I’ve never understood why anyone would buy ready-made salad dressing. Salad dressing is incredibly easy to make and most likely, you already have the ingredients in your cupboards. I highly recommend learning a few simple salad dressings as a way to not only continue your efforts to reduce buying processed food, but also to increase your cooking pleasure and save money. Plus, you will save space in your refrigerator because you will no longer have 15 jars of ancient, crusty, half-used salad dressing in the side door.
If you learn even one great salad dressing and how to vary it, I believe you’ll never go back to store-bought again. Here are seven basic vinaigrette salad dressings using olive oil, which is my personal preference. Remember, any recipe is a sum of its parts, so it’s worth doing a little research to find a favorite olive oil, balsamic vinegar or Dijon mustard. I generally try to make only enough dressing for one salad and make it fresh every time, although I believe it will store for a day or two in the refrigerator.
For all of these examples, the directions are the same. I have to admit, I tend to simply measure all the ingredients in a measuring bowl, stir briskly with a whisk and toss with the salad. However, technically, you should combine all the ingredients except the oil and then slowly pour the oil in while whisking to form a perfect temporary emulsion of the oil and vinegar.
Everyone has slightly different taste, so remember to taste the vinaigrette first and make any subtle, necessary adjustments before serving. I’ve read a good rule of thumb is to use three parts oil to one part vinegar (although here I’ve used more like five to one.) And I prefer using kosher salt, but any table salt will do.
With garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
With Dijon mustard
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
With lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T white balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
Fresh cracked pepper
With soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp soy sauce or tamari
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Fresh cracked pepper
With shallot & dill
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T white wine or Chardonnay vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 small shallot, minced
1 tsp chopped dill
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
With fresh herbs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 T freshly chopped herbs (such as parsley & thyme)
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
With apple cider vinegar & honey
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
Pinch of kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Image: Cookthinker