Simple Homemade Italian Dressing

A quick and delicious simple homemade Italian dressing and marinade that you can easily make at home in just five minutes.

I rarely buy store bought salad dressings. Making your own at home is so much healthier, cheaper and you can customize it however you like. Pretty much all bottled dressings have added sugar or ingredients that we can’t pronounce and we don’t need that in our lives. This simple homemade Italian dressing is made with only six ingredients and takes just a few seconds to whip up. It’s perfect for pretty much any salad or as an easy marinade to add more flavor to chicken or veggies.

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Ingredients

Olive oil: Use the good stuff when you’re making your own homemade salad dressings. You will taste the difference! The Furies Olive Oil is my favorite.

Red wine vinegar: You can use red or white wine vinegar or even champagne vinegar. Just make sure it’s a wine vinegar and not regular white vinegar.

Pressed garlic: pressing garlic makes it easier to incorporate it into the dressing, allowing the flavors to meld. You can mince it but the garlic flavor will be more pronounced. I love using fresh pressed garlic but if you’re feeling lazy, you can substitute in ¼ tsp of garlic powder. If you don’t have a garlic press, I LOVE my garlic rocker!

Italian seasoning: A whole tablespoon of dried herbs gives it amazing flavor. If you don’t have Italian seasoning in your cabinet, use a mix of equal parts dried parsley, basil and oregano.

Salt & Pepper: to taste!

Method

Making this dressing really couldn’t be any easier. Simply put all of the ingredients into a large bowl or jar, whisk or shake and you’re done. That’s it! Store it in a mason jar or airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. As it sits, it will separate so just give it a good shake before using.

Substitutions

Red or white wine vinegar will work beautifully. I just use whichever one I happen to have more of at the time.

If you don’t have fresh garlic, use ¼ tsp of garlic powder.

This dressing is meant to be tangy and zesty. If you want to mellow out the flavors a bit and add some sweetness, mix in a teaspoon of honey.

If you don’t have Italian Seasoning on hand, mix up a blend of equal parts parsley, oregano and basil, maybe a pinch of thyme. Whatever seasonings feel right, go with it!

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