↑

Will Cook For Smiles

The Best of Homecooking

  • Home
    • About Me
    • Work With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe!
  • Recipes
    • Popular Posts
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Healthy Dishes
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Sandwich
    • Cauliflower
    • Drink
    • Cocktail
  • How To
  • Instant Pot
    • Instant Pot Main Dishes
    • Instant Pot Side Dishes
    • Instant Pot Soups
  • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Seafood
    • Pork
    • Chili
    • Pasta
    • Slow Cooker
    • Vegetarian
  • Dessert
    • Cheesecake
    • Cake
    • Cookies
    • Chocolate
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Super Bowl Recipes
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Cinco de Mayo
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • BBQ
    • 4th Of July
    • Fall Recipes
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas Dinner
    • Christmas Baking
    • Holiday Leftover Recipes
    • New Year’s
Home » Lunch » Salad » Dressing » Italian Dressing

Italian Dressing

Created: January 4, 2021 Updated: January 4, 2021 by lyuba 2 Comments

748 shares
Jump to Recipe

Italian dressing is fantastic on salads, roasted vegetables, and as a flavorful meat marinade. Don’t buy another one at the store because homemade will always be so much better! You can use the best quality ingredients and adjust the flavor to your personal taste.

Italian vinaigrette dressing in glass bottle

In the world of salad dressings, nothing tastes better than homemade ones. Sure, there are perks of convenience when buying bottled dressing, but the taste and quality just doesn’t compare. With store-bought, you also never know exactly what chemical preservatives and other unnecessary ingredients are lurking inside.

So, rather than paying good money for what could be an awful tasting dressing, my preference is to make them from scratch. This way, I can use the best tasting ingredients and know exactly what is in the dressing.

Besides, homemade dressings are incredibly to make! You can also adjust it just to your taste and even diet preference.

Italian dressing is a light dressing that is olive oil based without any cream. I do love to add fresh grated Parmesan cheese to make it taste the best and spice it up with some crushed red pepper flakes. This recipe is also gluten free, just make sure to check the label on the vinegar and cheese. You can also make it keto by omitting sugar or use sugar alternative.

closeup: woman's hand holding bottle of homemade Italian dressing; bowl of salad in background

Difference Between Italian Dressing and Vinaigrette

Honestly, there isn’t any difference at all between these two condiments. In fact, Italian dressing is really just one variation of a vinaigrette! 

This recipe calls for oil and vinegar, along with herbs and spices, just like a basic vinaigrette. 

Additionally, it uses the same technique of incorporating the ingredients; making an emulsion of oil and vinegar. 

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

Ingredients in measuring spoons and prep cups to make oil and vinegar dressing recipe

Now, here is what is in Italian dressing:

  • Olive oil– Use a high quality extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor. It’s a little more expensive, but you will definitely notice the difference. Make sure the oil flavor is not bitter!
  • Red wine vinegar– You can certainly substitute a different flavor of vinegar but honestly, this variety is what gives the classic tangy flavor you expect in a good Italian dressing.
  • Lemon juice– I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon rather than a concentrate.
  • Italian seasoning blend– This blend usually includes dried herbs like basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, and/or sage. Check to see if your blends includes salt to know how much salt to add to the dressing.
  • Fresh Parsley – this will add a nice fresh herb flavor to the dressing.
  • Sugar: Just a tiny bit of sugar balances the vinegar and lemon juice. If you want or need to, feel free to substitute this for your favorite sugar alternative.
  • Other seasonings: In addition to the Italian seasoning blend, I also use a little bit of garlic powder to enhance the flavor, salt and pepper, and a tiny bit of crushed red pepper for some heat.
  • Fresh grated Parmesan cheese– This is a great ingredient to add into the dressing for more flavor and especially if you will use it in more than just salads.

How To Make Italian Dressing From Scratch:

There are just three steps to preparing this recipe.

  1. Prep the recipe ingredients.

This step is pretty self-explanatory.

Quick tip: if you have extra lemon juice, add it to a silicone ice cube tray. Then, place the frozen cubes into a freezer storage bag.

This makes it really convenient to have fresh juice on hand whenever you need it for sauces or dressings!

  1. Add everything to a mason jar or shaker bottle.
pouring red wine vinegar into mason jar with oil
  1. Shake well to combine and form an emulsion of the oil and vinegar.
  • ingredients for vinaigrette recipe being shaken together
  • creating an emulsion with oil, vinegar, herbs and spices in shaker glass

By the way, if you are curious to learn more about the science involved with creating emulsions, I recommend reading, What Is an Emulsion, by food scientist and blogger, Jessica Gavin. It’s very interesting, and she explains the difference between temporary and permanent emulsions.

  1. Chill, then use as desired.

Although you can use it at room temperature, refrigerating homemade salad dressing allows more time for the flavors to combine. As a result, it will taste even better.

pouring Italian dressing onto a salad

Recipe Tips

  • Depending on the ingredients, the dressing can get thicker or partially solidify while refrigerated. That is not a big deal at all! Just pull the dressing out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before making the dressing.
  • When it comes to olive oil, I prefer to use the lighter tasting ones. Some extra virgin olive oil could have a bitter flavor to them so make sure to taste your olive oil first! Bitter oil will ruin the whole dressing flavor.
  • You can adjust the heat level by adding more or less crushed red pepper flakes.
  • You can easily make this recipe keto if you use sugar alternative or omit it altogether.

USES FOR THIS RECIPE

Aside from dressing your salads with it, use Italian dressing as a marinade for chicken, turkey, beef, and pork. It adds a zippy, lemony flavor. Plus, the acid from the lemon juice helps to tenderize the meat.

Use it as a dipping sauce for breadsticks or any other bread.

Other Dressing Recipes:

Some of my favorites are creamy salad dressings like buttermilk ranch and this light Caesar dressing. 

But, there are days when I want a vinaigrette like raspberry vinaigrette or this apple vinaigrette recipe.

PIN THIS RECIPE

Italian vinaigrette dressing in glass bottle

Italian Dressing

Italian dressing is fantastic on salads, roasted vegetables, and as a flavorful meat marinade. It's light, zesty, and slightly cheesy.
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Italian dressing, salad dressing, vinaigrette recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 191kcal
Author: lyuba

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp salt to taste
  • 1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp white granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp fresh minced parsley
  • 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a dressing shaker or in a mason jar with a lid.
  • Close the lid right and shake vigorously for a few seconds.
  • For best results, let the dressing sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before using. (You can also use it right away if needed.)

Storing;

  • Store dressing in the glass jar with a lid, in the refrigerator.
  • This Italian Dressing should last up to 2 weeks when stored properly.
  • Shake it well before adding to the salad.

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 168mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 104IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles
titled photo collage (and shown): homemade Italian dressing

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

748 shares

Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, Dressing, Gluten Free, Lunch, Salad

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Sandra says

    January 27, 2021 at 2:49 am

    5 stars
    Wow, this is the best salad dressing!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      January 28, 2021 at 11:42 am

      I am so happy you liked it, Sandra!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

Soup Recipes

spooning some beef soup from a bowl

Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup

closeup of Italian wedding soup topped with shaved Parmesan

Italian Wedding Soup

closeup image of crab soup in a bowl centered in a photo

She Crab Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Chicken Meatball Soup

closeup of top view of Cioppino in a bowl

Cioppino – Seafood Stew

A bowl of white bean soup is presented with a spoon on a countertop.

White Bean Soup

vegetable broth in two canning jars next to fresh carrots, garlic, and celery

Vegetable Stock

Our Popular Recipes

Classic Manicotti Recipe

closeup of pasta with sauce and swirled on a fork

Instant Pot Spaghetti

Italian Broccoli Cheese Soup

Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Pork Rub

Baked Chicken Wings with The Best Dry Rub

Top Rated Recipes

The Best French Toast

Cauliflower Parmesan Crisps

Christmas Cheesecake (Cranberry Jam White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake)

Avocado Salmon Rice Bowl

round decorative bowl filled with apple pie bread pudding topped with ice cream and a fork leaning on the side of the bowl viewed close up.

Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Smores cheesecake on a wooden table

S'Mores Cheesecake Recipe

Sides

30 Min

Pasta

Salads

Breakfast

Drinks

Soups

Gluten Free

FEATURED ON:

featured on

[cp_popup display="inline" style_id="32674" step_id = "1"][/cp_popup]
The Best Classic Tiramisu

The Best Classic Tiramisu

January 14, 2023
Tiramisu...
Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

Baked Ham with Orange Honey Ham Glaze

December 2, 2022
This...
Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

August 11, 2022
Chicken...
Pad See Ew

Pad See Ew

August 10, 2022
Pad...
Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs

July 15, 2022
These...
Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush

July 1, 2022
Baba...
Painkiller

Painkiller

June 30, 2022
A...
Truffle Fries

Truffle Fries

June 28, 2022
Truffle...
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

Thai Pineapple Fried Rice

June 21, 2022
Thai...
Strawberry Daiquiri

Strawberry Daiquiri

June 16, 2022
The...
Privacy Policy
©2023, Will Cook For Smiles. Design by Pixel Me Designs