Homemade salad dressings are easy to make and help you avoid the preservatives and additives of store bought dressings. This tangy 5 ingredient salad dressing is a family favorite that's super simple to whip up with ingredients you likely have in your pantry.
I've been making my own homemade salad dressing for a long time. Our long-standing favorite used to be this Moroccan Vinaigrette, and then this homemade vinaigrette salad dressing that you can make 5 ways, but now we have a new favorite – 5 ingredient salad dressing.
And let me say that if you aren't making your own homemade salad dressing yet, I hope that this post gets you motivated to do so.
‘Cause I have another super simple salad dressing recipe that should be on your table.
Soon.
I honestly can't remember the last time I purchased salad dressing.
Hmmmm….maybe way back there in my college days before I was into making my own just about everything.
In those days I was on a “if it's low fat it's healthy” diet.
But I was also on the “I don't have any money” diet so likely I didn't buy much salad dressing then either.
I didn't buy much of anything.
I remember shopping the discount produce racks in college trying to keep to my $100 per month budget (and I shudder to think that that included my rent. Really? Did I live that frugally?)
Anyway – back to the dressing.
My favorite dressing growing up was the low fat French dressing at Wendy's salad bar.
I grew up in a family that occasionally went out for fast food as a treat and I since I was “healthifying my life” I would get the All You Can Eat salad bar and would top my huge heap of greens with that low-fat-full-of-sugar-and-corn-syrup-and-artificial-food-coloring- and-flavor-enhancers-and-you.name.it stuff and would call it healthy.
Things are different now.
Now I know that you might not be as excited about making your own stuff as I am, but I hope you catch the bug.
Why Make Homemade Salad Dressings
1. Reduce toxins by using only wholesome whole food ingredients (none of that icky stuff listed above)
2. Save tons of money
3. Reduce the impact on the environment by buying less packaged stuff.
4. Avoid extra sugars. Many dressings are loaded with HCFS and other sweeteners. Particularly if you are on a candida diet, these will wreak havoc on your health.
Anyway, you can jump on this saving money, healthier for you and the environment bandwagon too with this dressing.
So come along with me.
The inspiration for this dressing came from Oh She Glows, a fabulous vegetarian blog. We made her Adzuki Bean Quinoa Tabbouleh, grabbed her dressing and made it our own.
My kids quickly pushed aside the Moroccan Vinaigrette and our Favorite Salad Dressing – Five Ways and ate this one voraciously for the next few weeks.
And I'm finally getting around to sharing it with you.
We use this not only as a salad dressing, but to top all kinds of things.
Ways to Use This Easy 5 Ingredient Salad Dressing
- on top of beans and rice for a jazzed up last minute meal
- atop cooked veggies. Marinate in the dressing for about 2 hours for added flavor
- as a dip for fresh veggies in a little bowl or cup. My boys like to mix extra nutritional yeast into this easy salad dressing (actually a whole lotta nutritional yeast) to make it really thick.
We're trying to add more and more veggies to our diet and sometimes it's just plain hard. It's great to have things like this dressing to make it that much easier.
Oh – and if you are looking for a nutritional yeast that does NOT contain added b-vitamins, this brand is your answer.
Oh, and if you really have to stop at Wendy's, maybe throw a container of this in your bag first. (Is that allowed :)?)
Other Homemade Condiments on our Dinner Table
- Chat Masala (an amazing Indian Spice)
- Moroccan Vinaigrette
- All Purpose Seasoning
- Nutritional Yeast. This stuff is nutty and cheesy tasting. Great for those who can't have dairy due to an intolerance or food allergy.
If you haven't tried those, you really should.
Recipe Note for 5 Ingredient Salad Dressing
- THM: This recipe will fit in as an “S” if you are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.
Five-Ingredient Salad Dressing - Our New Favorite
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, but oh-so-necessary in our opinion)
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
Instructions
- Pour olive oil and apple cider vinegar in serving container.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Stir to combine. Stir again to redistribute ingredients before serving.
- Store in refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Do YOU Make Your Own Salad Dressing?
Recently dx with Bakers Yeast allergy – I would love ideas for yeast free recipes & dressings. Thanks!
I’m so sorry! Have you checked out my recipes page? There are a ton of things w/ no yeast. LMK how I can help. This is a fave: https://wholenewmom.com/moroccan-vinaigrette/
and so is this one: https://wholenewmom.com/avocado-dressing-recipe/
Can’t wait to try this one! I’ve never used nutritional yeast in a salad dressing.
I love making my own vinaigrettes and am always ready to experiment!
The garlic in this recipe packs a fabulous immune-boosting punch.
Thank you, Carol :)!!!! We love this!
Love this recipe! I used ob fresh cut avocados ?! I did substitute the plain nutritional yeast with Pop Zest’s Olive Oil & Herb Nutritional Yeast blend. It really complimented the other ingredients!
Sounds like a great addition! So glad you liked it!! It’s truly my youngest’s favorite!
This is my husband’s favorite dressing which we have used for the last 2 years I think. We can’t be without it or he is very sad. I actually use slightly more oil than vinegar as we prefer it that way.
Wow – thank you so much, Jennifer! This means so much. 1-2 negative reviews came in recently and my son couldn’t believe it. He’s a “taste bud partner” with your hubby–if this isn’t on the table, he has to go and make some STAT! Merry Christmas to you and yours and thanks again!
soooo yummy, my whole family loved it!
So glad to hear it. It’s my youngest’s favorite!
How many servings does this recipe make?
Hi there. Sorry for the delay in responding. We lost the comments on the blog for awhile and just recovered them fairly recently. I just updated the post today to reflect the serving amounts. Of course, it depends on how much you eat. Hope you like it!
My wife and i substitute vegenaise in place of butter on our bread and mashed taters. Its a good sub for dairy produucts. The flaver is nicer than regular mayonnaise. Get it at the I.g.a
Add 1/4 cup tamari (soy sauce). Even better
Oooh – yum!
How long this dressing could hold in the fridge?
Hi there. I can’t make shelf life claims but it should keep pretty well b/c oil and acv keep pretty well in the fridge.
I must live on another planet, but I just made this dressing exactly per the instructions and it’s dreadful. I love all the ingredients in it but combined, it was yuck. I think part of the issue is it’s too much oil, maybe? I threw it down the drain.
So sorry you felt that way. We love it here. Well, my husband prefers this one: https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/moroccan-vinaigrette/
OH MY GOSH! I really wasn’t expecting this dressing to be as delicious as it was. The nutritional yeast adds such a great flavor… this is my new salad dressing! THANK YOU!!!!
So glad to hear it! It’s my youngest’s favorite! In fact I have to make some more with some new olive oil I just got. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I was amazed that such a simple list of ingredients could be so tasty! It was one of the first recipes I’ve made from your site. We had some friends over, and their three and a half year old is a picky eater. I made a salad, and put out the usual bottles of commercial dressing. My homemade was in a plain glass cruet. Dad sniffed it & decided to try it. Mom (who is MEGA picky!!) took a taste, and decided on the homemade. Then the toddler got some on her salad. Not only did she eat all of her salad, but she then picked up her bowl and DRANK the rest of the dressing!! It was a major hit! I highly recommend this recipe, and am so happy to find a tasty alternative to the chemical filled commercial ones.
So glad! We just served it to a friend who was over tonight – he enjoyed it as well but he said he thought it should have more “kick” – I’m thinking it wasn’t stirred well enough b/c I find it to be pretty kicky. Thanks for letting me know!
This was very good! We love to dip fried potatoes in it! Thank you
You are so welcome! Sounds GREAT!!!
I tried posting TWICE about KAL nutritional yeast having synthetic folic acid and that Dr. Fuhrman’s is the only one that I know of that IS NOT fortified. Why aren’t you approving my posts? I would think that you would want your viewers to know this—especially for the ones who are looking for a healthier NY. I always thought you were on the up and up—I guess I was wrong. Because you could at least allow the “conversation”. You have with the other posts, why not allow mine? This makes no sense. This is unfortunate. And because so, I will no longer be promoting you as I’ve done in the past as it’s obvious you are not interested in “truth”, certainly not when it contradicts YOUR opinions and posts. Again, this is unfortunate. … and of course I understand you will not be posting this, I simply wanted you to read it.
I am sorry you have this impression of me but I have no idea what you are talking about regarding the 2 comments. This is the first one I saw and I searched your email address and I don’t see any more. I did my own research about unfortified nutritional yeast and it is hard to find – you are right. I did find 1 potential source for bulk but I have to dig it up. I must say I am surprised that you jumped to the conclusion that I am not on the up and up – and again, I don’t know why you think I didn’t approve your comments. Maybe you can share what happened but your comments aren’t in the spam folder either. Thanks and I hope you can explain and we can resolve this. Thanks.
I love this recipe for dressing & my heart aches for you when i saw the harahness from the post above… Keep your chin up! #cookingsister!??
Thank you so much. People can be very mean. Most bloggers delete mean comments – I approve and deal w/ almost all of them. That way they can’t hide. Glad you liked the recipe!
Regarding the nutritional yeast—I, too, have been using KAL but am hesitant to continue since it uses synthetic folic acid. The only one that I know of that isn’t fortified and DOESN’T contain synthetic folic acid is Dr. Fuhrman’s. Albeit a bit pricy at $9.95 per 4 oz (and s/h on top of that), nonetheless, it is the only one out there that I know of. https://www.drfuhrman.com/shop/nutritional-yeast.aspx
I know that brewer’s yeast is something completely different but I happen to have it on hand and might substitute to see if it’s palatable. I hope it is because I’m not going to waste it ;). Thx for the recipe!
I find Brewers to be icky. I heard swanson’s is good but haven’t tried it. We have a container of Brewers here and can’t bear to eat it.
You know it actually tastes great! I put it on my husband’s salad and he said the dressing was good and I would never tell him I put my brewer’s yeast in it lol ;). It was Lewis lab’s brewers yeast buds. Anyhow thank you…now I have another use for it besides oatmeal, smoothies and popcorn.
Wow – GREAT! Maybe I’ll have to try making it with the Brewers and see what happens!
Are you adding the yeast strictly for nutritional value or does it actually do something to the dressing?
It adds a cheesy flavor :).
I can’t wait till I can use vinegar and yeast again. Someday!
Jen, are you off these things due to candida? If so, nutritional yeast apparently doesn’t affect candida. And I have made great progress w/ vinegar. Did you see my series on Why I Don’t Have Fermented Foods on My Blog?
My naturopathic Doctor does not allow nutritional yeast for a candida diet. ??
Hi Nadine. Yes, some natural practitioners recommend against nutritional yeast for those who are really sensitive to candida. I think it’s an individual decision. I never had an issue with it. It doesn’t feed candida and so the only reason that I have read that makes sense regarding avoiding it is that if you are highly sensitive, your body might react to the nutritional yeast since it is having a “reaction” to the candida. Hope that helps!
Looking forward to trying this! But before I do… Do you use Bragg’s ACV or the “regular” filtered stuff from the grocery store?
I use Braggs. Thanks for the reminder. I added that info to the post :).
Perfect – Thanks! Plan to make this tonight!
I just wondered if you have ever tried running this through the blender? What it was like?
Thanks 🙂
I haven’t but I think it would be great. Not sure if it would stay emulsified, but perhaps.
Thank you 🙂
Sorry if this is redundant (I did not read all the comments). What is the shelf life of this dressing would you say?
I can’t make any promises, but in my cool house I just leave it on the table. I feel the vinegars and salt keep it fairly stable. 🙂