Green Goddess Miso Sauce (For Salads, Seafood, and More)

This green goddess miso sauce is light, flavorful, and refreshing. All you need are 7 ingredients and 5 minutes. Enjoy it on salads, seafood, and bowls.

This green miso sauce is not your typical miso sauce—and I have a feeling you’re going to fall in love with it. It’s delicious, fresh, savory, slightly sweet, and slightly salty, and it comes with a bit of a health kick. It also contains a secret ingredient I can bet you’d never, in a million years, think to add to a miso sauce. And that’s what gives this recipe the X factor and brings all of the flavors together perfectly.

What I love most about making an all-purpose miso sauce or dressing is that it’s very quick and easy—only a few common ingredients are required (this recipe has only seven), and it will usually take five minutes or less until you’ve got a delicious dipping sauce or salad dressing on the table.

Now, suppose you appreciate having a good umami-flavored condiment on hand. In that case, you’ve likely drowned at least a few of your veggie, tofu, chicken, fish, or stir fry dishes in miso sauce already and therefore, know the ins and outs of using miso in your recipes. If that’s the case, feel free to skip to the bottom of this article for the recipe. Unless, of course, you’d like some miso education and fun facts.

What is Miso Paste and Which Type of Miso Should You Use?

Miso paste is simply fermented soybeans or soybean paste. This salty, umami-flavored, rich Asian condiment is used in all kinds of recipes, from the obvious miso soup to stir-fried sauces and gravies, and it’s added to the broth for noodle dishes like ramen. It can be fermented for various lengths of time (which will impact the color and flavor of the miso) and paired with other ingredients like rice, barley, or even seaweed, which will also impact the miso’s taste and appearance. All miso paste is made with salt and a starter called koji, both of which are required for the fermentation process.

When you go to the grocery store or Amazon to pick up miso paste, you’ll see a few different types of miso. The most common are:

• White (Shiro) Miso: the mildest in flavor and slightly sweet.
• Red (Aka) Miso: the strongest and most pungent in flavor.
• Yellow (Shinshu) Miso: the middle ground between white and red miso.

In terms of flavor, most people agree yellow is the most versatile and palatable in recipes, which is why I chose to use it for this green miso sauce. However, white miso is included in many sauces, miso glazes, or miso dressings because of its mildness. This may be a good option for you if you prefer a lighter miso flavor that’s also got a hint of natural sweetness. If you’ve tried red miso paste in your sauces before and loved it, feel free to use that as well. Don’t let me hold you back!

You may also be pleased to know that this delicious Asian condiment is low in sodium. It contains vitamin A, calcium, digestive enzymes, potassium, and probiotics, so it’s a seasoning you can forever feel good about using. It’s also naturally dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free.

Now, a typical miso sauce will usually include ingredients such as garlic, fresh ginger, toasted sesame oil, mirin (a Japanese rice wine), tamari or soy sauce, maple syrup, and rice vinegar, all thinned out with warm water as needed. You can usually just combine these ingredients in a small bowl with no blending required. For this sauce recipe, I wanted to try something entirely different, so you will need a blender.

This green miso sauce is made with yellow miso (or white if you choose), fresh parsley, chives, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and… Are you ready for it? Green kiwi. Yes! The green kiwi adds just a hint of sweetness and freshness which not only balances out the salty, umami, and bitter flavors of the other ingredients but makes it an even more versatile miso sauce to add to lighter dishes.

How to Make Green Goddess Miso Sauce Step by Step

1. Gather all the ingredients. You’ll need white or yellow miso paste, green herbs like parsley and chives, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, green kiwi, and water to thin. 
2. Blend until smooth. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Add water as you go to reach your preferred consistency. 
3. Store properly. Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready to use. 

Please note that you can easily double the recipe to make a bigger batch with the same amount of prep time. This green miso sauce can last in the fridge for at least five days. I’ve left it in the fridge for longer. The green color turned less vibrant, but the taste was still divine.

What to Do with This Green Goddess Miso Sauce

So, what can you do with this green miso sauce, and what’s to love about it? It works beautifully as a salad dressing, and the vibrant green color would be the perfect “green goddess” bowl addition for flavor and aesthetics. It can be used as a marinade, pairs well with fish (I used it with sea bass), and as a seafood dip. This green miso sauce lasts for at least five days when stored in an airtight container, so you know you’ll have a good dressing to turn to all week.

Note that the thickness of your green miso sauce is entirely up to you and the type of dish you’re using it for. You can control the thickness with the amount of warm water you add to the mix. This green miso sauce recipe is medium-thick, but you can adjust it however you’d like.

If you use it as a dipping sauce or salad dressing, the serving size is between one and two tablespoons. To use it as a marinade, three tablespoons for each 6-oz fish fillet is a good amount. 

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