COOK: Bistro-Style Creamy House Salad Dressing

• Creamy House Dressing Ingredients
• How to Make Bistro-Style Creamy House Dressing
• Bistro-Style Creamy House 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 all of that when you’re trying to eat healthy? Plus, you’ll save a ton of money by making your own. But most importantly, a simple homemade creamy house dressing like this one tastes SO much better than the pre-packaged stuff.

This house dressing 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, mixed with shredded cabbage and carrots for an easy creamy slaw, or as a dip for fresh vegetable crudités or even french fries.

This salad dressing recipe 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!

Creamy House Dressing Ingredients

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!).

Mayonnaise:

Use a full-fat regular mayonnaise for this dressing for the best results. You can use a good quality commerical mayo, such as Hellman’s or Duke’s, or homemade mayo if that’s in your culinary wheelhouse. It’s easier than it sounds, especially if you have a blender or food processor… but that’s a subject for another post.

Worcestershire sauce:

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.

Lemon:

For the freshest flavor, use fresh squeezed lemon juice, but you can also use a good quality bottled lemon juice. If you are using fresh lemon, grate a little bit of the lemon zest into your dressing before juicing it for an even brighter lemon flavor!

Mustard:

Use a classic Dijon mustard for this dressing, or a smooth brown mustard. Do not use yellow mustard.

Garlic:

I prefer to use a fresh garlic clove in this dressing, and recommend that if you have it on hand. You can use one large clove or two small ones, or substitute garlic powder or paste in a pinch.

Gently crush the clove with the flat side of your knife, slip off the peel, and roughly chop it. Sprinkle with the salt and then mince into a fine paste. Chopping the garlic with the salt will make it easier to chop, and less likely to stick to the knife while you make a smooth paste.

Salt & pepper:

I use flaky kosher salt or fine sea salt. If you use fine salt, you may need less than if you use the kosher salt which has larger granules. I strongly recommend using freshly ground black pepper. Both quantities can be adjusted to taste.

How to Make Bistro-Style Creamy House Dressing

• 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 dressing 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.

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