Looking for new salad dressing recipes? Check out my new downloadable e-book packed with a dozen dressing recipes plus tips on DIYing your own homemade dressings!
Salad Dressing Recipes To Make At Home!
Let me introduce you to my newfree e-book: Salad Dressing Recipes To Make At Home!
I’m a Registered Dietitian who loves salads, but I am very picky about the dressings I put on top. I would rather have my greens plain than dripping with many of the mass-produced store bought dressings out there. (I can’t think of anything worse than fat-free french or ranch dressing!)
When I make salads at home, you’ll find me making my own homemade salad dressings.
Sometimes they are super simple (drizzle of this and that) and sometimes they are blended and stored to last all week long in my fridge.
Why an e-book?
I actually made this e-book for myself…. (Well, sort of!)
When I couldn’t remember the exact combo of a dressing I had shared before, I often found myself searching my own site. To make that a bit easier, I started to collect my own dressing recipes in a Note on my phone. I realized that some of you might enjoy a downloadable version of the recipes too, and BOOM – I started designing them into an e-book.
In the book you’ll find a collection of my favorite salad dressings. Some of them are staples (White Balsamic) and some of them are reserved for special seasons (Every Herb Dressing is great in the summer!). While I make some more than others, they are all refreshing and delicious!
What kinds of salad dressing recipes are inside?
A dozen of my go-tos from my everyday house dressing to more off-the-beaten path ones like red pepper jelly and sesame soy dressings.
The Salad Dressing Recipes
- Every herb salad dressing
- Lemon garlic salad dressing
- Creamy herb salad dressing
- Sesame soy salad dressing
- Red pepper salad dressing
- Fresh lime salad dressing
- Caesar dressing
- White balsamicvinaigrette
- Citrus spice salad dressing
- Smashed avocado salad dressing
- Spicy honey mustard salad dressing
- Avocado, cilantro lime dressing
They’re all organized with ingredients, ratios, and links to the corresponding blog posts if you care to make them with a salad I recommend.
My Favorite Dressing Ingredients
It’s hard to describe the perfect “thickness” of a dressing. You want it thinner than oil and thicker than vinegar.
The better the olive oil the better the dressing, so look for something special that you only use for dressings (don’t use your good oil for cooking – you’ll lose all the taste!)
A variety of vinegars in your pantry will help you with the base: red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and white wine vinegar.
Dijon mustard is the most commonly used emulsifier that brings together the oil and vinegar. I think fresh garlic – in small doses – takes dressing to the next level.
When I don’t want to commit to garlic breath, I add a little garlic powder instead of a fresh clove. I do think lots of lemon tends to cancel out garlic, so adding fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest can help balance out the harshness. That said, I do use a small amount of garlic clove from time to time!
Fresh herbs are great both on and in salads, and whenever I have them in the garden I use them generously.
Greek yogurt makes a great base for a lighter healthy salad dressing, like my Every Herb recipe.
And finally, little sweetness from maple or honey is my secret ingredient!
Don’t forget salt and pepper 😉
What’s an ideal ratio of oil to vinegar?
Generally the magicratio of oil to vinegar is 3:1. This matters more if you’re making a big jar of dressing to keep on hand, but it’s a good ratio to shoot for in smaller batches too. Many people accidentally too much vinegar!
The oil is what brings the luxurious richness to your green salad and some healthy fats to your diet. While you might not want to glug it on, using a little dressing prepared in the right ratio will bring out the best in your greens and your health.
Another good rule of thumb is to use1 tablespoon of dressing for 1.5 cups of greens. You don’t want a soggy salad, and remember you can always add more after your first round of tossing. So if you have 6 cups of greens, that’s about a quarter cup of dressing.
A handy guide for DIYing a recipe of your own
How To Make A Homemade Salad Dressing
A Blender
Nothing will emulsify your dressing like a blender! You’ll need one for the recipes that use fresh herbs.
I like a stick blender so you can measure, blend, and store all in one. Then you can pop the blender base in the dishwasher. If you don’t have a stick blender, a regular blender will do just fine. You’ll want to be sure you have enough liquid to really give the ingredients a whirl.
A Mason Jar
Most of the time I just shake ingredients in a mason jar with the lid tightly on, especially if I’m just making enough for 1-2 salads. Super quick and easy!
In The Bowl
Sometimes when I’m just making a single salad for myself I make the dressing right in the bowl I’m going to eat it in. I put my dressing ingredients in the bottom, whisk with my fork, add the greens on top and toss as best I can without too many leaves jumping ship. No extra bowls or jars required!
Get The Recipes!
It’s FREE and you can enter your email here and I’ll send it right to ya!
You’ll also get a few of my favorite salad recipes to go with it right to your inbox.
