The Best Salad Dressing Recipes

If you have these salad dressings on hand, you’ll be able to make a delicious salad with whatever you have in your kitchen.

These two salad dressing recipes are the best and they just so happen to be my secret weapons for easy weeknight meals. If you have them on hand, you’ll always be ready to make a side salad or a meal out of whatever you have in your kitchen.

What are they?

Lemon Vinaigrette: This recipe is the best because it goes well with many different flavor combinations. I also LOVE using it as a base for other creative dressing recipes, like the dressing for my Winter Salad with Oranges, Pecans and Curried Chickpeas.

TIP: Make a double batch of this lemon vinaigrette, and when you want something different, take a cup of your already-made dressing and blend in fresh herbs, cheeses, alliums... feel free to get creative! It's pretty hard to mess up.

Balsamic Vinaigrette: This classic is great to have on-hand if you want something other than lemon vinaigrette, and this recipe is miles better than any premade dressing you’ll find in the store. It makes for a great main, but if you want a side salad, it goes well with grilled meats, pasta, casseroles and much more.

Tips to make the dressings

These are the best salad dressing recipes because they’re not only delicious, but they’re extremely low-fuss. They’re each less than 5 ingredients and, if you let yourself be lazy, they 2 minutes to make.

My trick is to use a blender. I love using a blender because it’s easy and it releases all of the flavors in the ingredients. Plus, it’s easy to clean up. Roughly chop your shallots, throw them in with everything else and blend until smooth. Done.

Extra TIP: If you have an immersion blender and a 32-oz jar, make your dressing directly in the jar by adding your ingredients to the jar and hand blending until smooth. You'll have one less dish to wash.

Buy local, organic

Use organic, local and small-batch ingredients wherever you can. It’s not just a matter of getting the best ingredients for flavor’s sake, but you’ll also be supporting producers who use practices that are healthier for the world.

Paying a few extra dollars often means that your ingredients have a much smaller carbon footprint. They haven’t traveled as far and haven’t had as many harmful chemicals used in their production. They may be a few dollars more, but the price is worth it when what you’re buying has been made with healthier practices.

The Ingredients

Lemon juice: This dressing is made best with peak-season lemons in the winter. It’s great with organic lemons all other times of the year.
Shallots: These beauts add a bite and sweetness without being overly onion-y. I always have them in my pantry. Look for bright purple and pink colors. The fresher the better.
Balsamic: This is the difference between a “fine” dressing and a “great” dressing. Go for true balsamic vinegar that was aged in wooden casks, rather than a mass-produced generic brand that probably isn’t really balsamic vinegar at all. In the end, you’ll be able to use this vinegar for so many other things because it stands on its own. You also won’t end up wasting it.
Olive oil: The fruitier your olive oil, the more complex your dressings will taste.

Since I started making my own dressings I haven’t bought any from the store. (Well, lies. I’ll buy a good Caesar, but I have plans to try making my own soon. So this too may come to an end.) Once you’ll make these, you’ll see how easy it is and you’ll never want to go back.

If you liked either of these recipes, rate them and leave a review below! Also, pin them to Pinterest by clicking the Pin button in any of the images or at the top of the post.