Whenever I tell someone I love healthy food, the first thing they inevitably ask me is if I eat salad all day. Here’s the truth for you: I actually don’t really like salad that much. I am definitely not one of those people who grab a mixing bowl from the cabinet, dump in a bunch of greens, and happily go to town. I am not a rabbit, and I don’t enjoy eating like one.
For me, for a salad to be good, it has to be something substantial. It has to have a great mix of flavors, textures, and really good dressing. I love veggies, but let’s call a spade a spade—veggies can be boring-tastic if you don’t do something to spice them up a little bit. And a good salad dressing goes a looooooong way to making veggies exciting (even for those folks who aren’t big veggie fans—like my two year old, who happily chows down on raw cucumbers and tomatoes when they are dipped in the Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing you’ll see below).
Why should I make homemade salad dressings?
Salad dressings are super easy to make at home, and I think learning how to make your favorite salad dressings in your own kitchen is a super useful skill to have. It’ll save you tons of cash. The markup on bottled salad dressings is OUTRAGEOUS—most of them you can make for pennies on the dollar.
You can also completely control the ingredients. Have you ever cruised the salad dressing aisle and checked ingredient lists? Many of them are packed with artificial colors and flavors, which just aren’t necessary
And my favorite part is that you can completely customize the taste to your liking. Once you land on your “house dressing” that is perfect for your family’s tastebuds, you always will have that recipe in your pocket.
What ingredients do I need for these dressings?
Below, I’m sharing fifteen of my favorite simple, easy, and healthy salad dressing recipes that you can make at home. Honestly, you probably have most of the ingredients to make most of the dressings already in your pantry and fridge—there are no fancy pants ingredients that you’ll have to track down at a specialty store.
For most salad dressings, you’ll need:
- Something acidic. Lemon juice, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar are all good choices.
- Some fat. Oil is a standard ingredient in most vinaigrette-style dressings. With a few exceptions (looking at you, sesame oil in the ginger-sesame dressing), you want a mildly-flavored oil that won’t stand out in the dressing. Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil are my favorites.
- Something sweet. A little sweetness can bring all the flavors together and round out the dressing. Honey is my go-to, but maple syrup, agave, or even a bit of granulated sugar will work as well.
- Salt, pepper, garlic, and other herbs and spices. Salt and pepper will enhance the flavor of the other ingredients—don’t skip them where they are called for!
All of these recipes can be made using the jar-and-shake method. Just grab a jar with a tight-fitting lid (I use a wide-mouth pint mason jar and a plastic cap), toss in all the ingredients, and shake the dickens out of it until it’s well-blended. There are a couple of recipes below that could be made smoother if you use a food processor or a blender—but you don’t have to if you’re fine with a chunkier dressing.
How long do homemade salad dressings last?
All the recipes below make about one cup of dressing—enough to last for a few days of salads, but not so much that it goes bad before you get a chance to use it up. Use up the dressings with dairy in them within a week. The vinaigrettes can last two or more weeks in the fridge in an airtight container.
Do I need fresh herbs or dried herbs?
Each recipe below has amounts for using fresh OR dried herbs—you can use all fresh, all dried, or any combination of the two. Just keep in mind that the dried herbs will take a while longer to impart their flavor on the dressing. A good rule of thumb is that if you’re using mostly fresh ingredients, you can get by with using your dressings within 15-30 minutes. If you’re using mostly dried ingredients, you’d be better off waiting 2+ hours so the flavors can really develop. Let’s get started.
Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes to Make at Home
Skip the bottled stuff, and use these healthy salad dressing recipes to make your own at home for a fraction of the cost!
Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing Recipe
Delicious homemade balsamic vinaigrette is easy to make and tastes so much better than the bottled stuff. Here's a simple classic salad dressing for your salads.
Sesame Ginger Dressing
Sesame Ginger Dressing is one of those recipes that works for nearly any salad. It takes just a few minutes to prepare and lasts for weeks in the fridge.
Creamy Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe
This quick and easy honey mustard dressing recipe is better than store-bought! Skip the bottle and make your own sweet and tangy dressing at home.
Simple Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe
Lemon Vinaigrette makes a bright and flavorful dressing that is perfect for drizzling over green salads.
Homemade Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing
This homemade Greek yogurt ranch dressing is SO easy to make (and delicious, too!). It'll send any salad over the moon!
Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe
You can make your own blue cheese dressing with just a few ingredients and it tastes even better than store-bought! It also works great as a dip!
Chili Lime Salad Dressing Recipe
This simple dressing is a bright, vibrant addition to nearly any salad you can imagine. We especially love it on a taco salad!
Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe
Homemade Italian dressing is a far cry from what you’ll find in the grocery store. A few simple ingredients go a long way when it comes to this salad dressing. It also makes a great marinade.
Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette
This creamy avocado vinaigrette is healthy, delicious, and ready in less than five minutes.
Cashew Ranch Dressing
While you may think of ranch as junk food, this Cashew Ranch Dressing is anything but!
Homemade Caesar Dressing
Learn how to make Caesar dressing right at home. This is a crowd-pleaser; perfect for your next salad.
Healthy Coconut Milk Ranch Dressing (Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo)
Drizzle this Healthy Ranch Dressing on your favorite salad or use it for dipping. You can't go wrong with this dairy-free version of a classic!
Strawberry-Lime Vinaigrette
This Strawberry Spinach Mason Jar Salad is like springtime in a jar! Add grilled chicken to make it a full meal.
Orange Marmalade Vinaigrette
Citrus is a perfect way to brighten up a salad, and this Sunshine Mandarin Orange Salad in a Jar is a meal prep that will bring sunshine into your lunchbox!
Maple Vinaigrette
This colorful Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad is topped with candied walnuts and maple vinaigrette dressing to make a perfect fall and wintertime salad!
Sesame-Lemon Dressing
This nourishing Sesame Chickpea Mason Jar Salad is packed with bright and rich Mediterranean flavors. The Sesame-Lemon Dressing is so good, you’ll find all kinds of uses for it!
Clementine Vinaigrette
This bright and colorful Spinach Pomegranate Salad is packed with flavor, color, and nutrition! Don't miss that clementine vinaigrette, either.
If you master a handful of these easy salad dressing recipes, you’ll be in good shape to never buy the bottle stuff again if you don’t want to.
