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Making your own homemade salad dressings can actually be fairly simple, and the taste is far superior to the store bought stuff. Plus most packaged salad dressings are full of unnecessary additives (including refined sweeteners) that you would never cook with at home…so this is a great place to start when it comes to making the switch to real food. Below is a super simple recipe for the pictured Mustard Vinaigrette along with some other tips and recipes to keep your salads fresh and fun!
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First of all, I must share:
The Best Salad Dressing Invention Ever!
This bottle may not look like much, but detailed on the side are 8 different salad dressing recipes in a “fill to here” type fashion. It does call for some refined oils and such, but nothing that can’t easily be substituted for more whole ingredients. The recipes include Asian, Caesar, French, Greek, Italian, Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinaigrette, and Honey Mustard – all which you can make and store in this bottle. We’ve had ours for several years now and it’s as good as new – we absolutely love it! And many of our family and friends now have one of these salad dressing bottles as well because one holiday season I went a little crazy and bought one for just about everybody I know. I just love practical gifts and at less than $9 a pop this one is hard to beat. :)
Okay, so back to recipes. Here are a few easy ones to get you started…along with the vinaigrette below!
- Blue Cheese Dressing
- Ranch Dip (can also be thinned out with milk to be more of a dressing)
- Honey Mustard (equal parts honey and mustard)
- Also, don’t forget – just plain Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar!
Simple Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 pinch paprika
- pepper to taste
Instructions
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Pour all ingredients into a small mason jar. Put on the lid and shake vigorously (i.e. emulsify) until well blended.
Store the dressing in the jar in the fridge - the oil will harden when cold so be sure to let it sit out or warm it up a bit each time before using.
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Is there an alternate oil that can be used in this dressing or in ones like a vinaigrette or balsamic vinaigrette other than olive oil…maybe one that is a bit more budget friendly?
Hi Tiffany. Olive oil is really such a healthy oil to use in dressings. I would suggest cutting back rather than cutting it out. Avocado oil is another good option for dressings with a neutral flavor but the cost is similar.
I prefer grape seed oil
Hei Tiffany. Put a teaspoon of good quality virgine oil on a small piece of white bread and taste it. Do the same with any other oil so you know by taste the different oils. When I do not want the olive taste in my dressing I use rapeseed or sunflower oil and then put the taste I want into it. For instance with salad and game patee I do not like the olive oil taste. There I use a simple chutney like dressing, maybe cherry jam, chili,garlic and oil. With duck salad I use plum jam, chili, garlic and oil. AND. Never serve anything with more than 5 ingridients.
The recipe is perhaps fine as is, but it must match the right salad. It’s taste is actually quite mild and must be matched with greens that themselves are mild (spinach, iceberg, romaine, green leaf). In a salad with bitter greens (dandelion, escarole, etc.), veggie greens (radish, carrots, etc.), and/or strongly flavored veggies (red onion, bell pepper, etc.), this is not the right dressing, getting overpowered by the tastes of the salad items themselves to the point that besides a ‘wetting’ of the greens, it doesn’t add its own flavor.
The idea is a good one, and playing with ratios will fix it if you like bitter greens in your salads (more vinegar and/or a stronger vinegar, more and/or a stronger mustard, like spicy brown).
I am wondering if I can substitute mustard seeds or powdered mustard for the prepared mustard. I must eliminate sugar/vinegar from my diet. If so, how much would I add? I also plan to substitute lemon juice for the vinegar. Thanks!
Hi Margie. That is not something we’ve tired but I think mustard powder should work. This might help in making the substitution: http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/cooking-questions/dry-mustard-vs-prepared-mustard. Let us know how it goes.
Is there away to increase the other ingredients or just add less oilive oil?
Hi. You can decrease the olive oil if you’d like. It will have a stronger vinegar and mustard taste.
Is it absolutely necessary to put homemade vinaigrettes in the fridge if all of the ingredients are normally stored out of the fridge? I’m just trying to save time by not having to thaw the dressing every time I want to use it. Thanks!
Hi. Yes, if you want to extend its shelf life for a few days.
I use either whole grain mustard or dijon (instead of the yellow mustard) and sometimes I use dried shallots (that I get at World Market) if I’m worried about being stinky after eating it with garlic, lol.
Hi, how long can each of these be stored in the fridge, approximately. Thanks!