Store bought salad dressings are expensive and packed with artificial flavorings. These Homemade Salad Dressings are easy to whip up, delicious and perfect for any salad. From herby, to mustard and Asian to yogurt, there’s a dressing for everyone!
Why These Homemade Salad Dressing Are So Good
- Less expensive from store bought.
- Healthier than store bought
- Easy to whip up.
- A great range of dressings and flavors.
Ingredients
Herb Salad Dressing
- Soft herbs like basil, chervil chives and dill
- Garlic clove
- White wine vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Unrefined sugar
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
Yogurt Salad Dressing
- Plain yogurt
- Garlic clove
- Chive, cilantro, mint leeaves
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
Mustard Salad Dressing
- White wine vinegar
- Whole grain mustard
- Honey
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
Sesame Soy Dressing
- Ginger root
- Garlic clove
- Green chile
- Light soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Peanut oil
- Salt and pepper
How To Make These Homemade Salad Dressings – Step By Step
- To make any of the 4 options, shake the ingredients together in a lidded jar to emulsify, adding 1 tablespoon of water to each.
- Alternatively, whisk everything together in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water, adding the oil in a thin stream while whisking, and season to taste. The splash of water adds lightness.
- In the case of the herb dressing, use a hand blender to blend the ingredients until smooth, if you like. You can then use this as a dip for crudités as well as a dressing.
Four Delicious Dressings!
There’s a dressing for every occasion
- Herb salad dressing – a light and herby dressing that goes well with chicken.
- Yogurt salad dressing – a delicious creamy garlic dressing – great for a caesar style salad.
- Mustard salad dressing – a touch tangy a touch sweet – fantastic to liven up a simple summer salad
- Sesame soy dressing – an asian style dressing, great with fish like salmon.
Easy Homemade Salad Dressings
With just an empty jar and lid, you can shake up a homemade salad dressing in 3 minutes or less. Fresh, homemade salad dressing is not only infinitely tastier, but also without the crazy chemicals and artificial flavorings found in store-bought versions, including: MSG, disodium inosinate, natamycin, artificial coloring….the list goes on and on.
With these four essential salad dressing recipes as a starter base, you can customize to make dozens of your own recipes.
Mix And Match Homemade Salad Dressings
We’re lucky to be able to share with you Alice’s Four Essential Salad Dressing recipes – one of each herb, mustard, yogurt and sesame-soy based. With these base recipes, you can mix/match, substitute your favorite ingredients. Recipe reprinted with permission:
The combinations that follow—herb, yogurt, mustard and sesame- soy—will make easy dressings to fit most moods or ingredients. Each version will make enough to dress a salad or steamed vegetables for four to six people, depending on how generous you are with dressing. Do play with the sharp notes (vinegar) and any sweet elements (honey, sugar and so on), adjusting them to taste as you wish.
Top Tips For These Homemade Salad Dressings
- You can whisk thje ingredients together or make it even easier and just shake ’em up in a jar.
- You can use apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar in these recipes.
- You can use the herb and yogurt dressings as dips too!
Check Out These Delicious Salads
- Shrimp Pad Thai Salad
- Grapefruit, Avocado & Baby Arugula Salad
- Citrus Salad with Crispy Quinoa
- Thai Steak Salad Recipe
Have you tried any of these homemade salad dressing? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Four Homemade Salad Dressings
Ingredients
HERB SALAD DRESSING RECIPE
- Handful of soft herb leaves such as basil, chervil chives, cilantro, dill or parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider red or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch of unrefined sugar if needed
- 5 to 6 tablespoons mild olive or canola oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
YOGURT SALAD DRESSING
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 garlic clove crushed
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chive cilantro or mint leaves, optional
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
MUSTARD SALAD DRESSING
- 2 tablespoons cider red or white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
- 1 to 2 teaspoons honey to taste
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
SESAME SOY SALAD DRESSING
- 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger root
- 1 small garlic clove crushed
- 1 red or green chile deseeded if you like, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- To make any of the 4 options, shake the ingredients together in a lidded jar to emulsify, adding 1 tablespoon of water to each.
- Alternatively, whisk everything together in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water, adding the oil in a thin stream while whisking, and season to taste. The splash of water adds lightness.
- In the case of the herb dressing, use a hand blender to blend the ingredients until smooth, if you like. You can then use this as a dip for crudités as well as a dressing.
Nutrition
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The recipes are from Good Veg: Ebullient Vegetables, Global Flavors – a Modern Vegetarian Cookbook, by Alice Hart, a cookbook with 200 recipes that capture the essence and elegance of vegetables, fruits, and grains.
The cookbook subtitle is so perfect: “ebullient” means “cheerful or full of energy” (don’t worry, I had to look that word up, too). Unlike many vegetarian cookbooks that are contemplative, earthy, somber and restrained, Good Veg is a wild party that celebrates bold flavors (Coconut Raspberry Cakes, Horta on Toast with Sweet Pepper and Chile Jam) and happy global mashups (Chipotle Scotch Eggs with Smoky Tomato Dip, Rice Noodle Salad with Coconut Green Goddess Dressing).
photo credit: Emma Lee
