I like to make salad dressings (not a fan of store-bought dressings). I do a great Caesar dressing, a good Asian sesame-ginger dressing, and a solid balsamic vinaigrette. What are some other simple salad dressings one can make at home with readily available ingredients?
As a kid, my mother would mix a glop of mayo with a splurt of ketchup. Thousand Island!
A good quickie dressing is olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a nice coarse mustard. Seasoning to taste (salt, pepper, garlic).
For a nicoise salad I make this one:
1/4 C lemon juice (2 lemons)
1 shallot, minced
2 tsp each chopped oregano, basil, thyme
1/2 tsp salt
a small grind of black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
It’s supposed to have dijon mustard in it as well but I dislike both mustard and mayo so I skip it.
My wife loves it.
Here’s something that I stumbled on that’s fantastic as a salad dressing:
A couple of tablespoons of TOASTED walnut oil
A couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
That’s all.
A very nice creamy salad dressing is based on about a 3:1 mix of plain yogurt and mayonnaise, thinned with lemon juice. Pep it up with minced garlic, cumin, herbs, whatever you like.
Some years ago, I had a quick lunch at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, ordered a salad that came with their own dressing. It was spectacular!
I badgered the kitchen staff for the dressing recipe. They shared the ingredients but not the proportions. I reverse-engineered a few times and came up with a good approximation. It’s a little work (not much) and very worth it!
1/2 cup of basil leaves, bruised
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TB honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
Steep olive oil in bruised basil leaves overnight. Remove basil. Add remaining ingredients and emulsify with a whisk. Will keep refrigerated for awhile.
It’s especially nice in a salad made with tender greens such as Butter lettuce.
I agree with the lemon-juice-and-olive-oil base, with herbs and such added in. This is my basic dressing for summer salads. It’s really good on a fresh tomato/onion/lettuce salad.
I’ve also done a Greek salad thing, with feta, lemon juice, yogurt, olive oil, oregano, salt, black pepper, and such, whirled in a blender and poured over romaine/tomato/olive/red onions. It’s not exactly Authentic Athenian Cuisine, but it’s pretty tasty.
Thanks for the ideas, everyone!
Here’s a dumbed down one:
2 parts catalina dressing, 1 part red wine vinegar.
I only submit this one for the amateurs to get their feet wet. 
This one I made up because I was trying to capture the taste of a salad dressing I had at a Korean buffet.
Spicy Sesame dressing
1/4 cup oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
A good dollop of Sambal Oelek (a fiery chili-garlic sauce) or garlic Srirach
Whisk it all up. It’s meant to be a bit salty, but you can cut back on the soy sauce if you like. There’s no vinegar or other acid in this. It’s terrific if you’re serving an Asian meal and the other meal components are sweet and you don’t want to repeat the sweetness in the salad.
If you want to get all fancy, Green Goddess is a helluva dressing. Takes a bit of effort to make it, though.
I ain’t typing out a recipe, just google it.
How do I clean my feet afterwards? And… Socks, or no socks?
This is not a healthy or low fat recipe but it is darn good. My dad got this from a guy he knew in the Air Force who used to be the chef for LBJ and said this was the dressing he made for him. I don’t have the exact measurements but I’ll try to estimate (just make it to the consistency you want).
Mayo - roughly a cup
The “dregs” from a bottle of Italian dressing (if you don’t have a mostly empty bottle you can use a package of Good Seasons)
Blue Cheese crumbles (to taste)
Buttermilk - as much as you need to get it to the consistency you want
Simple, but tasty. It really is best using the dregs from a bottle. My dad would always get excited when we had a bottle of Italian that was almost empty because that was his cue to make blue cheese dressing.
Maple syrup can make a wonderful dressing ingredient. We start with spinach leaves, topped with feta cheese, pine nuts, and pomegranate pips. Then add our fave dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Blend together and pour over the salad
I used to marinate a crushed garlic clove in olive oil for a few days and then strain the garlic out, I tend to let salad dressings sit far too long in the refrigerator - then add vinegar, parmesan, salt and pepper, onion powder, and oregano. And a bit of sugar, just enough to take the edge off the sour. Now I just buy a bottle of garlic infused olive oil, there is a local shop here that sells nothing but flavored oil and vinegars.
I love my dressing:
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of raw honey
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon of fresh garlic (not powder)
salt and pepper to taste
I like to put a small avocado in the Ninja along with a dollop of mayo or sour cream, lime juice, garlic, cumin, onion, and jalapenos and whirl it around.
A fire roasted red pepper, some walnuts or cashews, and balsamic vinegar make a good dressing in the Ninja, too. Add some sriracha if you like spicy or just want to be trendy.
Get anchovy paste to make green goddess. There are some recipes that just call for tarragon and spring onion, but you really need the fish.
BeeGee,that sounds wonderful!
That can cause botulism, unfortunately.
This remoulade from Emeril is great as a salad dressing once you thin it out a bit.