I have pretty much always made our own salad dressing. It’s such a habit now I forget that many buy their dressings. Growing up my mother would often make her own, but she would also buy it frequently, so I grew up with both.
But I first became interested in making my own because of the health benefits. Store bought, even some of the organic “healthy” brands are often full of inferior oils, additives, and MSG. But I have also realized the frugal aspect of making your own. It really is a lot cheaper. The third benefit is taste. I have grown to love homemade dressing.
Some of our favorite dressings are made with red wine vinegar, but I became interested in using raw apple cider vinegar instead for it’s many health benefits. However it seemed a little weaker to me. So I developed the following recipe that we now enjoy. Another benefit is that apple cider vinegar is the cheapest vinegar I can buy organic. I love when a more healthy choice is also cheaper (it doesn’t happen often!).
I make this once a week and keep it in the fridge. I find that different families like different ratios of oil to vinegar. The classic ratio to two thirds oil to one third vinegar. Start there and tinker to taste. You can also use other vinegars and follow the same recipe.
Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 tablespoon of whole grain mustard or djion type mustard
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
I don’t sweeten this at all, but for those not used to the bite of a vinegar dressing, you might need to. To sweeten, add:
A pinch of Stevia, or 2-4 teaspoons of sugar or natural sweetener
Combine all ingredients and mix well before using.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the versatility of homemade salad dressing too. I have my basic cider vinaigrette, but it’s so easy to customize the unique flavors to the flavors of what we’re eating for the evening.
Thanks for the recipe! I am experimenting with different recipes lately as well…I will have to try this one! This week I made a wonderful ceasar dressing, we both enjoyed it!
My recipe is similar and I like using Tahini in mine as well, to add a bit of calcium
Erin, Yum! That sounds good. I never thought of Tahini. I use it in hummus and I always like that.
Lindsay,
I like Ceasar dressing a lot. I, at some point, will probably share the one that we like a lot.
One more note on this dressing, I often make mine with much more vinegar, but I have found that most people can’t handle it. So really do play around with the recipe to see what tastes good to you. It’s meant to be a starting point, with the classic ratio of oil to vinegar, but every seems to like it a little differently.
Homemade dressing is far superior in my (expert, of course
) opinion. Thanks for the dressing idea! Yours sounds tasty.
I am french and make my salad dressing as a bulk…goes for 2 or three weeks knowing we have some kind of salad every meal.
I mix all kinds of different oils with my cider vinager. I put a real oinion and real garlic and already made mustard…some soja sauce…sometimes a bit of water…then I go trough it with the fodd processor,( the one you use to make soup)it mixes it all very well. All my kids are ever so found of salad dressing….
hey!!
so everytime i come over this is one of my favorite things you make so i was very excited to find it on here! i made this last night to bring to someones house and it was a huge hit (the wife was pregnant and it fit her craving for vinager)! thank you
-heidi
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I am looking forward to trying it. How long does it keep?
It’s delicious without the sweetening! Thanks!
Thank you. I just have one question. What about the onion powder? Is it healthy to use? or do you use some special kind?
could you use dry herbs? I know they aren’t as tasty, and I would love to use more fresh herbs in my cooking, but they are so expensive, and atm I don’t even have a place to put a pot for growing herbs. I’m working on changing that, but in the meantime….
also, for a very light, subtle dressing, the classic is 6 parts oil to 1 part vinegar! (Its actually really good, and as I said, subtle. but not everyone likes it.)
Caroline,
I always use dried herbs! I must have forgotten to put that in when I first posted this, so I added it in.
6 parts oil to one part vinegar! WOW! I love vinegar, so I don’t know if I could handle that, but I bet it’s really mild.
After eating my leafy greens in salads all summer and fall, I was ready for a change but didn’t want to give up eating the leafy goodness. I haven’t usually been excited about the taste of cooked greens, but for some reason I thought this dressing would taste great with them, and it did! Great recipe, wonderful site!
Thanks for this recipe, I put it on my salad and was quite upset when there was no more salad to eat. It was extremely tasty!
I like making my own dressings too. I like to change up the oils, you might like to try (organic) Rice Bran Oil, it’s got a nice clean taste, and is very healthy too. Also a better alternative to olive oil for frying. I even use it as a skin moisturizer, after infusing with calendula petals.
One problem I’ve encountered with olive oil dressings is that they solidify in the frig. What is the best way to keep them liquid? I usually run my dressing bottle under hot water until it softens up, but I was just curious if there was an easier way?