COOK: Bistro-Style Creamy House Salad Dressing

Every cook should have a handful of fresh salad dressing recipes in their repertoire, and after learning a basic vinaigrette, this easy homemade creamy house dressing is a great place to start. Once you learn how to make your own salad dressings (it’s soooo easy) you’ll never want to go back to boring store-bought blends (and their long list of unpronounceable preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial flavorings, high-fructose corn syrup, and other additives). Who wants that when you’re trying to eat healthy? Plus, you’ll save a ton of money by making your own!

Most well-stocked pantries (or even some lean ones) should have these very basic ingredients on hand, and they have a long shelf life both unopened and after they’re mixed (use clean jars and utensils!). This is creamy and zippy, with a hint of umami and a nice acidity to balance the richness of the mayo. I like it on a classic green salad of bibb or romaine lettuce, but it’s also good on mesclun or other spring mixes, shredded cabbage and carrots for an easy creamy slaw, or as a dip for fresh vegetable crudités or even french fries!

Note that most Worcestershire sauces contain anchovy, so if you want to make this strictly vegetarian or fish-allergy safe, check the ingredients and make sure you are using a brand that does not contain fish or fish products. You’ll miss out on some of the umami that the hint of anchovy brings, but you can replicate this with a pinch of MSG powder (it’s not the bad guy that you may have been led to believe, and is a naturally-occurring flavor compound in foods like tomato and mushroom) or just don’t sweat it. It’s still going to be delicious, I promise.

This yields a little less than a pint, and is perfect to mix up in advance to meal prep lunch salads or veggie snacks for the week, or to make a party-sized salad or crudités platters. Give this easy homemade salad dressing recipe a try today!

Bistro-Style Creamy House Dressing

This incredibly easy homemade dressing uses only six readily available ingredients, comes together in less than five minutes, and is great on green salads, slaws, pasta salads, and makes an easy dip for fresh veggies or even chips.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Course Condiments, Salad

Cuisine Contemporary

Ingredients

  

• 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Worstershire sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice fresh squeezed or bottled
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced can sub ⅓ tsp garlic powder
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• If you are using fresh garlic, peel and mince it into a fine paste with a pinch of salt (smash it first with the side of your knife blade to make this faster). You can use packaged garlic or garlic paste, or substitute garlic powder if you like (but I really like the bite of fresh garlic in this if you have the time).
• Add all ingredients to a pint mason jar and either blend with an immersion blender, or stir, then put a lid on it and shake thoroughly to combine all ingredients.
• Store leftovers in a tightly covered jar in the fridge for up to a week.

Keyword 5-minute dish, dip, easy

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