I don’t know about anyone else, but the vast majority of store-bought salad dressings just don’t hold a candle to the dressings we can make ourselves. How to make homemade salad dressing is something I learned a long time ago and I keep tinkering with ingredients and combinations to create some very tasty dressings. First I want to talk a bit about the basics and share a few classics with you. Then, you can take a look at the video and judge for yourself just how easy they are to make.

What’s a Salad Dressing?

This might seem like a strange question because we know, in general, what dressings are. But let’s quickly dive into their purpose and their basic ingredients. So, just like most sauces we would make to put on a meat, salad dressings are meant to complement the ingredients they are topping. We want the dressing to enhance the flavors of the salad and add character, depth, and dimension. The dressing should lift the flavor and visual appeal of the dish.

For a great majority of dressings, the ingredients are either an emulsification of oil and vinegar (or some acid) or are mayonnaise based. Many others can be made with dairy products like yogurt or sour cream to make an emulsification.

Vinaigrette

A basic vinaigrette is no more than oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to season it. I learned that the rule of thumb for the ratio of oil to vinegar is 3:1. Three parts oil and one part vinegar. Of course, that’s a guide. Rules are made to be broken (sometimes). Depending on the type of oil or type of vinegar, adjustments to your liking may be necessary.

The oils used in vinaigrettes can vary in their intensity of flavor. For example, there are light oils like corn or canola which are relatively neutral in flavor. There are also full-flavored oils like extra virgin olive oil or nut oils. Each has it’s purpose depending on what we are trying to achieve with the dressing. Vinegars also come in a wide range of flavors. Some of the most common are red/white wine, apple cider, balsamic, and herb-infused. Citrus juices like lemon or lime are sometimes used instead of vinegar. In this case I like the ratio to be 2:1 oil to juice.

Mayonnaise-Based

These dressings, as evidenced by the name, use mayonnaise as the base ingredient and then other ingredients are added to create the desired flavor, texture and/or visual appeal. By the way, although I’m not presenting it here, homemade mayonnaise is awesome and relatively easy to make.

Here’s What We are Preparing

We are going to be making two vinaigrettes and two mayonnaise-based dressings: a lemon vinagrette, a red onion vinaigrette, Thousand Island, and a tartar sauce.

Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients Needed:

Lemon juice
Red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Dijon mustard
Salt & Pepper
Cayenne Pepper

Red Onion Vinaigrette

Ingredients Needed:

White wine vinegar
Walnut oil
Red onion
Sugar
Salt & Pepper

Thousand Island

Ingredients Needed:

Mayonnaise
Red wine vinegar
Ketchup
Pickle relish
Hard boiled egg
Parsley
Green onion
Worcestershire
Salt & Pepper

Tartar Sauce

Ingredients Needed:

Mayonnaise
Pickle relish
Capers
Onion
Parsley
Lemon juice
Worcestershire
Tabasco
Salt

This tartar sauce would go great with steelhead trout or grilled salmon!

In the recipe section below are the specific ingredient proportions and a video of me making the dressings.