26 of Our Tastiest Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the number one salad dressing in the world? ›

Ranch Dressing

The ranch is hands down America's most beloved salad dressings. It is made from a number of ingredients such as buttermilk, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, onion, chives, salt, and pepper. A creamier and richer version often features sour cream or yogurt for enhanced taste.

Simple balsamic vinaigrette. Balsamic vinegar is full of flavour and olive oil is full of unsaturated fats which, when consumed in moderation, are good for your heart health.

Raw herbs, such as basil, tarragon, sage, rosemary, summer and winter savory, mint, lemon balm and lemon verbena all add intense bits of flavor and spice to a dressing; consider them chopped super-fine and added to the dressing, or torn and scattered as a topping on the salad.

The French have decided that the perfect ratio for a vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. For my personal taste, that's a little too oily — but it's totally up to you. My simple system is: In a small screw-top jar, place vinegar and a pinch of salt; cover and shake (this helps to dissolve the salt).

French dressing is the oldest one on our list, but vinegar and oil dressing goes back nearly two-thousand years to ancient Babylonia.

Harris-Pincus explains, "Those looking to follow a lower-carb plan or people watching added sugars would do better avoiding sweeter dressings like Honey Mustard, Thousand Island, French or Catalina, and choose oil and vinegar or a balsamic vinaigrette."

A good extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar salad dressing is one of the better dressings for a salad. Try buying a good extra virgin olive oil. Buy a Greek extra virgin olive oil or Californian extra virgin olive.

Adding dressing, condiments, or cheese will not remove vegetable nutrients. Adding those extra ingredients to your vegetables will not give them less fiber or less vitamins. By adding cheese to your vegetables, you'll add some protein to it, which will help make them more satisfying.

CD Kitchen explains that subpar vinegars can create bitter, harsh vinaigrettes. Adding too much vinegar (or lemon juice) can also muck up the acid-to-oil ratio, creating a dressing that's simply too strong for the greens. If this happens, add a pinch of baking soda to quell the bitterness (via Wonder How-To).

Should you put dressing on salad the night before? ›

Dress half your salad with half your dressing the night before, and pack the other half of the salad and the dressing for lunch.

According to a 2017-2018 study by The Association for Dressings and Sauces, ranch is the most-popular dressing in the country. (Italian, blue cheese, thousand island and Caesar round out the top five.) Ranch dressing was invented in the 1950's by Steve Henson.

ACID: Traditionally, vinaigrettes are made with vinegar, often one derived from wine. But any kind of acidic ingredient can fill in, including citrus juice, tomato puree or soy sauce. OIL: The oil in a vinaigrette can be neutral, such as grapeseed, or nutty, such as walnut.

Caesar Salad

It is a popular choice in many American restaurants and is often served as a side dish or a main course.

To dress a salad in Italy is simplicity itself: extra virgin olive oil, salt, and vinegar – but t's not as easy as it looks.