5 Easy Homemade Salad Dressings

Say hello to your new gateway to longevity and health: 5 Easy Homemade Salad Dressings! Whether you are in need of a healthy lunch, an easy weeknight side dish, or something impressive to serve to guests, you will most definitely want to bookmark and save these Easy Homemade Salad Dressings! Full of healthy ingredients that you can pronounce, and ones you can store in your fridge.

Take a peak into my fridge and you will notice it always contains at least 3 different salad dressings. I love to have a variety of options, and ensure that we enjoy a yummy salad with dinner every night! And while my kids are generally good eaters who don’t complain about what I cook, they do not always love the veggies I am serving. One consistent veggie serving I can ensure they love: SALAD!!!

So this is exactly why I keep a healthy stash. I love the variety myself, and I want my kids to always  get excited about salads. Trust me, most nights the salad is their favorite part of dinner.

The secret to this? Really tasty salad dressings full of healthy ingredients like fresh herbs, avocado oil, lemon, vinegars, nut butters, and more. So let’s dive right in to my favorite 5!

5 Easy Homemade Salad Dressings:

The 5 dressings that I chose to highlight in this post:

• Italian Vinaigrette
• Nutty Asian Dressing
• Sweet Basil Vinaigrette
• Zesty Tahini Dressing
• Chipotle Cilantro Vinaigrette

Italian Vinaigrette:

This is my go to salad dressing! The one we use the most in our house. I love this super easy dressing because no blender or food processor is required. Just toss your ingredients into a container with a lid and shake!! Toss with a variety of greens and anything else you would like. I normally do shaved Brussels sprouts, sunflower seeds, and tomato. Nothing fancy, just simple and delicious.

This dressing contains: Red wine vinegar, avocado oil, dijon mustard, sea salt, and Italian Seasoning.

Nutty Asian Dressing:

This popular dressing works great with chicken, greens, and vegetables like carrots, bell pepper, and cucumber. This tastes similar to a Thai Peanut or Satay sauce. SOOOOO good, and one I will even use as a main course for an easy dinner.

Ingredients include: Rice Vinegar, Coconut Aminos (or Tamari Soy sauce), avocado oil, sesame oil. nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, or cashew butter), fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and a touch of honey if you want it sweet. But not necessary!

Sweet Basil Vinaigrette: 

This is the dressing I make when I want something a little more “fancy”, and one that every person RAVES about!! A perfect spring or summer salad, but even one that tastes great on your holiday table. Guests usually go crazy over this dressing and everyone asks for the recipe. Perfect with spinach or mixed greens, pecans, maybe bacon, and apples or berries depending on the season. You can even add some feta or goat cheese.

Ingredients include: Fresh basil, avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic cloves, salt and pepper.

Zesty Tahini Dressing:

This one is not only a favorite of mine for salad dressings, but I also love it as a dip! I will use this to dip all kinds of raw veggies. It tastes delicious with pretty much any greens, and any mix of vegetables. I also think it’s perfect for a kale salad like this one.

Ingredients include: Tahini, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos, garlic, cumin, water, and avocado oil.

Chipotle Cilantro Vinaigrette:

For all of those taco salads, or anything Mexican inspired, you will want to dump this Chipotle Cilantro Vinaigrette all over!! The recipe is similar to the dressing you will find at Chipotle for a burrito bowl or salad. I love having this one in the fridge!!

Ingredients include: Lime juice, chipotle spice powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, avocado oil, and honey if you want it slightly sweet. It tastes great either way!

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5 Easy Homemade Salad Dressings

Prep Time 10 minutes

Author Amy Rains

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Ingredients

For the Italian Dressing:

• 1/2 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp sea salt + more to taste

For the Nutty Asian Dressing:

• 1/3 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos (or GF tamari Sauce)
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp raw honey (Optional)

For the Sweet Basil Vinaigrette:

• 1 cup Fresh Basil leaves
• 1/2 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cracked ground pepper

For the Zesty Tahini Dressing:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 3 tbsp coconut aminos (or GF Tamari Sauce)
• 1 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt + more to taste
• 1/2 cup water*

For the Chipotle Cilantro Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 lime juiced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp raw honey optional
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

1. For the Italian Vinaigrette: Place all ingredients into a container with a lid. Give it a good shake until the ingredients are well combined.

2. For the other dressings: combine all ingredients into a food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Salt to taste.

Recipe Notes

*The water might be needed for a more liquid dressing, otherwise this one is pretty thick. You can also omit the water if you want to make the zesty tahini dressing as a dip.