3 Reasons To Say Goodbye To Store-Bought Salad Dressing

One of the easiest ways to incorporate more healthy oils in your diet is to ditch your bottled salad dressings and make your own! It can sound intimidating if you’ve never tried making salad dressing from scratch before, but we promise it’s easy.

Below we’re sharing some of our favorite salad dressing recipes made with our Extra Virgin Olive Oils and a variety of vinegars.

You can shop online or stop by our location in The Village at Winona in Winona Lake to purchase the oils and vinegars you’ll need for any of these recipes.

Why Homemade Salad Dressing Is Better

Not only does homemade salad dressing generally taste better than the bottled stuff you find in most grocery stores, it’s cheaper in the long run, and can be a healthier choice.

Freshness

Since bottled salad dressings are generally made and packaged well in advance of landing on the supermarket shelves, getting a fresh flavor is nearly impossible, even with vinaigrettes. When you make salad dressings yourself you know how fresh the ingredients are that you’re using…and you can taste the difference!

Cost-Effective

It doesn’t take much olive oil and vinegar to make a delicious salad dressing, which means investing in high-quality ingredients for your dressings is more cost-effective than spending $3-4 on premade bottled dressing every time you want a new flavor.

Healthier

All store-bought salad dressings are manufactured with the intent of having a long shelf life. That means they tend to be full of additives homemade salad dressings don’t need. Homemade dressing is an ideal solution for anyone trying to reduce the amount of sugar, preservatives, and unhealthy fats in their diet.

Our 5 Favorite Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

You can find a general list of some of our favorite oil and vinegar combinations to be used as salad dressings here, but we also wanted to share even more with you! Once you have the basics down, you can mix and match flavors easily.

We recommend picking up a few glass jars to use for salad dressings since these recipes can just be poured into jars and shaken to create delicious dressing.

Also, most homemade salad dressings will last up to 2 weeks in your refrigerator. Sometimes the oil will firm up in the fridge because of the temperature, so just let it sit at room temperature for a few hours before using, or pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Remember to always whisk or shake your dressing before using it!

Classic Vinaigrette

• ⅓ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• Salt & Pepper to taste

You can add even more flavor to this classic vinaigrette with a few tablespoons of freshly chopped soft herbs (parsley, mint, chives, basil, thyme, etc.) or by using one of our flavored olive oils like our Citrus Blend Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 2 Tbsp. Aged Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup (or Honey)
• ¼ tsp. Kosher Salt
• 6 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Flavored Balsamics also work well in this dressing, we’d suggest Pomegranate or Cranberry-Pear if you want to add additional flavor.

Classic Italian Dressing

• 6 Tbsp. Tuscan Herb Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. White Wine Vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp. Maple Syrup
• 1 Garlic Clove (grated)
• ½ tsp. Dried Oregano
• ½ tsp. Dried Basil
• ½ tsp. Dried Thyme
• Salt & Pepper To Taste

Honey Mustard Dressing

• ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. White Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Honey
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Asian Sesame Dressing

• ⅓ cup Garlic Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Honey
• 1 ½ tsp. Grated Ginger
• 2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
• Salt & Pepper To Taste

Poppy Seed Dressing

• ⅓ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Honey
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• ½ tsp. Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp. Poppy Seeds

Find The Best Olive Oils And Vinegars At The Olive Branch

Ask our experts at The Olive Branch to recommend the best oils and vinegars for your salad dressings. You can even schedule a tasting with us to find the right one!

The Olive Branch is dedicated to providing premium extra virgin olive oils, balsamic, and wine vinegars at our storefront in The Village at Winona in Winona Lake, Indiana, and through our online shop.

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