Wondering what to do with salad dressing? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 65 recipes to put it to work.

What is salad dressing?

Salad dressing is the seasoned liquid that turns a bowl of plain greens into something worth eating. At its simplest it is fat plus acid plus salt, loosened enough to coat a leaf and cling without pooling at the bottom of the bowl.

Almost every dressing falls into one of two families. Vinaigrettes are oil whisked into an acid like vinegar or citrus, with salt and pepper to sharpen the edge.

Creamy dressings are the other camp. They are built on a thick base such as mayonnaise, buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream, which is where ranch, Caesar, blue cheese, and Thousand Island come from.

Once you understand those two structures, you stop buying bottles. A good homemade dressing costs pennies and tastes far fresher than the shelf-stable version.

Making a Vinaigrette

The workhorse ratio is about 3 parts oil to 1 part acid, then adjusted to taste. Some cooks like it sharper at 2 to 1, especially over bitter greens or rich proteins, so taste a dressed leaf before you commit the whole bowl.

Acid and oil naturally separate, so you need an emulsifier to hold them together. A small spoon of mustard or honey does the job and adds flavor at the same time.

Whisk hard in a bowl, shake it in a sealed jar, or run it through a blender. The dressing turns from two clear layers into one cloudy, clinging liquid.

Salt and pepper go in early so they dissolve into the acid rather than sitting gritty on the greens.

From there the character is yours. The acid can be red wine, balsamic, cider, or sherry vinegar, or a squeeze of lemon, and the oil can be a fruity olive oil or something neutral when you want the other flavors to lead.

Dressing the Salad

Dress lightly and late. Season tender greens with a pinch of salt, then add just enough dressing to make the leaves glisten, and toss right before serving so acid and salt do not pull water out and leave you with a wilted, soggy bowl.

Sturdier salads behave differently. A Super Easy Cole Slaw or a Bonnie's Potato Salad actually improves after the dressing sits and soaks in, and pasta versions like Turkey Bacon Pasta Salad want a heavier coat because the noodles drink it up as they chill.

Creamy dressings double as dips and sandwich spreads, which is why a tangy ranch or blue cheese turns up alongside buffalo chicken and inside a Circular Italian Sandwich.

A sharp vinaigrette does the opposite job on fruit-forward plates such as a bright Christmas Salad, cutting the sweetness instead of adding richness.

The most common mistake is drowning the greens. Start with less than you think, toss, taste, and add more only if the leaves look dry.

Swaps and Shortcuts

Out of one vinegar, reach for another. Cider, red wine, sherry, and white wine vinegar all trade in cleanly, and lemon or lime juice works when you want a softer, fruitier acid.

Balsamic is the exception. It is sweeter and darker, so use a little less and expect a richer result.

No mustard for the emulsion? A spoonful of honey or a little mayonnaise will help the oil and acid stay married.

For the creamy side, plain Greek yogurt swaps in for sour cream or mayonnaise to lighten things and add tang, though it thins faster, so loosen with milk only a teaspoon at a time.

If a recipe simply calls for "salad dressing" with no further detail, a basic vinaigrette suits green salads and a creamy one suits hearty mixes like coleslaw or macaroni salad.

Buying and Storing

Bottled dressing is convenient, but homemade beats most of it on flavor and lets you skip the gums and preservatives. When you do buy, check the oil quality and the sugar, since cheaper bottles lean heavily on sweetener and cheap oil.

A homemade dressing keeps about a week in the refrigerator in a sealed jar. Creamy dressings made with dairy or egg are the most perishable, so trust your nose and toss anything that smells off before the week is out.

Cold firms up olive oil and can turn a vinaigrette cloudy or semi-solid. That is normal. Pull it out 15 to 20 minutes ahead, let it come back to room temperature, and shake hard to re-emulsify before it goes anywhere near your greens.

Store-bought creamy dressings carry a printed date worth honoring once the seal is broken.

Nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find salad dressing: Salad dressing is usually found in the salad dressings section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Salad dressing is a member of the Fats and Oils US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese

沙拉酱

British (UK) term

Salad dressing

en français

vinaigrette

en español

aderezo para ensaladas

How much does salad dressing weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 tbsp	14 grams
1 cup	235 grams

Related

Fats and Oils

Recipes using salad dressing

There are 65 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 65 recipes

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