Italian Dressing from Scratch has a bright fresh taste. It is loaded with flavor and the perfect dressing for a tossed salad. It is great as a marinade for vegetables and meat. Flank Steak is delicious, marinated in this dressing, and then BBQ’d. Make a double batch today.
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Key Takeaways:
- Fresh and Flavorful: Homemade Italian dressing has a bright, fresh taste free of preservatives and additives, making it ideal for tossed salads, marinades, and more.
- Versatile Use: Great as a salad dressing or marinade for vegetables and meats like flank steak, which tastes incredible when marinated and BBQ’d.
- Simple Ingredients: The dressing uses quality ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, wine vinegar, dried herbs, garlic, and red pepper flakes for a robust flavor.
- Easy Preparation: Making this dressing is straightforward—just mix pantry staples and let it rest for flavors to develop.
- Proper Storage: Store in an airtight cruet or mason jar in the fridge for several weeks. Allow it to warm to room temperature before use for easier pouring.
- Double the Batch: Save time and always have this versatile dressing ready by making a double batch.
Overview
Make your own healthy, preservative-free Italian dressing at home with this simple, budget-friendly recipe that’s bursting with fresh flavor. Using high-quality ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, and red or white wine vinegar, this homemade dressing is free from cheap oils and chemical additives. Seasoned with dried herbs, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and sea salt, it’s easy to prepare and best enjoyed after resting for a few hours to let the flavors blend. Store in an airtight cruet or mason jar in the fridge, shake well before use, and enjoy for several weeks—perfect for salads, marinades, and more.
What Goes Into the Best Ever Italian Dressing?
It is SIS (simple is smart) or in this case, maybe I should say SAS, simple and smart to make your Italian dressing from scratch. It is free of preservatives, cheap oils, and chemical additives.
Italian dressings need quality ingredients. Extra Virgin Olive oil, grapeseed oil, and vinegar form the base for this dressing. Use red wine or white wine vinegar and add dried herbs, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Use Sea salt instead of iodized table salt.
How Do I Make Italian Dressing?
This dressing recipe is so easy to make. The hardest part is gathering all the ingredients together. The list looks long, but you likely have most, if not all, ingredients in your pantry.
Once the ingredients are all gathered, mix them together in a bowl. Because the herbs, onions, garlic, and pepper is dehydrated, the dressing is best after it rests for several hours. This gives the dehydrated vegetables and herbs a chance to rehydrate.
Add Your Storing the Italian Dressing
Store the dressing in a cruet. (click here) for where to find a cruet.
The cruet should have a stopper that is airtight. If you don’t have a cruet with an airtight stopper, a small mason jar (pint) can be used instead. Keep the dressing in the fridge. The olive oil and grapeseed oil will thicken some. Shake well before using. It may be difficult to pour straight from the fridge, so let it warm up to room temperature for 10-15 minutes before using.
The dressing will keep for several weeks in the fridge.
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FAQ:
What ingredients are essential for making Italian dressing from scratch?
Can I use table salt instead of sea salt?
How long does the dressing need to rest before it’s ready to use?
How should I store homemade Italian dressing?
How long does the dressing last in the refrigerator?
Can this dressing be used as a marinade?
Best Italian Dressing from Scratch
Equipment
- This page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click a link, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- ½ cup red or white wine vinegar
- 1½ tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp dried minced garlic may substitute 2 tsp fresh minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried minced onions may substitute 2 tsp. fresh minced onions
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together and let the mixture sit 2-3 hours before using. This gives all the dried ingredients time to rehydrate.
- Store in the fridge.
- Pour into a cruet with a stopper. (click here) for where to find a cruet.
