Homemade Salad Dressing (Basic Vinaigrette)

Switching to homemade salad dressing is a smart move for gluten free cooks. They’re quick and easy to make, with or without a recipe, and you probably have the ingredients on hand. No label to read, no additives or preservatives. You can't beat that!

Beyond this basic recipe I make many dressings like this Tomato Cumin Dressing, Peanut Dressing and an Asian Dressing, just to name a few. These are some of the unique combinations that I love and repeat year after year. Some more often than others.

Ingredients

By knowing the ratio you can whip us a delicious vinaigrette dressing in the time it takes to read a label. This is a skill that comes in handy every day of the week and even when you're away.

• wine vinegar or lemon juice
• olive oil (extra virgin or any oil of your choice)
• Dijon mustard
• salt & freshly ground pepper

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Instructions

The basic salad dressing recipe is 3:1, three parts oil to one part acid. Once you know the ratio you can measure it in tablespoons or cups.

For a small recipe mix 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar. To make a big batch of dressing use ¾ cup oil and ¼ cup vinegar. I like to measure it right into a Mason jar.

Some mornings I eyeball it into a tiny plastic container for my lunch even though I know it's better when I properly measure it.

Substitutions

Your taste buds ultimately determine the best of anything. Simple recipes with few ingredients is where quality shines.

Olive Oil

Treat yourself to a nice extra virgin olive oil just for salad dressings and see if you can notice a difference. Reserve stronger oils, like walnut oil or sesame oil, as a seasoning only. Substitute a small amount so the ratio is still 3:1 and it will work.

Highly processed refined vegetable oils like canola, corn and sunflower have high levels of omega-6 fatty acids that contribute to inflammation and chronic disease. I'm trying to use olive oil in place of them as much as I can.

Acid

• Juices like lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit or tomato are all acidic and work well in dressing.
• For gluten free it’s best to stick with plain, unseasoned vinegars like red wine, white wine, apple cider, balsamic, sherry or rice.
• Avoid distilled white vinegar. It may be good for cleaning your coffee machine but it’s too harsh for a salad.

Dijon Mustard

Egg yolk, mayonnaise and mustard (I like Dijon mustard) are the most common emulsifiers used to make salad dressing. Whether your dressing is shaken or emulsified with a hand blender, it does make a nicer dressing.

7 Reasons To Make Homemade Salad Dressing

Here are 7 reasons you should make the switch to homemade vinaigrette dressing.

1. You can make just enough dressing for a salad for two and do it in one minute.
2. Make a jar that will last for a month, also in one minute.
3. Vinaigrette dressing keeps forever in the fridge.
4. You can vary the flavours to suit your taste and experiment to find flavour combinations you love.
5. No reading salad dressing labels!
6. Over time you’ll collect recipes that you can repeat for a lifetime. (Click on SALADS in the RECIPES tab to see some of mine.)
7. Your dressing will never contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavours or the additives and preservatives that make it shelf stable.

The Best Emulsifier for Salad Dressing

America’s Test Kitchen adds ½ teaspoon of mayonnaise for its' emulsifying power and ½ teaspoon mustard for the best flavour. If you're interested in understanding the science behind emulsifying here's how they explain it.

this gluten free recipe

Top Tip for Homemade Salad

Dry the lettuce, wet lettuce waters down the dressing and makes a flavourless salad. Then add just the right amount of dressing to avoid a soggy, disappointing salad.

I can't resist adding edible flower petals to make salads look stunning. Check out How To Use Edible Flowers in the Kitchen for more ways to use them and what flowers you can eat.

Homemade Salad Dressing

I love a simple homemade salad dressing, also known as a basic vinaigrette. Get the ratio down and you can vary the ingredients for a year of delicious salads with seasonal ingredients. Make this dressing in 1 minute; anywhere, anytime.

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: Canadian

Keyword: homemade salad dressing

Prep Time: 1 minute minute

Servings: 4 salads

Author: Cinde Little

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon wine vinegar or lemon juice
• ▢ 3 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin or any oil of your choice)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

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Instructions

1 MINUTE SALAD DRESSING

• Measure all ingredients into a Mason jar and shake. Or whisk in a bowl and transfer to a jar.
• Store in the fridge. Keeps indefinitely.

EMULSIFIED DRESSING

• Put vinegar and mustard in a tall blender cup or 2-cup Mason jar. With the blender running drizzle in the oil in a slow, steady stream.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Notes

The acid for a basic vinaigrette dressing is typically lemon juice or vinegar and that gives you a lot of variety to choose from.

• Juices like lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit or tomato are all acidic and work well in dressing.
• For gluten free it’s best to stick with plain, unseasoned vinegars like red wine, white wine, apple cider, balsamic, sherry or rice.
• Avoid distilled white vinegar. It may be good for cleaning your coffee machine but it’s too harsh for a salad.

To get any other flavours you want simply add spices, herbs or any food to either the dressing or the salad.