This Japanese Tofu and Seaweed Salad is healthy, quick to make, and perfect for a light dinner. Enjoy with homemade ginger and soy sauce dressing.

Wanna try a tofu and seaweed salad, but don't know where to begin? This recipe is for you.
Tofu has virtually no flavor of its own, so it easily absorbs the flavors, and seaweed provides an extra boost in texture while also adding nutrients such as calcium!
This healthy and quick salad is the perfect way to end your day. The homemade ginger dressing on top tastes so good, you will want it in every meal!
- This recipe is for you if:
- You love tofu and Japanese food.
- You are looking for tofu salad recipe.
- You are looking for Japanese seaweed recipe.
All right, let me show you how to make this healthy salad. If you want to check the recipe, please jump to the recipe card below. Let's get started!
Jump to:
About this recipe
- Tofu and seaweed salad
- Healthy salad recipe
- Homemade ginger dressing
Quick Guide for Tofu

Don't know much about tofu? Here's the low down: you can find two types at stores - silken and firm.
Silken (Kinu) is soft, easy to break as it contains more water; Firm (Momen) is condensed with a richer taste and slight nutritional difference, which shouldn't be your priority for purchase decision anyways.
Which tofu for salad?
Which tofu should I buy for the salad? Firm or silken?
Actually, both are great for salad. If you like silky texture, pick silky tofu. If you like firm texture, pick firm tofu. It's your personal preference.
I always stock firm tofu as I might want to use it for various dishes such as nuggets, teriyaki, quiche, dip, so I use firm tofu in this recipe.
Can I eat raw tofu?
Yes! Japanese tofu salad usually has raw, uncooked tofu in the dish.
If you're a tofu lover, then we have the perfect Japanese appetizer for you. "Hiyayakko" is made with raw tofu and your choice of toppings like shredded nori or chopped scallion to give it extra flavor-it's also seasoned with soy sauce!
📋 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients (amounts are in the recipe card below).

- Tofu: You can choose either firm or silken. I use firm tofu in this recipe.
- Seaweed Mix: You can buy a package with mixed dried seaweed. I will explain in the following section.
- Green vegetables: I like lettuce, sprout, spinach, but any green vegetables are good.
- Dressing: This is a blend of ginger, vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. You can try it with this creamy sesame dressing also. Just salt and olive oil work well, too, or use store-bought dressing if you're not in the mood to make your own.
Seaweed Mix

We have a wide variety of seaweed to choose from, such as wakame, hijiki, nori and kombu. You can find them in various dishes, from the savory miso soup to the seasoned rice.
Seaweed contains many minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron, etc., plus it has high amounts of dietary fiber, which helps keep your digestive system functioning properly.
This seaweed mix is the perfect addition to any salad. It's super healthy and comes with several different types of dried seaweed in a variety of colors- brightening up your lunch or dinner even more!

This package includes 7 different seaweeds, and here's the picture! These are great for not just salads but also miso soup. You can find seaweed mix at your local Asian grocery store or online.
🔪Instructions
Let me walk you through how to make it step by step. You can also watch this video.

- Soak seaweed for 10 minutes and drain
- Cut tofu and green vegetables (Drain tofu and no need to press it)
- Make ginger dressing (Blend all the dressing ingredients in a bottle by shaking)
- Serve (Green vegetables, tofu, seaweed, and dressing on the top)

I'm ready to dig in! Quick, easy, and healthy Japanese tofu and seaweed salad are here. I can't wait for you to try it out with me!
Thanks For Stopping By

You can change the dressing, the type of seaweed or vegetables added to your salad. It's totally customizable. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Thank you for taking time to read my blog♡ If you’ve tried this recipe(or any other recipe on the blog), please give it a star rating below!
Also feel free to leave comments if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!
Chef JA Cooks is a Japanese food blog that shares simple and healthy Japanese home cooking recipes include vegan and vegetarian. From traditional Japanese recipes to modern recipes with step-by-step instructions.
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📖 Recipe

Japanese Tofu and Seaweed Salad
Print Pin RateIngredients
- ½ Firm Tofu, 150g
- 1 tablespoon Dried Seaweed Mix
- Green vegetables of your choice
Ginger Dressing
- ½ clove Ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoon Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
Instructions
- Soak seaweed: Soak dried seaweed mix in the water for 10 minutes and drain.
- Cut ingredients: Cut tofu into bite-size and cut green vegetables.
- Dressing: Put all the dressing ingredients in a small bottle, put the lid on and shake to blend.
- Serve: Place green vegetables on a plate, tofu, and seaweed in order, pour some dressing over.
Video
Notes
- Substitute: If you can't find a seaweed mix, finding dried wakame or dried hijiki would be easier. You can just use one single seaweed.
- Dressing: You can also try this creamy sesame dressing also. Just salt and olive oil work well, too, or use store-bought dressing if you're not in the mood to make your own.
- No need to press tofu for this salad, but if you like extra-firm tofu, follow how to press tofu instructions.
- Pick any green vegetables you like. I used lettuce and mizuna in this recipe.
Li
Seems tasty! Could you be more specific about "seaweed mix"? Maybe even show a pic of the package. I don"t read Japanese & the kanji can be overwhelming. I did discover little sticks of seasoned konbu packaged in separate small packages.
Chef JA
Thank You for your comment, Li! I added some photo of seaweed mix and hope they help. Any more questions, please let me know!
Kimi Reith
Chef JA,
Thanks for posting your tofu/seaweed salad recipe. Delicious! I’ve been eating variations of it all week.
Your labeled photos ID’ing various types of seaweed are also useful. So far, I’ve only been able to locate fresh seaweed—actually kelp, maybe kombu? It’s a little strong for salad, so now, based on your photos, I’m going to send away for dried seaweeds of the kinds I know I like.
I also made your ginger/ rice vinegar dressing. It’s very tasty, though I cut out 1/2 the sugar. So handy to keep a jar of it in the fridge that I can add to salad dressing every day! Your YouTube demonstration was blessedly short and easy to follow.
Yours,
Kimi
Chef JA
Wow,thank you so much for trying my recipes, Kimi! I got excited to see your comment:)
I'm so glad you like them! It's easy to buy dried seaweed here but I wasn't sure people out of Japan can get dried seaweed. It is good to know that you can arrange my recipes to your taste.
Thank you.
Pixie
Beautiful thank you except we didn’t need the sugar added into the ginger dressing.
Juri Austin
Thank you for your comment, Pixie!! Yup, feel free to omit the sugar!