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Homemade Salad Dressings: Inexpensive, Healthy & Simple to Make

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Everyday House Dressing with Yogurt

Everyday House Dressing with Yogurt

Looking for salad dressing recipes so you can pass by the many, pricey bottles of sauce at the grocery store?

Making your own homemade salad dressing  is easy and inexpensive with the right recipe. Growing up on the farm, we ate a lot of homegrown veggies, and salads were always on the menu. And, I don’t remember ever having a store-bought dressing in our fridge.

Today, when I walk the grocery store aisles, I’m stunned to see how many shelves filled with all sorts of bottled gunk to pour over your fresh greens. Yes, I’ve fallen victim to their lure on occasion, but I always find them lacking, composed of fillers and sugars and ridiculously over-priced. So, I return to making a batch of homemade dressing instead.

It only takes a few minutes to whip up a jar that will easily keep in the fridge for several days. And, if you use a canning jar, they’re easy to seal and shake up right before using. Plus, you can wash and re-use the lids since you won’t be trying to seal these for long storage outside the fridge. Just make sure they’re clean and free of any mold and rust first!

Try whipping up this simple recipe, and see if you don’t save some dough, cut down on the additives in many bottled sauces, and enjoy the taste of your salads that much more. We prefer a lower-oil, highly tangy dressing rather than a super sweet one. Definitely experiment and adjust to your taste.

 

Everyday House DressingPrint Print

We almost always have a medium-sized mason jar in the fridge filled with this dressing. It is sweet-tangy and very light on the oil. Once it is chilled, the oil and spices will clot at the top of the jar. To make sure we don’t have a bunch of oily clumps in our salad, I take the jar out of the fridge as I begin making our salad. Within a few minutes, the oil melts, and the jar can be shaken to blend the ingredients before dressing the salad. If it doesn’t melt, set the bottle in a dish of warm — not boiling — water, and it will melt a little faster.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons minced onion
  • several grinds of black pepper (about 1 teaspoon)
  • pinch sea salt (1/4 teaspoon at most)
  • 1-2 Tablespoons freshly chopped herbs (optional & changes seasonally depending on what’s in the garden: basil, thyme, parsley)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (can substitute rice wine vinegar or if using red wine vinegar, add 1 t. sugar)
  • 2 T. plain yogurt (optional)
  • ~ 1/4 cup olive oil (enough to finish filling  a 1 cup container)

Using a pint size mason jar (or a seal-able container that will hold about 1 cup), place minced onion into jar with herbs, pepper and salt. Pour vinegar over and let stand for at least 15 minutes to mellow the onion. If you want a slightly creamy dressing, whisk the oil and yogurt together.  Stir the vinegar mixture a few times, then whisk the vinegar mixture vigorously as you slowly pour in the olive oil (or yogurt-olive oil blend) into the vinegar mixture. If it doesn’t blend to your satisfaction, close the jar with a mason jar lid and band, and shake vigorously. Sprinkle a few tablespoons over a family-sized dinner salad and toss. Re-close container & store in the fridge. It should keep for a week easily, but if you’re a salad eating family, you’ll probably devour it before it goes bad! 

Check back over the weeks ahead for more recipes, including: Mom’s 1:Salad simple dressing and a light bleu cheese dressing that will fill you up!

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