How to make salad dressings from scratch
Summer salad with delicious dressing. What can taste better when it is sunny outside, and your body wants more vitamins? Let us learn how to make salad dressings from scratch at home. The dressing can be as simple as just two ingredients or complicated reminding of a real masterpiece from a chef.
Salad dressing can be easily purchased from a grocery store, but no purchased food can be compared to the fantastic and delicious homemade salad dressing. Besides, it will only take a couple of minutes of your time to prepare this simple yet tasty addition to any salad.
How to make homemade salad dressing
Millions of women who enjoy cooking at home love creating their own dressing when it comes to making a salad. This guide is not about how to make salad itself because you can use any fruit mix (apples, bananas, strawberries, pineapples, etc.) or vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce leaves, potatoes, carrots, different leaves, etc.) in the summer and get fresh vitamins right at your table.
This instruction is about making your own salad dressing at home. This is undoubtedly healthier than buying a ready-to-use mixture or sauce at the store. The benefits are worth it:
- It takes only a couple of minutes to make a simple salad dressing at home.
- You can see each ingredient with your own eyes before mixing everything.
- You can save money if you buy ingredients and make it yourself.
- It is possible to mix your salad dressing just anywhere and anytime.
We would like to share some cool recipes with you on how to make salad dressings from scratch using 2, 3 or more ingredients. You will find something to your taste in this post.
Salad dressing from 2 ingredients
What are the two basic ingredients you can always use for making the simple and fast-to-prepare salad dressing? They are vinegar and oil. It takes only a few minutes to mix them and get a tasty, healthy homemade dressing to add more taste to your vegetable salad.
Even with only 2 ingredients, you can experiment with taste because there are many types of vinegar (rice, wine, champagne, red, etc.) and oil (neutral or rich) to mix.
How to make 2-ingredient dressing:
- You need to use ¾ of oil and ¼ of vinegar (or you can make it 2:1 ratio).
- Add both ingredients into one bowl and mix using a whisker or spoon.
- Pour your dressing into the salad and enjoy the lovely summer dinner.
When you feel like a professional making this basic meal, you can add more ingredients and create exclusive and impressive dressings. Your family and friends will be happy to eat vegetable salad with the dressing you made yourself.
READ ALSO: How to prepare vegetable sauce?
Homemade salad dressing from 3 ingredients
Adding a third ingredient is simple. You can still use vinegar and oil but substitute a portion of vinegar with one of these products:
- Lemon juice
- Grapefruit juice
- Orange juice
- Lime juice
- Black pepper
- Mustard
- Salt (or kosher)
Make sure you are using only fresh fruit. A bit of the natural juice can make your salad dressing brighter and add a new taste to finish off your dinner.
If you are planning to add salt, black pepper or mustard instead, make sure you whisk really well or use blender to create a nice smooth mixture.
Dressing for salad from 4 ingredients
Your homemade dressing can be more complicated and tastier once you choose to add 4 ingredients instead of the basic 2.
Your vinegar can taste softer if you choose to add a little bit of salt and sugar or replace sugar with one of these products:
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Agave
Whisk the vinegar, oil, salt, and your chosen sweetener in a bowl and here you go: your delicious dressing is ready. Add it to the salad and enjoy the tasty dinner alone or with family or friends.
Making salad dressing at home from 5 or more ingredients
How is it possible to make the basic 2-ingredient salad dressing made from scratch at home more complicated? Many extra ingredients can be used/added to cook a real masterpiece:
- Thyme
- Tarragon
- Garlic
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Paprika
- Coriander
- Red pepper
You can think about other herbs and spices you would like to taste in your homemade salad dressing. Just make sure to add them one by one and mix carefully all the products in a bowl. Taste the mixture after each new ingredient has been added and blended (or whisked) and you will understand what else you might want to use to change the taste and make it unique and delicious.
As you can see, everything begins from the basics. When you can make your own salad dressing from scratch at home using just vinegar and oil, you’ll be ready to add some herbs, little bit of honey, spice and other ingredients to make homemade masterpieces that taste like heaven.
READ ALSO: How to make African salad?
Source: Legit.ng