This Is The Best Homemade Salad Dressing On Earth. And It Takes 2 Minutes To Make.
Actually, maybe less.
by Audie Metcalf
There are 2 types of people in this world:
Those who have bottled dressing, and those who wouldn’t be caught dead with bottled dressing.
Both are valid.
I’m someone who makes my dressing because I think it tastes better. I would happily buy bottled if it was just as delicious as freshly made but it just isn’t.
But I think sometimes people make homemade dressing harder than it is. Or think homemade dressing is harder than it is. But I promise you, the most delicious salad dressing on this earth will take you 2 minutes to prepare. I’m not going to give you some exact recipe because I don’t cook like that, so let’s start with the ingredients you’ll need:
Now, these are pretty normal ingredients. But this isn’t one of these things where food bloggers are like, just substitute whatever you have on hand!! No. You need these ingredients exactly. The brand can vary, the products cannot. So let’s go through them in a very simple way:
• Olive oil: I love THIS one because it’s delicious and because it has a brilliantly designed spout so that you can control exactly how much comes out.
• WHITE balsamic vinegar: This is the secret. You MUST use white balsamic. Not sherry. Not champagne. Honestly that brand I’m using is fine but isn’t even close to the best one. It was just the one I could find at Ralph’s. But white balsamic is strangely hard to find, tho THIS one on Amazon is excellent as is THIS one from Whole Foods. Trust me when I tell you that it’s worth buying a new vinegar to make this dressing.
• Dijon mustard: I use this squeeze bottle because I’m lazy and being able to squeeze all the ingredients into a bowl quickly is what makes this dressing so easy and not intimidating to make. If you’re less lazy than I am, THIS one is much better.
• Honey: It’s always better to buy local honey because the health benefits are real and studied but I have a nut allergy and so buying unmarked bottles of things at farmers markets that aren’t regulated fills me with anxiety so I settle for this store bought honey.
• Shallots: This is the other secret. Shallots are more delicate than onions but still give that bright oniony hit. I buy mine from Whole Foods PRE-PEELED which is the greatest invention of the century. Peeling shallots is hell and I will not do it. But if you buy them pre-peeled, you just pluck one out of its little bag for each dressing, and mince it up. This takes about 45 seconds and is the sum total of real labor associated with this dressing.
• Salt + Pep to taste: I’ve been lovvvvvving this salt cellar and salt lately. The lid is magnetic!
Now, I just “eyeball it” as Rachael Ray says, but if you want a perfect amount of dressing for 2-4 people, it’s basically one tbsp oil, one tbsp vinegar, one tbsp mustard, oke tbsp honey, and one shallot. And then a splash of water. I hate “two part to three parts” lingo— it just sounds like nonsense in my head. So everything is ONE so even this part is easy. I like to chop up my shallots first, throw them in a bowl, and immediately pour in the vinegar to take some of the acrid taste out. But you can do the prep all at once of course, or you can make a huge batch and store it in a jam jar, as the French do.
I actually like making it day-of because I prefer the freshness of the shallot and as we’ve already established, this whole thing takes a scant 2 minutes. And you have 2 minutes. And it means I eat salad FOR BREAKFAST which is a glorious way to start the day:
For anyone who doesn’t want to read about calories and weight loss, stop reading here. The article is done. This is your new favorite dressing. Thank you for coming.
Ok, for anyone out there who is on a “health journey” like I am, listen up.
I recently had a stomach ulcer and in treating it was told my blood pressure was too high. After this experience I sort of decided to take my health into my hands and lose 35 pounds which has meant my blood pressure is beautifully normal now. And the reason I’m telling you this is because I think in our overcorrection of not vilifying “healthy fats” after the debacle of margarine and Snackwell’s and “diet culture” of the 80’s, we have sort of forgotten that fats are, indeed, full of calories. I had been glugging olive oil onto my salads with total abandon, and after being mindful about using only about a half a tablespoon per serving of salad, meeting my calorie intake goal became blissfully easier. I AM NOT SAYING OLIVE OIL IS UNHEALTHY. Olive oil is beautiful. But I was having 3-5 tablespoons a day without even realizing it and once I began to make very intentional choices around salad dressing specifically, my life changed. So take that if you need it. And discard it if you don’t.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
We have to eat.
