Salad Dressing Recipes & Ideas

Calling all feta lovers.

When bottled doesn’t compare.

I make it every week.

Love your greens.

If you’re a Thousand Island fan, it’s likely you’ll love this Russian dressing just as much, if not more. Both sauces have similar origins and start with that delicious combination of mayonnaise and ketchup or tomato-based chili sauce (such as Heinz Chili Sauce). It’s super easy to make and won’t take more than five minutes to prepare, but it’ll substantially increase the tastiness of whatever you’re slathering it on.

Make a big batch, and add it to everything.

There's a reason it has 5 stars.

Take a plate of greens from blah to ooh-la-la.

Never buy a bottle again.

When you need a simple salad to make the meal complete, this tumble of arugula and shaved fennel is all you need. I find the combo of peppery arugula and sweet, crunchy fennel so delightfully addictive — so much so that I’ll sometimes eat a big bowlful with just a wedge of toasted baguette and call that dinner. The salad takes seconds to make, even counting the time to shake together the easy vinaigrette of lemon juice and olive oil.

Poppy seed dressing has a balance of sweet and tangy that I find completely irresistible. The ingredients are easy-to-find; you need white wine vinegar, sugar, and some finely shredded shallot or onion. It’s great on a spinach and strawberry salad, makes a fun spin in a coleslaw, and also does wonders as a marinade for chicken. It’s the jack-of-all-trades of the salad dressing world. This dressing is also surprisingly easy to make yourself.

They're easy enough to shake up on a weeknight and go with any kind of salad.

Spoiler: It levels up so much more than salad.

Good enough to eat by itself.

Fact: Homemade salad dressings are better. They are fresh, lively, and easy to customize. This is especially true when it comes to the oft-maligned classic, Thousand Island dressing — yes, I mean that pink dressing on the salad bar in the giant squeeze bottle. The homemade version of this dressing’s got a few neat tricks up its sleeve — including a hard-boiled egg used as a thickener.

It comes together in mere minutes with a handful of ingredients.

One of the rare times you actually want to be basic!

If you’re just craving a classic Caesar, here’s a clean, refreshing style of Caesar dressing without egg, so it emphasizes the garlic, anchovy, and lemon instead of hiding them behind a mayonnaise mask. Make a batch and keep it for a week’s worth of homemade dressing. Leave the cheese out for a great meat marinade. It’s easy enough to throw together some vinegar and oil and call it dressing — I remember when I was in college and figured that one out.

It goes from salads to veggies to meat without blinking an eye.

The recipe that makes almost any meal a little better.

There's something here for everyone, whether you like mayonnaise, buttermilk, or sour cream.

Ranch dressing's cool older sister is really into the herb.

Quick and creamy.

A recipe to memorize.

It's endlessly versatile.

Bacon crumbles are good, but this is better.

It's bright, tangy, and full of herby kick.

All this talk of baby shoots and growing sweet little radishes is making us think of salads. Simple, beautiful, garden-fresh salads that only need a quick toss with a vinaigrette to shine, shine, shine. Even if you aren’t growing your own watercress, you can easily make a homemade vinaigrette. We never buy bottled salad dressing — it’s just too easy to make our own, minus the preservatives that come in a lot of brands.

It's naturally vegan, too.

It's sweet and spicy and perfectly tangy, with just enough zip to keep it interesting.

It truly can't be beat.

Tangy and creamy and oh-so-avocado.

You probably have all the ingredients you need to make it.

This versatile vinaigrette, inspired by Caesar dressing, always delivers on flavor.

And it comes together in just five minutes.

Wait until you see how easy it is to make.

It only takes five minutes to pull together.

Slather it onto skewers, spread it onto toast, or toss it into salads.

Forget everything you've been told about making vinaigrettes and stick to this new and improved formula instead.