12 essential salad dressings

Making a salad dressing is one of the easiest skills you can have in your culinary repertoire. With many dressings the ingredients are dumped into a jar & shaken until emulsified. To create one of these dressings takes about five minutes start to finish. For some dressings I might use a small blender but that’s little more taxing than the jar method & really, the blender is doing all your work. Whatever salad you’re hankering for, there’s a dressing here that’ll complement: blended, creamy, fruity & vinaigrettes. Take your pic but here are what I deem the 12 essential salad dressings:

Let’s start with blended dressings, named such because they use a small blender or an immersion blended to process all the ingredients into a silky-smooth dressing. It’s important to note with blended salad dressings to not use extra virgin olive oil, or, if you do, stir it in after the other ingredients are blended. Olive oil becomes bitter with mechanical processing such as a blender or food processor.

BLENDED DRESSINGS

• ginger sesame dressing
• 1/3 cup peanut oil (or canola oil)
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• pinch of salt & pepper
• Place all ingredients in a blender & blend until smooth. Cover & set aside in the fridge until ready to use. Or use an immersion blender. Makes about 2/3 cup.

• caesar dressing
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup canola oil (or avocado oil)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3 anchovies, drained, optional
• 1 fat garlic clove
• pinch of freshly ground pepper
• In small food processor, process all dressing ingredients until smooth. Cover & set aside in the fridge until ready to use. Or use an immersion blender. Makes about 1 cup.

• creamy chipotle
• 1/2 cup plain Yogurt
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• pinch of salt & pepper
• pinch of sugar
• In small food processor, process all dressing ingredients until smooth. Cover & set aside in the fridge until read to use. Or use an immersion blender. Makes about 2/3 cup.

Creamy dressings don’t require a blender, perhaps a whisk & a bowl. Or as is the case with the blue cheese dressing – a saucepan. Creamy dressings can also do double-duty as veggie dips.

CREAMY DRESSINGS

• sriracha coleslaw
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 2 teasoons sriracha
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• pinch salt & pepper
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Makes  about 2/3 cup.

• blue cheese dressing
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 5 oz crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• pinch salt & pepper
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat until the cheese is melted & dressing is smooth. Makes 3/4 cup.

• herb yogurt
• 2/3 cup plain full-fat yogurt
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons snipped chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• pinch of salt & pepper
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Makes  about 3/4 cup.

Fruity dressings – as the name implies, has one or two fruits as a flavor base. Berries, pomegranate, citrus, stone fruit, pineapple, mango, even dried fruit can be used as flavoring. Change these up as you see fit: mango & basil would be a lovely combination but so would mango & mint. Orange Tahini could become pomegranate yogurt. Peanut Lime dressing could morph into almond apricot. You’re only limited by your imagination but as these are what I consider essential salad dressings as in – they will accompany any & all salads, this is a good place to start if you’re more a bottled dressing user – no judgement here.

FRUITY

• raspberry basil
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine or raspberry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• pinch of salt & pepper
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Makes about 1/2 cup.

• orange tahini
• 1/4 cup tahini paste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• pinch of salt & pepper
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Makes about 2/3 cup.

• peanut lime
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Makes about 2/3 cup.

Vinaigrettes are the most common dressings. Called such because they’re essentially an oil & vinegar base with flavorings added (or not). A vinaigrette can be as simple as balsamic vinegar & extra virgin olive oil drizzled over some baby greens. These vinaigrettes – balsamic, Greek & honey mustard are fairly bog standard but a good place to start.

VINAIGRETTES

• balsamic
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (red pepper flakes)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• pinch salt & pepper
• Put all ingredients in a screw-top jar & shake vigorously to combine. Makes about 1/2 cup.

• greek
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• pinch salt & pepper
• Put all ingredients in a screw-top jar & shake vigorously to combine. Makes about 2/3 cup.

• honey mustard
• 1/3 cup olive oil
•  2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• pinch salt & pepper
• Put all ingredients in a screw-top jar & shake vigorously to combine. Makes about 1/2 cup.

Bottled dressings are handy, but read the labels. The majority contain a lofty list of ingredients to keep the dressing from separating, or to help thicken it, or preserve it, enhance the dressing’s flavor…you don’t need any of that crap. The few minutes it takes to make a dressing is worth it. It’s the easiest thing to do & once you’ve mastered the 12 essential salad dressings then it’s unlimited the flavors you can combine. Save the the store-bought stuff for camping & inflight plane meals, make your own dressing. Cheers for now, Lovoni xo

Take a look at our salads – we have pages of delicious salads including Simmer Side Salad makeovers 1 & 2.