How to Make Homemade Salad Dressing – 9 Easy Recipes!
on Apr 13, 2016, Updated Oct 11, 2024
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Here are simple recipes for salad lovers wanting to learn how to make salad dressing. You will love making and eating these homemade salad dressings! Each recipe only makes about a cup of dressing—so you don’t have to commit to eating it for a month—and because there are 9 recipes in one post, you’ll find something for every salad!
Making healthy salad dressing isn’t hard, and they’re made with very basic ingredients. You can have more variety when you make your own, and you’ll quickly learn what flavors you love together.
Here’s to making all kinds of easy salad dressing recipes at home so that you never get sick of eating your veggies. You could try a new one each week, and you’ll have months’ worth of great salad dressings. I can’t wait for you to make them!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love These Recipes
- Almost all ingredients for these dressings are shelf-stable and probably already located in your kitchen.
- Homemade dressings are as simple to make as combining the ingredients in a mason jar and giving it a good mix.
- Fresh salad dressings are so much tastier than anything available at the grocery store. You’ll never go back to buying store-bought dressings!
- Learning how to make your own dressing will help convince you and your family to eat more salads—there’s a salad dressing flavor for every taste!
Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
These simple salad dressing recipes can all be made at any time by keeping these staples on hand! Seriously, you’ll never add the words “salad dressing” to your grocery list again.
Pro Tip: For herbs, garlic, and ginger, dry and fresh are interchangeable; just season to taste. You will need less of the dried versions than if the recipe calls for fresh. A quick and easy way to get a new flavor is to use fresh garlic or fresh herbs!
Herbs & Seasonings
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Parsley
- Chives
- Dill weed
- Italian seasoning
Vinegars & Juices
- Red wine vinegar
- White vinegar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Rice vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Lime juice
Oils & Emulsions
- Olive oil
- Sesame oil
- Vegetable oil (or other neutral oil
- Peanut butter
- Dijon mustard
Other Flavorings
- Garlic
- Honey
- Poppy seeds
- Ginger
- Soy sauce
- Hot sauce
How to Make Homemade Salad Dressing
Making your own salad dressing is so simple, and it’s a great way to get your kids to help make dinner.
- Add all ingredients to a jar, bowl, or container for a blending device.
- Shake, whisk, or press the button to blend until well combined.
For dressings containing cheese, you can decide how smooth you’d like the final dressing consistency. Blend with the cheese in the mixture until it’s as thin as you’d like. For thicker, chunkier cheese dressings, blend all other ingredients together and then add the cheese; finish blending just a bit until it’s the consistency you like.
Recipe FAQs
Store any extra dressing in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Sometimes, the oil will firm up in the fridge. If this happens, just let it rest at room temperature for a few hours before serving (or give it a quick zap in the microwave). Always shake or whisk the dressing again before serving.
The Dijon mustard in these is a must because it acts as an emulsifier between the vinegar and the oils. Whisk up the mustard/vinegar/whatever else and then slowly add the oil while you are whisking. This will help the oil to not separate out of the dressing.
The dressings store well in wide-mouth half-pint mason jars. These lids are also really nice to have on hand! Each recipe only makes about a cup, which is great if you ask me.
Expert Tips
- Use Jam for Flavors: Have a bit left in a jam jar that you don’t want to waste? Mix your DIY dressing in the jar for a new flavor!
- Mix it Up: As you get comfortable with making basic salad dressings, you can start being creative with different types of vinegar or dairy products and new herbs for bold flavors. Try anything that sounds good to your taste buds!
- Make Ahead: All of these dressings are great to make ahead of time and will keep for at least a couple of weeks in the fridge.
- Quick Prep: Using a food processor will make quick work of mixing up a homemade dressing. Pulse just a few times for a thicker consistency or more times for thinner.
Easy Salad Recipes to Consider
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How to Make Homemade Salad Dressing – 9 Easy Recipes!
Ingredients
Classic Ranch Salad Dressing
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons each chopped parsley and chives
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder
Homemade Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon each sour cream and olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Classic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Roasted Garlic Dressing
- 1 head garlic
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
- 2 tablespoons each of honey, Dijon mustard, white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Honey Poppy Seed Dressing
Asian Sesame Dressing
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Peanut-Lime Dressing
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon each rice or white vinegar, chopped peeled ginger, soy sauce, and honey
Creamy Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
- 1/4 cup each buttermilk and sour cream
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1/2 a lemon
- and salt and hot sauce to taste
Instructions
1. Classic Ranch Salad Dressing
- Whisk 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons each chopped parsley and chives, 1 teaspoon dried dill weed, 1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. (You can sub 1 tablespoon each of dried parsley and chives for the fresh) This is perfect for cob salads, to dip fries in, over chicken salads, and most any other salads with romaine and other leaf lettuces as the base.
2. Homemade Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
- Blend 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoon each sour cream and olive oil, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 clove garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a blender. Stir in 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.
3. Classic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- Whisk 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil.
4. Roasted Garlic Dressing
- Slice the top off 1 head garlic; drizzle with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil and roast at 400 degree until tender, about 35 minutes. Cool and then squeeze out the cloves. Blend the roasted garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste in a blender. Make a double batch and use part of it for a marinade for chicken breast. It’s also amazing on roasted vegetables.
5. Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
- Whisk 2 tablespoons each of honey, Dijon mustard, and white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil.
6. Honey Poppy Seed Dressing
- Whisk 2 teaspoon black poppy seeds, 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Gradually whisk in 1/3 cup olive oil. This is great on salads with berries and other sweet fruits in them; it compliments them nicely.
7. Asian Sesame Dressing
- Whisk 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil), 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, pepper to taste, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. This dressing is also excellent on Asian-inspired noodle recipes and chicken salads.
8. Peanut-Lime Dressing
- Blend 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons water, the juice of one lime, 1 tablespoon each rice or white vinegar, chopped peeled ginger, soy sauce, and honey in a blender. This dressing is awesome on “quinoa” bowls (roasted veggies/protein/quinoa), and it’s also excellent on fish.
9. Creamy Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
- Whisk 1/4 cup each buttermilk and sour cream, 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and salt and hot sauce to taste. Here’s a little secret: If blue cheese is too strong for you, you can make this with crumbled feta for a more mild dressing that is still wonderfully creamy and cheesy. Dip everything in this including hot wings.
Video
Notes
- See recipe instructions for notes on each dressing.
- I can’t calculate nutritional information for all 9 recipes, so use an app like MyFitnessPal to calculate for individual dressings as needed.
- All of these dressings are great to make ahead of time and will keep for at least a couple of weeks in the fridge.
- Add more or less flavorings to get each dressing exactly to your taste preferences.
Cannot wait to try these! Thank you for sharing!
These dressings look soo good but I would have to substitute the salt for the Himalayan salt and olive oil for coconut oil.
And that is your choice.
I’m trying to eat gluten and refined sugar free. These recipes fit both those requirements! So glad I found these, thanks for sharing!
How does someone print your recipes with all the pages and pages of what’s on the screen? I’m fairly new to Pinterest and can’t find a print button.
I didn’t plug them into a recipe thing so they won’t print with just a button (I’ll look into fixing that!), I would just copy and paste the recipes into a word processor and print from there! Hope that helps, enjoy!
Just an FYI… Pinterest doesn’t allow copying from an iPad. But up at the top I found a box with a diagonal arrow. If you click that you can open this link in Safari (it’s browser). From the browser you can copy…which I did. Thank you for your recipes.
Great to know! Thanks! I had been wondering about that, too.
About how long do they keep?
Depends on the dressing. The creamy ones about a week and the ones that are oil and vinegar based will last a couple of weeks in the fridge.
This post is a keeper!! Thanks for taking the time to put it together!!
These look great- I will give some of them a try. How long will they stay good in the fridge for? Also, when you say dijon is it the old fashioned kind?
Hmmm… I have no idea? It’s not the stone ground or deli or spicy or brown, all of those are different but I’ve never heard of an old fashioned kind. One of the more popular name brand Dijon mustards is called Grey Poupon if that helps!
Pinning! I can’t wait to try these 😀
Thanks girl!!!
Have you tried to make the salad dressing recipes more calorie friendly by using light mayo, sour cream, buttermilk etc?
Nope, but you’re free to give those a try!
I make a ranch dressing with reduced fat (1.5%) buttermilk and lower calorie mayonnaise and it’s fine. But only if you use Hellmans Light Mayo. Trust me, over the decades I’ve tried every reduced calorie mayonnaise ever invented and this was the first I found that’s almost identical to the original.
Homemade dressings are the best! When I buy a store bought bottle, we never use it all before it expires. I think it’s because we like so many different flavors so we have to many big bottles at once. I like the portion sizes you give because it’s just enough! These will get used up before they go bad! Pinning!
Agree! And if you are having a party, double the batch… easy!
I just want to say that I am so happy that these dressings only make about a cup!!! I hate making a quart of dressing that just sits in the fridge and then goes bad before I can use it all up, especially for more ‘special’ dressings like a vinaigrette or asian one (we always use up all the ranch, haha). I know I could do the math and scale it back…but thanks for doing it for me!
I made all these the same day and had a salad with some pasta for dinner. The kids and Boyfriend plowed through the ranch and then were miffed when I didn’t have any more. I had EIGHT OTHER KINDS!!! LOL it was funny and ridiculous. Long live Ranch!