French Salad Dressing Recipes

A Complete Guide On How To Make Your Own Vinaigrette Salad Dressings

Many cooks find salad dressings a little intimidating, I know I did, which is a bit bizarre considering there is no heat involved, and very few ingredients. In fact, the problems lie in the fact that making a dressing is an art. Thankfully, it's one we can easily master and this guide will help you!

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• A Complete Guide On How To Make Your Own Vinaigrette Salad Dressings
• ❤️Why You Will Love Making Homemade Dressings
• 🫒What You Need
• 🥗13 Easy, Everyday Salad Dressings To Make
• 3️⃣Variations Of The Basic Vinaigrette
• 7️⃣More Delicious Salad Dressing Recipes
• 🫙Homemade Mayonnaise
• 💡Tips For Making Delicious Salad Dressings
• ✨More Super Recipes To Make
• 📖 Recipe

❤️Why You Will Love Making Homemade Dressings

• A good French dressing recipe or vinaigrette is so easy to make at home using a good quality olive oil.
• Dressings can be served with hors d'oeuvres, all green salads and vegetable crudités. It is so delicious and very healthy too.
• By mixing in other ingredients such as mustard or fresh herbs you then turn your dressing into another beautiful dressing!
• Try them on warm and cold foods, just divine!
• Once you know how to make your French dressings you will never need to buy another bottle of dressing from the supermarket and you will save so much money!
• Try them on not just salads but meat and poultry dishes, fish and vegetable recipes as well as egg dishes.

We all have different tastes and so each individual can add his or her own preference for a perfect French recipe.

Explore the various salads and the types of dressings for salad in The Complete Handbook for Salad Making.

🫒What You Need

You just need to keep practicing, trying new combinations and measurements, and, just as importantly, keeping a note of what you've used and in what quantities. In time you will come to know instinctively how to dress each salad.

🥗13 Easy, Everyday Salad Dressings To Make

All of the recipes below are in the recipe card for easy saving and printing.

Basic Vinaigrette Dressing

This is a classic, and a good base from which to develop newer dressings.

• 1-2 tbsps of vinegar - cider or wine, but not balsamic
• 2 pinches of salt
• black pepper
• 3 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil

1. Put the salt into a bowl together with a little black pepper.
2. Stir in the vinegar and continue until the salt has dissolved – this is because salt will not dissolve in oil.
3. Now add the oil, a little at a time, beating continuously until the dressing is cloudy.
4. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes, then shake again just before use.

3️⃣Variations Of The Basic Vinaigrette

Creamy Vinaigrette

To the basic vinaigrette dressing above, add 2-3 tablespoon of plain yogurt, kefir, or mayonnaise and whisk together until well blended.

Vinaigrette à la Moutarde

For this dressing, simply add 1 teaspoon of French mustard before beating in the oil.

Vinaigrette aux Fines Herbes

To make a vinaigrette aux fines herbes, simply add 3 tablespoons of finely chopped herbs to the above dressing.

The herbs must be fresh and consist of fennel, chervil or parsley, tarragon, chives, and 4 leaves of marjoram. Do not use more marjoram as it is rather pungent and will over power the flavor profile.

This delicious salad sauce is in my French Grated Carrot Salad.

7️⃣More Delicious Salad Dressing Recipes

Lemon & Olive Oil Vinaigrette

This is a very easy dressing that is useful for strong-flavored leaf salads, such as rocket. If necessary, you can add a teaspoon of water to this dressing to thin it slightly and give it more delicacy.

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

Whisk together, taste and adjust seasoning.

A French Classic Dressing

• 45gr/3 tablespoon mustard (preferably Dijon mustard)
• 80ml/⅓ cup white wine vinegar
• 350ml/1½ cup rapeseed oil
• Sea salt and black pepper

Blitz the mustard and vinegar in a blender. While still running, slowly add the rapeseed oil until you have a fully emulsified dressing. Season carefully, a little at a time, tasting each addition.

Red Onion & Shallot Vinaigrette

Use this with roasted beetroot and lentils, topped with goat’s cheese or feta.

• 1 red onion or shallot
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoon soft brown sugar
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil

Combine the onion, vinegar and sugar, then season. Leave for about an hour. Then add the olive oil and stir well.

Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe

For those who prefer something sweeter. Also a great dressing to go with avocado halves, or on salmon, and chicken.

• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper
• ¼ cup sunflower oil
• 2 teaspoon Dijon or other mustard
• 2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

imply whisk it all together and season.

Walnut Dressing

This is a lovely dressing for French beans. Blanch French beans and add them to the dressing while they are still warm. Finish with finely diced apple, shaved fennel and chopped chives.

• 115gr/1 cup walnuts
• Salt
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• A drizzle of olive oil

Mix the walnuts with the other ingredients and bake at 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 for 5 minutes, until lightly toasted. Crush gently and add to the honey and mustard dressing above along with 1 tablespoon of walnut oil.

Basil Vinaigrette Dressing

Best for drizzling over fresh tomatoes, grilled courgettes, or a tomato salad.

• ½ cup olive oil or avocado oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey (more if needed)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Make the dressing first by mixing the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and maple syrup or honey in a bowl with a whisk until well blended and lemony colored. Then stir in the basil, garlic, salt, and pepper, and let sit on the counter while you prepare the salad base and the rest of the meal.

OR

• A bunch of basil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 100ml/3 tablespoon olive oil
• A pinch of salt and black pepper

Remove the leaves from the basil and blend with the rest of the ingredients.

Creamy Honey Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette

It pays, in the taste department at least, to use best quality balsamic vinegar.

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1-2 teaspoon of light-colored honey (no buckwheat honey here)
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• Salt and pepper
• 100ml/3 tablespoon olive oil

Whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic paste. Add salt and pepper a little at a time, tasting after each addition. Pour in olive oil very slowly, whisking constantly until well combined and creamy.

Mint Honey Vinaigrette Dressing

• 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon clear honey
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 20 gram/1cup of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 small ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

1. Place the vinegar, honey, garlic, salt and pepper into a small bowl and mix together thoroughly - a small whisk is useful for this or a fork it you don't have one.
2. Mix in the olive oil very slowly then gently stir in the mint and finally the tomatoes. Set aside and leave for about an hour.

This is a delicious topping for lamb chops!

🫙Homemade Mayonnaise

Here is an easy and convenient method to make your own amazing mayo!

Easy Immersion Blender Mayonnaise Recipe with 4 variations to create other classic dressings, Mayonnaise Chantilly, Tartar Sauce (Sauce Tartare), Sauce Niçoise, and Sauce Remoulade.

💡Tips For Making Delicious Salad Dressings

• Salad dressings are all about sweet and sour. Learn the ratio of sweet to sour that you like best. Most oils are slightly sweet in flavour, incidentally. If in doubt, add more sour usually in the form of vinegar or citrus.

• Which oil you use matters. Olive oils cover a range of flavors from the peppery early-season oils to softer late-season ones.

• Taste your olive oil. If it is too powerful for your palate, dilute it with rapeseed, rice bran or sunflower oil. Also, be aware that oils can go stale if left in the heat (e.g. by the stove/cooker) or in sunlight.

• Make more dressing than you need by doubling or tripling the recipe. You can keep them in the fridge in a sealed jar for ages and have a variety of dressings handy.

• Season carefully. Taste for salt, pepper, sweet and sour. Before you dress the salad dip a leaf into the dressing and then taste and adjust the flavors if necessary.

• If you are using raw garlic in a dressing, it is best to smash it to a paste with a little sprinkle of salt, using the side of your knife blade, then a mortar and pestle if necessary. This breaks the clove down more than a garlic crusher can. The flavor will spread more evenly through the mix, and you won't get little lumps floating in your dressing.

✨More Super Recipes To Make

• Grilled Lamb Chops With Mint Honey Vinaigrette
• Salade Niçoise With Homemade Dressing
• Tomato Salad Recipe
• Easy Lyonnaise Salad

📖 Recipe