is her advice to refrigerate the tomatoes. The best tomatoes never see the light of a fridge. Ever.

I'll add the olive oil to the dressing last, and adjust as necessary. A good olive oil will add a lot of flavor. I'm going to cut the sugar and use a bit of balsamic glaze for a bit of sweet tang.

Pretty good, used mirin instead of sugar, plenty sweet and it added a certain something overall

I would not refrigerate the tomatoes. Ever.

Nice Skipped olive oil, seemed unnecessary and oily.

I haven’t made this yet, but I would substitute coconut aminos for half of the soy sauce. It’s slightly sweet and less salty.

I'd actually go with tarragon. It has the same licorice like flavor as basil with a somewhat minty finish and is very fragrant. I think it's the closest you can come to basil without it being basil. It is a bit stronger than basil though so I'd add minimally to start and just keep tasting and adding as you go.

Really disliked this. A greasy mess that tasted way too much like soy sauce.

This was the blandest salad dressing I have ever tasted. I had to add additional garlic, brown sugar, sesame oil, red wine vinegar, molasses, ginger and oyster sauce to make it come alive. C’mon Melissa, you can do better.

I'm looking forward to making this, especially when ripe tomatoes are available at the farmers market. I'm inclined to add toasted sesame seeds for flavor and an added protein boost. Thoughts?

I’ve made this 3 times so far, exactly as written. The 1st time I needed to make a salad for a potluck where the host has a medical condition requiring him to avoid greens. After that, I was responding to requests to make it again & again! The most recent time was a Hanukkah party…so no summer tomatoes. But mixing 3 or 4 kinds of tomatoes & leaving them on the counter for a few days prior to making the salad—we didn’t miss summer at all! Add lemon to leftover dressing for green salads.

My go-to tomato recipe all summer long. Truly just a love story between warm, sun ripened tomatoes and sesame oil.

Very strong soy sauce flavor. I added a little brown sugar as someone else suggested, some rice vinegar, more garlic, more sesame oil. We still liked it.

Not my favorite because sesame oil flavor was too dominant.

I made a very scaled down version with 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes from my CSA, combined with 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, a dab of minced garlic & a pinch of sugar, lots of basil because my garden is exploding with it. I loved the flavors and it wasn’t too oily or salty. I usually cut way back on the amount of oil & salt/soy sauce called for by NYTimes salad recipes and it’s rarely the wrong move.

I doubled vinegar by adding some balsamic. Left out sugar.

Really liked this salad dressing! I've become less skeptical of dressings with a bit of sugar, and this is an example where a small amount is delicious. I've used this dressing with summer tomatoes and also on other salads. The dressing recipe makes a huge amount, so unless you're serving a crowd, cut the recipe in half.

The first bite I took right after making gave me pause about the combination of flavors. I let it sit for an hour or more and had some at the summer cookout- and I immediately launched into bragging about it. This recipe is excellent for warm weather and tomato season. Key would probably be quality of tomatoes and pomegranate seeds. Saves quite well. I did cutting prep ahead for all but the tomatoes & it came together very quickly day of!

I agree with the reviewer who said this was a too oily. I’d cut the oil in half, but don’t leave it out altogether. I also added some chopped raw zucchini from the garden, which used a tiny fraction of the prolific zucchini we have right now. But hey, one can only make so much zucchini bread. Delicious summer salad!

I adore this recipe. I didn’t measure super accurately, but the tomatoes were fresh. It was amazing. Also, I added thinly slices pimientos, the Spanish green peppers that are sweet and like long fingers? Amazing.

I was very excited to try an heirloom tomato salad with a sesame dressing! But this dressing wasn’t what I wanted for this salad. I tried it as written and agree with other commenters it’s too heavy on the soy sauce and oil. I ended up making the dressing without the soy sauce, reduced the oil, and used rice wine vinegar. It was very pretty.

While I admire the convictions to never refrigerate tomatoes (ever!), I do it all the time and nothing bad has happened. Ever!

Delicious!

Subbed mirin for sugar and rice wine vinegar for the distilled white vinegar and also left off the olive oil. Used 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and added an English cucumber.

Made this tonight, and sprinkled some sesame seeds on before serving. Would perhaps try a rice vinegar next time. I think chickpeas would be a nice addition.

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