Italian Dressing Recipe
Who among us didn’t love the everloving crap out of some Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing when we were young? Truly, who among us doesn’t still love it? Ain’t no shame in that game! But it is easy and fast to make your own with higher quality (healthier) oil and honest-to-god fresh garlic to keep vampires — and lovers? — at bay.
This keeps for a long time in the fridge so you can have it on hand when you’re ready! Use it over a salad, obviously, or as a dressing for a super quick pasta salad. Use it as a marinade for chicken, too, before grilling and you’ll be singing my heavenly praises guaranteed. Just like that.
This is also a great way to use parsley that has seen better days!
Italian Dressing Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar for a dressing that looks like the bottled dressing)
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 green onion, minced (1 1/2 tablespoons)
- 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2–3 teaspoons honey (to taste)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake.
- This tastes best if allowed to sit at least 30 minutes before serving so that all the dried herbs infuse the dressing.
- Keeps in refrigerator at least a month.
Ta-Da! It’s darker than Kraft, but tastes just about the same.
7 Comments
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Without all the weird stuff they put in Kraft. ty
Exactly, Greg! 🙂
Hey, Hilah, I LOVE making my own salad dressings! This recipe looks great, gonna make some up tomorrow. I even have a great copykat recipe for Olive Garden salad dressing. I like yours because it has a lower oil/vinegar ratio, sometimes I even make it 50/50. I am a vinegar lover. Thanks, Hilah: Your Best Florida Fan
I am a vinegar lover, too! I make all my salad dressing much more tart than the traditional vinaigrette ratios allow.
I make a killer citrus dressing that’s similar to this, sans celery seed and substituting cilantro for the parsley. I add fresh lemon juice and orange juice (about a 2:1 ratio) and maybe a little Splenda to help the honey along without adding extra calories. The red peppers are a must and I’ve been known on occasion to add a few drops of chili oil. The mixture of sour, sweet & spicy is awesome.
I probably should add that I whip the crap out of the mixture in a magic bullet-type personal blender. It emulsifies beautifully.
Wow, Pamela, that sounds stupendous! I’m making it soon for sure. Thanks for sharing!