This fresh Korean spinach salad is super simple and quick to make. This salad is healthy and made with simple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now. When you’re in need of a quick fresh side dish with Asian flavors, whip this one up.
Spinach is nutritious
This recipe uses fresh spinach, which gives you a boost of nutrients while also being tasty. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a 100-gram serving of spinach contains 28.1 micrograms of vitamin C, which is 34 percent of the daily recommendation. In an article by Medical News Today, it states, “the possible health benefits of consuming spinach include improving blood glucose control in people with diabetes, lowering the risk of cancer, and improving bone health, as well as supplying minerals and vitamins that can provide a range of different benefits.”
Easy soy sauce-based dressing
The dressing is soy sauce based with a bit of heat from the red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru). This dressing is regularly used in our household. If we don’t have fresh spinach on hand, we’ll even just use spring mix lettuce with this dressing. This dressing is really good on almost all types of leafy greens.
Ingredients needed for this recipe
- Fresh spinach
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Red chili pepper flakes (Gochugaru)
- White sugar
- Fish sauce
- Sesame oil
- Soy sauce
- Clove of garlic
- Green onion
- Toasted sesame seeds
How to make this fresh spinach salad
Step 1: Prep the spinach
Rinse spinach a few times with cold water in a colander. Make sure the water runs clear to ensure the spinach is clean.
Step 2: Make the dressing
Let’s make the soy sauce-based dressing. Add minced garlic, thinly sliced green onion, salt, black pepper, red chili pepper flakes, sugar, fish sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a medium-sized bowl (large enough for the ½ lb of spinach that will be added later), mix well and leave aside.
Step 3: Mix spinach and dressing together
Cut rinsed & drained spinach into half-inch pieces and add to the bowl with the dressing. Gently mix spinach and dressing together. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Enjoy!
Serving suggestions
Serve this side salad with just about any main dish. This would pair really well with our Korean steamed egg (Gyeran Jjim) recipe and a bowl of freshly steamed white rice. Yum!
Need more side dish recipes?
- Korean Stir-Fried Fernbrake Side Dish (Gosari Namul 고사리나물)
- Easy Asian Pan-Fried Zucchini
- Easy Napa Cabbage Korean Kimchi – Cut-Up Kimchi
- Korean Stir-fried Spicy Fish Cakes
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Fresh Korean Spinach Salad
This salad is healthy and made with simple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now. When you’re in need of a quick fresh side dish with Asian flavors, whip this one up.
Ingredients
- ½ lb fresh spinach
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp red chili pepper flakes (Gochugaru)
- ¼ tsp white sugar
- ½ tsp fish sauce
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 stem of green onion, thinly sliced
- Pinch of sesame seeds
Instructions
- Rinse spinach a few times with cold water in a colander. Make sure the water runs clear to ensure the spinach is clean.
- Let’s make the soy sauce-based dressing. Add minced garlic, thinly sliced green onion, salt, black pepper, red chili pepper flakes, sugar, fish sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a medium-sized bowl (large enough for the ½ lb of spinach that will be added later), mix well and leave aside.
- Cut the rinsed & drained spinach into half-inch pieces and add to the bowl with the dressing.
- Gently mix spinach and dressing together. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
- It’s now ready to serve! It’s that easy!
Notes
Don’t be rough when you’re mixing the spinach and soy sauce-based dressing together. The spinach could become mushy and bruised - make sure to gently mix it.
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