40+ salad dressing recipes you can make at home

Making your own salad dressings is more than just a money saver. It lets you control exactly what’s in the dressing – no mystery chemicals or preservatives! You can go all organic. You can tweak the flavor so it’s exactly how you like it. You can make it fresh every single time, or close to it. All of these salad dressing recipes are very quick and simple to make.

Quick Tips:

• Using low-fat ingredients will reduce the flavor. Regular fat ingredients have far more flavor. Unless you use a huge amount of dressing, the amount of fat in it usually doesn’t make much difference, except in flavor.
• Fresh herbs and freshly minced garlic and fresh everything taste better, but dried herbs are very good too. You don’t have to go to a lot of trouble for fresh salad dressing! And remember: it’s all fresher than store-bought.
• Canola mayonnaise is a delicious and healthier substitute for mayonnaise and dairy ingredients in some recipes. It has a milder flavor than mayonnaise, but still plenty of rich taste from the “good” fats that actually fight heart disease.

Salad Dressing Recipes

1. Cilantro-Lime Dressing – based on the dressing TGI Friday’s serves on its grilled chicken salad
2. Garlic Vinaigrette – wine, vinegar, garlic… couldn’t be easier to throw together at the last moment
3. Absolutely Fabulous Greek Dressing Recipe – olive oil, herbs, Dijon mustard
4. Blue Cheese Dressing I – very simple and traditional
5. Blue Cheese Dressing II – with mustard, Worcestershire and vinegar
6. Blue Cheese Dressing III – with yogurt and Tobasco
7. Basil Vinaigrette -just a simple vinaigrette that takes advantage of the delicious flavor of basil
8. Basil Vinaigrette Dressing – a variation on the above that adds Dijon
9. Creamy Tomato, Onion & Garlic Dressing – with optional hot sauce. Great for last minute!
10. Ranch Dressing 1 – mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk based, lots of herbs and spices
11. Ranch Dressing 2 – no spices, very mellow
12. Avocado Vinaigrette – with a touch of onion and Dijon
13. Honey Mustard Dressing – the classic, also great as a dip
14. Hot Bacon Dressing – a Southern classic. It may sound strange, but you have to try it.
15. Japanese Dressing For Salad Recipe – soy sauce, rice wine, sesame seeds… very simple
16. Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing Recipe – adds ginger, lemon, tomato paste and more to the above
17. Curry Salad Dressing – curry and garlic
18. Beer Salad Dressing Recipe – with tomato soup, Worcestershire, horseradish and garlic
19. Irish Mist Salad Dressing – uses Irish Mist liqueur with vinegar and honey
20. Caesar Salad Dressing – from Julia Child, who actually saw it being made by its creator. Contains raw egg.
21. Easy Caesar Salad Dressing – no raw eggs nor anchovies
22. Creamy Italian Dressing – tangy herbs and spices in a base of yogurt and, believe it or not, cottage cheese (blender required)
23. Italian Dressing – simple and classic
24. Fiesta Dressing – onion, garlic, cumin lime and chili powder
25. Green Goddess – the classic recipe, with avocado and anchovies
26. Mustard Vinaigrette – just what it sounds like
27. Roasted Poblano Vinaigrette – with spinach, lime and red onion
28. Creamy Tarragon Dressing – sweet with a spicy kick
29. Banana Poppy Seed Dressing – creamy, sweet and just a touch of spicy
30. Chili’s Honey Lime Dressing Recipe – based on one of Chili’s more unique dressings
    
31. Green Goddess without avocado – another variation on Green Goddess
32. Green Goddess without avocado or anchovies – yet another variation
33. French Dressing – the classic favorite
34. Outrageous Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing – with tamari, barbecue sauce and Dijon
35. Creamy Mushroom Dressing – thinly sliced mushrooms with chives, parsley and garlic in sour cream and mayonnaise
36. Green Onion Dressing – with oil, vinegar, Worcerstershire and dry mustard
37. Apple Vinaigrette Dressing – very simple and a little bit sweet
38. Herbed Raspberry Dressing – with basil, garlic, pasta and a touch of Dijon
39. Red Pepper Vinaigrette – the flavor of red bell peppers turned into a salad dressing
40. Easy Thousand Island Dressing – ketchup, mayonnaise and relish
41. Tahini Dressing – sesame seed paste with garlic, lemon, paprika and parsley
42. Citrus Peanut Dressing – with orange and mustard

Originally published December 2, 2011.