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Olive oil being poured into a Mason jar with a hand blender in it, surrounded by lettuce, garlic and a whisk.

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
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

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.